Junesy

There have been a few threads on this topic, and I want to chime in with my own direct experience dealing with the extreme brake dust generated by the stock Lexus pads for the front Brembo brakes. I hope this helps settle a few things for folks here.

I had my Lexus dealer replace the front pads on my 2011 Lexus LS460 with Sport Package 2 years ago when the car had 32K miles. The pads were squealing terribly and produced prodigious amounts of dust. The dealer said they used pads with a reformulated compound that Toyota designed to address the dust and squealing and covered it under a TSIB, so it didn't cost me any money. Well, the squealing abated to an extent, but not completely. And the dust really seemed to get worse. I included a photo of the forged wheel that I totally cleaned and another photo of the wheel that I drove for about 500 miles after cleaning them.

It was a pain to keep them clean. So I hunted for pads that offered good braking performance and that promised less dust than the stock pads. Carbotech came up again and again. So 2 years and 20K miles after I had the TSIB work done, I splurged on new Lexus rotors and Carbotech pads, even though I could have driven on the old pads and rotrs for another year or year and a half. My car has about 52K miles now. These parts were not cheap. I had them installed by a Lexus-certified technician. He also replaced the brake fluid an dbled the brake lines. I don't mess around with cheap parts or service. I want to keep my car in tip-top shape. My technician said the huge 6-piston calipers are a bear to work on. The Carbotech pads range from $275 to $350 depending on who you ask. I got them direct from the company.

So I cleaned the wheels and took another photo after 475 miles.

It's clear that the Carbotech pads do indeed produce less "stickable" dust than the stock pads. The Carbotech dust is also a lighter color: light brown instead of dark charcoal. But it's also clear that Carbotech is not a panacea for totally clean and dust-free braking. I was honestly expecting better than this given what I have read on forums and after speaking to a couple of the fellas at Carbotech (who are super friendly and helpful, by the way). Yes, Carbotech is a big improvement over the stock pads. But it will not eliminate dust problems, and it is unrealistic to expect them to.

As far as braking performance goes, they are very linear and feel good. And so far I have noticed very little squealing. Bear in mind that I also have brand new Lexus rotors (which are beasts — around 15 inches in diameter and 40+ pounds each), which also contributes to the good feel and performance. I am talking about normal street driving.

Overall I'm glad that I replaced my pads and rotors. The Carbotechs are good. If you're considering them, just know that there are a lot of caveats to consider. For me, it was worth it to spend the money on them because the dust they produce is more readily cleaned than dust from stock pads. I was spending more time than I liked struggling to clean the black dust off.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer.

J

Nospinzone

Nice write up. I'm sure some members will find the info very helpful.

I love the Akebono ceramic pads I have on my car, but I understand they are not available for the Brembo calipers.

RR601

For 500 miles that looks a lot worse than the power stops I used to replace the brembo's on my 2011.
Actually the power stops produce a lot less dust than the stock non brembo on the rear.

Junesy

Thanks RR601. That’s good to know. I don’t think I’ve come across the Power Stops. Are you pretty happy with them overall? Are they readily available?

RR601

At least when I bought them. They were the only non brembo option for my car. Concerning brake dust nothing could be better. Not exaggerating when I say the brembos gave me 50 times more brake dust. Maybe even more.
I think they are the only good option. Rest of my car would be kept spotless, But impossible to keep the wheels looking nice unless I washed the wheels daily with the brembo's.
As far as the rest of it. I have not driven a non brembo LS. But the power stops are equal to what I would expect them to be. No complaints on the braking.
But have to admit the brembo's were amazing for stopping power. But only noticed this if I ever made an emergency stop. Which is maybe once in 10 years for me.
Otherwise cant say I can tell a difference.
Just so happened I had just this one time I was doing 55 mph and a car ran a red light. I have been driving all kinds of cars over the years. And there was no question in my mind we were going to hit, since I did not see it coming. Other driver panicked and stopped right in my lane. All of sudden it was right in front of me. Anyway ended up stopping about 6 ft short.
So was really impressed with the brembo's. But would never go back to them.

rick3242

I replaced non brembo oem on my 2010 460L two months ago with slotted centric rotors and ceramic pads. Braking is way better and dust is almost non existent compared to the OEM.

mikebrinda

I can echo the OP's brake dust experience on my new, 2017 LS460 F Sport. That would be the bad news. The good news is that the "Midnight Edition" I have comes with wheels in a "dark graphite" finish as per the wondow sticker. While not the most attractive finish in the world IMO, it is the perfect finish to hide brake dust. In that sense, the wheels are perfect.