Brake Squeal on V12 Vantage
 

I've had my car for about 2 weeks now and live in downtown Chicago where i rarely get over 45mph. Its somewhat stop and go between lights and stop signs. After a few days of having the car, i noticed that the brakes started to make a really loud squeal when i came to a stop. So loud that anyone on the street would look in my direction.

I asked the dealer if something was wrong and they told me that they would make that noise until the brakes get heated up. I can understand that these are race car brakes and probably do function better when running hot, but in my scenario, the car isnt being driven hard enough to get to that point.

Is this normal? Has any other V12 Vantage owner experienced this? I definitely don't want to accept that there is nothing that I can do to get this rectified other than having hot brake pads. That to me is not a solution for city driving, which i do a lot of.

Thank you.

Try bedding your brakes in with some hard stops. This is a common problem on all Vantages. Mine didn't go away until I had the brake shims done.

I can sometimes hear a very quiet, high-pitched squeak when stopping at a stoplight. It doesn't bother me at that level and I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a louder squeak, like I had with my V8 before I shimmed up.

Carbon rotors do tend to make noise when cold, once they heat up and you bed-in the pads it goes away. On the V8V you have options to mitigate it, but on the V12 there aren't many options b/c of the unique carbon setup.

I haven't really noticed this. My V8 did that a lot. I will say however, that a race friend of mine gave me the "hard Braking" tip to warm the tires and brakes and I do that almost every time so may be there is something to it. Having said that, get that car over 45. I bought mine in December and it was difficult to get the car out and up to speed because of the roads and weather. Now, I let it rip at every opportunity. The car really loves speed and is at its best when your zooming.

This might not help you with the V12, due to your carbon - - but for all others, I was told a great trick - REVERSE at a reasonable speed and hit the brakes a few times. Worked great for me.

Are you referring to just jamming on the brakes at around 50-60mph? this might be a silly question, but i am new to sports cars. last 2 vehicles were range rovers.

+1 ... this is even better than bedding-in the brakes in forward gears. It also helps prevent the pads from glazing over.

All these tips are of course temporary. If the compound itself squeaks ultimately it will come back, but hopefully these tips will be helpful in at least mitigating it until you decide to make brake changes later come time for replacement.

out of curiosity, how much do you think its going to cost to replace the brakes on the V12's?

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:rolleyes:

ha. thanks for the detailed analysis.

curious how long the ceramic discs last before they need replacing too.

I tried EVERYTHING, still squeal like a pig. I am getting good at looking around when it squeal, so other at the lights look else where. And wear sunglasses...

my service rep, who is very knowledgeable and nice, just recommended we switch the pads on my car to these since majority of my driving is in the city and the brakes rarely heat up enough.

http://www.federalmogul.com/en/After...e/Thermoquiet/

Has anyone had an experience or heard anything about these?

Haven't heard of those pads, but if they don't perform as well, I'd pass. I've decided I like my slight squeak. Again, it's really faint, and it reminds me that I have carbon-ceramic discs at the ready.

Mine isnt slight unfortunately. I'm basically getting a loud squeal at every red light and stop sign. Its pretty embarrassing actually. I own a $200k car with noisy brakes. :o