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I have experienced the same feel in the wife's 2014 base LS (her previous car is the 430) and the brakes grab a lot sooner and with little foot pressure. Since I have only driven the 460 several times it takes a while to adjust.
She got used to it very quickly and loves to drive the car......
I have been thinking about, and reading about, the brakes on my 2007 LS 460 ever since the day I got it. Every time I touched the pedal, it went from no brakes to lots of brakes almost instantly. It didn't seem to be a safety issue because the brakes would haul this heavy car down from speed in a hurry, a big hurry. I had a terrible time bringing the car to a smooth, gradual stop, particularly at slow speeds. While the black brake dust wasn't a safety issue, I thought the factory chrome wheels were actually a smoke color until they were washed correctly.
After reading way too much about the LS 460 brakes (pads, shims, rotors, actuator) I broke down and had Akebono pads and Centric premium plain rotors installed. Whoa, what a difference! The braking is smooth, solid, almost dustless, and silent except for a brief startup squeal sometimes during wet weather. Warning....the factory brake hardware kit with springs, clips, and shims cost a little more than $150 from Lexus. I wasn't sure I could get the correct, complete kit from an after market source.
Anyway, the car drives beautifully, I love it. Quiet, smooth, effortless, very comfortable, very powerful, luxurious, wonderful ML sound. It's so quiet and smooth, I think I hear the actuator a little more, but that's another story.
I realize this is an old thread, but wanted to share my experience. My breaks appear to be excessively grabby, much more than what has been described by fellow Lexus owners above.
Please let me know if this is consistent with your experience or if you would find this excessive as well. Note how the car goes from virtually no breaking to a sudden stop with nothing in-between. Essentially, I'm unable to come to a smooth stop. The two local dealers that I visited told me that my car is operating "within specs".
I realize this is an old thread, but wanted to share my experience. My breaks appear to be excessively grabby, much more than what has been described by fellow Lexus owners above.
Please let me know if this is consistent with your experience or if you would find this excessive as well. Note how the car goes from virtually no breaking to a sudden stop with nothing in-between. Essentially, I'm unable to come to a smooth stop. The two local dealers that I visited told me that my car is operating "within specs".
I have similar experience with my brakes. I get some vibration while breaking at high speeds as well.
I realize this is an old thread, but wanted to share my experience. My breaks appear to be excessively grabby, much more than what has been described by fellow Lexus owners above.
Please let me know if this is consistent with your experience or if you would find this excessive as well. Note how the car goes from virtually no breaking to a sudden stop with nothing in-between. Essentially, I'm unable to come to a smooth stop. The two local dealers that I visited told me that my car is operating "within specs".
Do you have an F-Sport with original brakes? If so, I'd replace the pads. That solved my brake problems on my '15.
I realize this is an old thread, but wanted to share my experience. My breaks appear to be excessively grabby, much more than what has been described by fellow Lexus owners above.
Please let me know if this is consistent with your experience or if you would find this excessive as well. Note how the car goes from virtually no breaking to a sudden stop with nothing in-between. Essentially, I'm unable to come to a smooth stop. The two local dealers that I visited told me that my car is operating "within specs".
They are very grabby, replacing the OEM pads with aftermarket pads will solve it. I would recommend Centric Premium rotors and Centric Posi Quiet Ceramic pads.
My new-to-me 2014 LS AWD exhibited “grabby” braking as well. At first I thought it was just something I needed to give some time to adjust, and I did get a bit more comfortable with it within the first couple weeks.
The main issue I never fully adjusted to was the non-progressive nature of the pedal. When a sudden change in traffic ahead resulted in more urgency to slow the car, it would often grab too hard to slow the car or bring it to a relatively gradual stop. There was also a variability when braking normally to come to a smooth, gradual stop.
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Akebono 1282 and 1283 ceramic pads to the rescue!
This past weekend, a month after I bought the car, I swapped the original pads for Akebono as some have suggested. I did not replace or turn the rotors since they were in very good condition (only 23K miles on the car).
I used the shim that came on each of the new front pads plus the original outer shim. I applied a thin layer of Sil-Glyde on the pad and shims to prevent squealing. On the rear pads, the original outer shim would not fit due to the tab placement of the shim on the Akebono pad. I removed the Akebono shim and used both original shims on each pad, again with the Sil-Glyde.
What a difference! With the Akebono pads, the grabby-ness is non-existent and braking is progressive and still super solid. I do have the faint ABS clicking with lighter braking, and it wasn’t changed with the pad swap.
I highly recommend this update –especially if you can DIY since it costs only about $100 for the pads plus 2-3 hours from wheels up to wheels down.
Do you have an F-Sport with original brakes? If so, I'd replace the pads. That solved my brake problems on my '15.
Do you feel like this fixed the smoothness of the initial bite? That is the main thing I notice about my 14 F sport and I am interested in improving it without compromising braking power overall. I just want that initial heavy first bite to be dampened.
