As no doubt all of you agree brake dust can be a major pain in the ***. I have to replace my brake pads and wonder what all you think in terms of best ceramic choices? I am likely going with either the Bosch QuietCast Ceramic or Power Stop Evolution Z23 (which have great reviews). I am aiming for very quiet, dust free but also increased stopping power on the rare occasions I push on. Laughably, the Jaguar original pads on AutohausAZ are $321.

 

Quietness, almost any ceramic pad is going to yield very low dust. So, the 2 that you list are going to be good options. The only "downside" that I can really give ceramics is that when they are really cold, they can be a little greasy (ie, been driving for an hour in cold weather and need to hit the brakes). But, that quickly goes away. The same can be said for wet weather and not using your brakes a lot. But, a quick stab with the pedal and that feeling goes away in no time flat. It is when you want to apply jus ta little bit of pedal that you feel like the brakes are not working. I have used Power Stops on my vehicles and have been happy with them.

 

Thanks Thermo - great advice as always; much appreciated. You are kind and an invaluable asset to this forum; thank you.

I think I will go with the power stops Z23. I found under hard driving the brake fade on whatever is on there right now was frightening. At some point I'd be interested to see how upgraded calipers might affect the braking, but that might go against my policy of driving slow in my old age... (talking of which did they ever make the 3.0 litre without the supercharger...) Once these electrical gremlins and brake service is behind me, the next project may well have to be the horrid computer interface. Have you upgraded yours yet?

 

Quietness, I used to have a 2012 and I found that radio to be lack luster and in general, a barely suitable radio for that class of car. It was very slow and it took a second for the buttons to respond. Back in April 2023, I ended up totalling the 2012 XJ and I got a 2016 XJL. OVerall the radio is better, but still not what I would call on par with the rest of the car. If it wasn't such a bugger to replace the radio and put in an afternarket one, I would have done that a long time ago. If you are going to upgrade to the 2016 radio, then yes, you wil see an improvement. But, do not be expecting miracles. it is still going to be a glitchy thing. I would say for reference, I have a 16 GB memory stick that I have pretty much full with music (takes 8 months to get through all the songs driving an hour plus a day). When I start up the car, it takes the radio about 30 seconds before it wil start playing music. It is a little bit better if you download that music into the radio itself, but you are limited to roughly 12 GB of music. Now it only takes about 20 seconds for the radio to reach a point of playing music. I am counting from the time I start the car until I hear music, doing nothing else with the radio. You do other things and it will take longer. If I could be "king for a day", I would do like what they have in my wife's Altima. It has a separate A/C-Heat controller and the radio is just that, a radio with entertainment functions. You could pull the radio and not affect everything else in the car. All of my other cars, i have upgraded the radio to something much nicer than the factory would ever think about adding. Hell, my 86 T-bird had karaoke in it. that was a fun function to play with. Besides, going with something aftermarket, I would break the link that Jaguar has on the car and being able to look at the car with those that have the web browser based radio.

As for the 3.0L motor, there is a 3.0L variant that is not supercharged, but it is turbo'ed. But, that is also a diesel engine. Starting in 2013, you got a supercharged petrol engine in either the 3.0L or 5.0L size.

 

With regards to brakes, PowerStop is a good brand for ceramics. My favorite is Akebono, if they are available. I haven't checked yet to see if they are available for my new-to-me XJL.

 

I put Power Stop Z16 Evolution (ceramic) brake pads on my 2010 XFS and they were the best brake pads I have ever used - smooth, quiet, powerful, no fade and almost zero dust. I would fit them in a heartbeat to my F-Type but they don't make them in my sizes.
I assume the Z23 would be just as good if not better braking power wise.
The AJ126 V6 as in your car is/was only ever SC, no such thing as a NA version.

 

There are two tricks to make 2010 - 2012 (maybe up to 2015?) respond faster. Turn the "animations" Off. -> You only lose "sparkling" on top left of the button you pressed, what you don´t see anyway, because your finger is on way of sight. And upgrade latest Nav update (2020).
With these the response changed to 0.2 - 0.5sek on my 2010. Not a level of modern phone, but in usable so that the delay is not anymore notable.

Edit: I tested the EBC ceramic pads, but went back to normal ones, because ceramics did not gave much braking confidence on -25C winter temps.

 

That makes a lot of sense in -25 !!! I am in much warmer climes...

 

If low dust is what you are after I would recommend Porterfield R4-S. I've had them on the XJs and it's a night and day difference from factory.
There is now a new player in the brake game that I'm yet to try on the XJ but will on my next change. It seems a few of the F-Type guys love them.
I have installed a set of their pads on a 2019 Lexus GS F-Sport and they produce even less dust than my Porterfields.
Dynamic Friction 5000 Euro Ceramic Brake Pads
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/f...e-pads-272043/

 

I have used and like the ceramic Akebono pads. That car had chrome rims and the stock black Brembo dust was intense!
But I now run CF pads from Porterfield. Same as posted above I currently use the R4-S pads on my 2014 XJR.
About 25K miles on them and still no complaints. But this car has black rims so dust does not show as much.
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