New Front Pads & Rotors

[marvin]

Hi all,

Recently I was quoted in excess of $2700 for new pads and
rotors by the goons Lexus of Brisbane (Indooroopilly) which was $500 more than
what I paid for last time. I decided to do some hunting around to find and alternative
suitable to be used in daily drive situations. After flicking off a few emails
to DBA, Project mu and others I found the best value for my dollar was a set of
Remsa high performance Pads (which are rated to 650 degrees according to Brakes
direct & the Remsa website) and Protex Stock replacement rotors from Brakes
Direct aka GSL Rallysport. I was quoted $416 for pads & rotors which is
crazy cheap. I decided to give them a go knowing that if they were trash I’d
only be $416 down…. I also had the brakes fitted by my trusted mechanic at
Bridgestone tyre Select Woolloongabba.

The verdict……

Positives: Coming up to 1000km & I have to say I haven’t
noticed too much difference between the new set of rotors & pads and the
OEM Brembos…. Braking feels progressive and predictable. I can’t give too much
comments about hard braking just yet but so far I am impressed. The pads seem
to be lower dusting than stock but I will still need to confirm this. Oh yeah
and the price.

Also on a non technical note the customer service from
Brakes direct was superb.

Negatives: The protex rotors to not have a painted hub…. Now
I got some nasty surface rusting going on… Might pull it off and paint myself.
Next time I’ll be either buying the project mu rotors which are already painted…..
or I’ll be painting the protex rotors myself before install….

Overall the experience has been good.... And I’m happy to
know I won’t need to be torn a new one by Lexus of Brisbane again.

Hope this info is useful to all my fellow F drivers.

Peace.

PS I'll be uploading Pics soon.

[marvin]

Pads & Rotors Photos

[ilv1004s]

Sweet looks the goods mate

[malibu]

If anyone is interested I have one set of ISF OEM rear pads brought in from the US that I am selling for $170 (what they cost me). pm me if interested .

[ISFBloke]

I just ordered a set of fours Stoptech pads from the US for $230.00 including shipping. Rotors will approx $500.00 for a set of four and apparently they an handle some occasional track usage There are good reviews on them on the M3 forums as well. We shall see but considering I can get 4 sets of these on the price of one OEM we can't go wrong I say.

[ISFBloke]

sorry 8 sets I should say

[marvin]

I also heard some good reviews about the stoptech pads.... Where did you source them from?? Are they Stoptech rotors as well?

[ISFBloke]

message these guys on ebay: brakelabs

[ISFBloke]

however I find local dealership prices unrealistic (way too much) I will get them to fit them and service my car as their service is unparalleled.

[ISFBloke]

also not sure about the rotors as I track the car sometimes and I need no warping after sessions so still looking. Suggestions are welcome.

[RecursiveLoop]

I track the car too, and I have found the OEM brakes to be excellent. However, you are right that the stealership will overcharge you on the pads/rotors. I think best would be to import them from Sewell or somewhere else and get the dealership to install them if you want to keep the OEM experience.

A lot of people forget that prior to the LFA, the ISF was the car that was developed by Toyota that spent the most development time on the track. So it's natural that the OEM brakes are suited for the punishment that track work brings. However they are also expensive.

I'm all for aftermarket alternatives but also wary of those that have not been through the same quality control processes that Toyota put the car through.

Obviously if you don't track the car it's not a problem.

[marvin]

I've heard plenty of good reviews about the Project mu Pads & Rotors... but nothing specifically about tracking the car.... Otherwise Elgin is right.... OEM should be good.... I just can't justify the prices and I don't track the car.

[ISFBloke]

exactly that is why I am still looking, if I find something will post it here.

[ilv1004s]

Vincent has Project Mu pads and hes complaining about excessive sqeels

[ISFBloke]

my OEM setup sounds like a road train after a track day and won't go away..

[Lexo]

just wondering if you guys also replaced the brake pads when you replaced the front rotors? It's just that I recently had my RXh serviced at my dealership and it had new front rotors replaced for the cost of $500 (reason - below minimum thickness). However, they said the brake pads were still good so they didn't need replacing. I'm going by their words but from what Google is telling me, it's highly recommended to replace the pads when you put in new rotors.

[revolution]

Vincent has Project Mu pads and hes complaining about excessive sqeels

Yes, I put these in about 600-700 km's ago. First 500 km's I didn't really notice that much noise at all so I thought sweet!!!

Then all of a sudden it started squealing like a pig in heat when at low speeds, especially coming to a stop. It was extremely annoying and a bit embarrassing as well whilst in traffic . I got my mechanic to take out the pads then clean, re-grease and sand down the pads+rotors.

Right now it seems to have gone back to normal with just a little bit of noise which is expected on these brakes. I basically had to do a very hard bed in process and it has solved the problem *touch wood*. I admit I do try and take it too easy on the car sometimes so I do brake very lightly which could have been a contributor to pad material not transferring onto the rotor hence causing the excessive amount of squealing.

Performance wise just for street\spirited driving it performs great and I can't tell a difference compared to the stock Brembo pads. Only main difference is that there is about 90% less dust which is a HUGE difference.

[marvin]

Hey Lexo,

I stumbled upon this info.... It is reccomended that you machine or replace your rotors if you're changing brake compounds or using a different brand of pad...(As per Brakes Direct video on their facebook site - https://www.facebook.com/brakesdirect)

But for the other way around... I can't imagine it would pose too much of a problem providing the pad/rotors have been bedded in and the pads still have enough meat to do the job. Best thing to do I guess is get a 2nd opinion from another trusted mechanic I guess. Definately start asking questions if you notice a difference in braking performance.

Best of luck with the RXh!

[Lexo]

Thanks Marvin.

The dealer said they had inspected the pads and they are still fine.

Dumb question:

Looking at my rotor, I see the shiny ring where the pad brushed with the rotor. Around the middle of this shiny ring, there is a .5mm ring which appears it is not being brushed. Can I assume that this is normal coz looking up images on Brake Pads in Google, I see some brake pads have a groove on the pads (escape for brake dust?) which may explain this unbrushed ring around the rotor?.

[marvin]

Do you have the old rotors to inspect/compare?

[Lexo]

I don't. In highsight, I probably should have asked for the old parts.

[- Raven -]

Vincent has Project Mu pads and hes complaining about excessive sqeels

Yes, I put these in about 600-700 km's ago. First 500 km's I didn't really notice that much noise at all so I thought sweet!!!

Then all of a sudden it started squealing like a pig in heat when at low speeds, especially coming to a stop. It was extremely annoying and a bit embarrassing as well whilst in traffic . I got my mechanic to take out the pads then clean, re-grease and sand down the pads+rotors.

Right now it seems to have gone back to normal with just a little bit of noise which is expected on these brakes. I basically had to do a very hard bed in process and it has solved the problem *touch wood*. I admit I do try and take it too easy on the car sometimes so I do brake very lightly which could have been a contributor to pad material not transferring onto the rotor hence causing the excessive amount of squealing.

Performance wise just for street\spirited driving it performs great and I can't tell a difference compared to the stock Brembo pads. Only main difference is that there is about 90% less dust which is a HUGE difference.

Hey Vincent,

Was it the NS pads you got? Are you still happy with them?

[revolution]

Hey Matty,

Yes I am still quite happy with these pads. Also yes I got the Type NS, but I believe there is now a Type NS400 which does not have the cut out for the wear sensors (which our cars do not have) so gives a bit more pad surface.

I got them through a re-seller here in Sydney, but you can choose to buy directly from PMU AU if there is no re-seller in NT:

http://www.project-mu.com.au/en/products/pad_ns.php

They are progressively making less and less noise now. Basically if I have driven the car for a day and accumulated a bit of dust it will squeal when cold. Once I give it a good foot or 2 it quietens down and will make minimal noise overall.

The 90% reduction in dust is a trade off I am willing to make if it squeals a bit here and there. Then again, from memory the OEM Brembo pad's made noise anyways, except they made my wheels all brown and a major PITA to clean.

Vincent.

[- Raven -]

Cheers mate, I've had my eye on those for quite a while for when mine are due to be changed. Either these or Dixcels. Still not sure on which rotors though? It'll be this year some time I'd say.

Yep, the stock pads dust like crazy! I got a silica coating on my wheels, no dust sticks to them! Makes cleaning them a piece of piss! ;)

[Boarder]

In anticipation of replacing rotors I had been doing some research and according to info on the US forums, the Raybestos brand rotor is actually made by Brembo. Last I looked you could get them on Ebay from the states. Not sure if anyone locally has tried these?