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do you find the brakes adequate, have you upgraded? If so, with what?
I find my brakes spongy and not very responsive. I leave myself a lot of room in front.
It was a minus point when they compared them to MB and BMW.
I think the brakes are incredible. People who build cars love our brakes for the performance and light weight. They're monobloc 4 piston calipers made by Sumitomo. A brembo kit for our car costs like $5k.
Check your brake fluid - old and airy fluid can cause sogginess. And even when they're bled properly, our brakes aren't calibrated to 'bite' hard. Being a luxury car and all.
IF you just want better pedal feel, get stainless steel brake lines. I have them on all my bikes and they're incredible. Stainless steel lines and aggressive pads.
The last thing you want to upgrade is the brake calipers, you'll have to pay an obscene amount of money to better hardware.
Here's what you should do:
1. Get the fluid changed and brakes bled
2. Get great brake pads
3. Get stainless steel lines
4. Get better rotors
5. Get better brake calipers.
6. Write a blank check to a tuning shop and get them to put in some fully floating brembo set up with a brembo master cylidner and brake booster and Bosch ABS module.
thanks for the info
bought ss lines already
when I do the coilover the wheels come off anyway. Good time to change the brake fluid and install sslines
What kind of pads are you using?
I use the stock pads and the stock rotors. The brakes suit me just fine thanks. I really like the quietness/lack of dust/longevity.
I think I need to make a public service announcement - the brakes in this car are EXCELLENT. When they're working right, they dig into the ground with the force of an asteroid.
That puts its brakes somewhere between the Porsche Boxster (110 feet) and Subaru WRX (122 feet). I have no doubt that the LS430 can stop harder with some mods. But after you upgrade the rotors, pads, and lines, you're looking at a few grand for any incremental improvements. You'd get more performance by stripping the interior.
Like so many things, the car does an excellent job at it if you just maintain it at stock spec. If the LS isn't enough, consider buying another car.
I agree that the brakes are fantastic. I have been real easy my new WRX as it is in the first 1000 miles break-in period but the brakes on my LS feel like they will stop the car faster then the WRX.
I find my brakes spongy and not very responsive. I leave myself a lot of room in front.
Completely flush out your brake fluid with new. Start at the wheel caliper bleeder screw farthest from the master brake cylinder (i.e. right rear), then left rear, then right front, then left front. Spongy brakes is a sure sign of air and/or contaminants in the brake fluid.
thanks for the info
I wanted to see what others have.
Certainly I could go overboard and spend thousands on - as it was mentioned - incremental improvements.
The ssbrakelines and the change of brakefluids are on the agenda.
I have lots life left on the pads, when it comes to replace them I will look at the Akebonos
I certainly would not change the car just for its braking performance
Brake service was done 8k miles ago.
Its just the difference in braking compared to my old 735, that one grabs earlier, whereas the LS takes "some" time to react plus I have to push the pedal almost to the floor to get any "real" braking. The bleeding and the ssbrakelines will hopefully correct the issue
checked the PO service records
the brakefluid was changed last year and now has 8k miles use. I wonder if the climate has anything to do with it. I came from a cold prairie province .
Normally I change brakefluid every two years
I have to push the pedal almost to the floor to get any "real" braking.
This comment caught my eyes... Hopefully, you don't mean that the brake pedal "sinks" to the floor, which could mean that your master brake cylinder is leaking by.
At a minimum, you should have your brake pedal height adjusted per instructions below...
If the brakes were properly bled 8K miles ago, the master cylinder may well be leaking (internally) when the brake piston pushes the fluid into the brake lines.
I would not be surprised is the they were not bled. Many dealers do not do this when changing pads.
OP said "brake service" 8K miles ago, then another post "brake fluid" was changed. Brake fluid replacement is a separate charge and not routinely done.
brakes
