Interesting. Didn't realize I was gonna start a war over brake rotors here. LOL.

FWIW: When the car arrived, it had "warped" rotors. Now, I know they're not really warped - that it's pad deposits, but, for the sake of nomenclature, and it being a common term, the rears were warped. Lived with it for 10k, with the OEM pads, which absolutely suck when driven with any degree of alacrity. Sure, they'll haul you down from 70mph nice and straight, once or twice, but they are very quick to fade when serious heat is built up through a series of turns in the hills.

I decided to go all out and get the EBC slotted rotors along with Green Stuff pads, that I run on everything. Installed. First impressions were good, but the rotors were very noisy. Bedded the pads, broke them in (EBC greens take about 1000 miles to get fully broken in), and headed for the mountains. One trip up there, and the "warpage" was back. Front and rear. I was confused. Took everything apart, investigated. Turns out the quality of the EBC rotors wasn't up to snuff. The leading edge of the vented brake was ever so slightly higher than the trailing edge of that cut (sorry no micrometer measurements). But the pad deposits (or warpage) was severe at each cut of the venting slots. So I effectively had rotors that were heat checked, with a lot of deposits.

Swapped those for solid Brembo rotors, and the problem went away for about 5k. Then I took her into the mountains and played again. Fronts performed perfectly. Rears are still having issues. I'm still getting pad deposits. The only logical solution is a lack of cooling air. Rotors and pads were new, bedded properly, and fully broken in. They're simply getting too much heat there. They need more venting. I never come to a complete stop after driving hard. Brakes, engine, oil, etc, are always given cool down periods. I do have seat time in track cars on the track... Not my first rodeo...

No, this car is not driven like a grandpa mobile. As I said earlier, I don't expect 99.99999% of you to have this issue, nor do I expect you to have the tire wear issues I have either. I simply drive harder than most of you.

I'd actually love to strip one of these cars and put it on the track. I bet it would do shockingly well. The 4.3 is a heck of an engine, and it really does pull hard for it's relatively small displacement and modest output ratings. The chassis is fairly balanced and sorted, and it's pretty easy to carve a nice line with it. As long as you anticipate the mass, its easy to man-handle. It'll never be graceful like a Lotus, but for a big old sedan, you really can make her boogie if you want. Most of you will never drive the car in this manner. I'm good with that... and I realize that my problems wont' correlate and be yours.

Someone asked how many miles I have, I'll cross 146k this week.

All in all, very pleased. It's a fantastic car.

 

I have a set of cryogenic treated frozen rotors being delivered this week to try out on front and rear. The company uses mountain brand rotor blanks made in Japan then cryogenic treats, zinc coating and machines them in usa. They were pricey at around 540 shipped for 4 rotors but I'm hoping it's the last set I'll be putting on the car.

 

Brembo makes an 8 piston front, 4 piston rear with 15 inch discs front and back for the LS430. It requres at least an 18 inch wheel built for big brakes (Volk Racing or CCW Corsair series), most 19s will clear as well). The LS430 is a tank and the brakes are about the same size as the stock brakes on a Supra twin turbo (800lbs lighter). I don't think Lexus designed them with what you have been doing in mind. The only way to correct the over heating is to add ducting (if possible) or get a bigger heat sink (bigger rotors).

Steve K.