This poll is to gain the perspective of our forum members on upgrading their wheels. Most older Lexus came with 15 and 16 inch wheels, the newer models have 16 - 18 inch wheels.

If you have (or had) the opportunity, would you upgrade the size of your wheels to a larger size than what came from Lexus?

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My thoughts on why people upgrade their wheels below, please chip in if you have other viewpoints.

Moving from a 15 or 16 inch wheel to a 17 or 18 inch wheel is usually done for handling and performance, as well as looks. The smaller wheels have a cushier ride and more sidewall, but a lot more roll in any turn.

19 and 20 inch wheels are usually put on primarly for the visual effect. You also do get some handling improvement over the smaller wheels, but that's offset by a harsher ride. Plus you've got to pay more attention to road surface for potholes, etc.

I like BIG....... but it also has to be FATT in the rear 9.5 -10.5 & front 8.5 - 9.5 :thumbup:

This is an excellent poll! :thumbup:

When I have the extra cash I'm gonna put 18's on.

I have to be honest, I'm more biased towards aesthetics than performance. I like the large diameter wheels because they fill the wheelwell when combined with and aggressive lowering. They also provide a visual "balance" for longer cars like mine. When I had my 16s on with a drop, the car looked as if it had training wheels on it. Larger wheels also reduce the fender gap, I notice that many manufacturers use large diameter wheels on their concept vehicles (05 Mustang has 20s, Cadillac Sixteen has 22's i believe).

Also, I have a one up problem, I cannot stand the thought of not getting the largest size that will fit correctly and allow a 1.5-2" lowering. If i had 19s, then I would be staring at every set of 20s that went by like, "Man I shoulda got the bigger ones"!!

I know there is a performance tradeoff associated with a large diameter package (when I put my stocks back on for about a month, it felt like my car had a TURBO installed), and you do feel harsh impacts, but it brings a smile to my face every time I look at it, and thats why I put up with the shortcomings.

Kinda like dating a beautiful, but tempremental woman I guess.

I have ran them all. Michigan roads are a pain, but you can run 20's if you want to be careful. I am finding out I really don't have the patients to be careful anymore so 18's sound real nice. I drive around 30k a year, I guess if I was on the road 12-15k it wouldn't be so bad, but driving so much I am asking for trouble.

A huge factor in my decision was not only owner feedback but what the competiton was running. I know we are not direct M5/E55 competition but those are cars I wanted to emulate in some aspects. They both run the same size I have now.

245/40/18 front 18x8.5 front, 275/35/18 rear

I figured the AMG and M engineers must have done hella research to figure this was the best size for their high-performance cars. The ride with 18s is great, not much worse than my OEM 17s. Sway bars hurt the ride more than anything.

Lexus L-tuned recommended the same front size but 265/35/18 rear. I saw no reason to go smaller. Also, I know how crazy I drive and I would mess up some 20s quickly!Larger wheels also reduce the fender gap, I notice that many manufacturers use large diameter wheels on their concept vehicles

I disagree dude larger wheels accent wheel gap. The spring is not compressing anymore. You just have a bigger wheel with big gap. A perfect example is the 2004 Maxima with the 18s. Large wheel, large gap.

Car makers HAVE TO put on larger wheels b/c cars are getting bigger and bigger and to offset an ugly look with 16" wheels, they are adding 17 and 18s on many cheaper cars. Hell the Acura CL-S has 17" wheels on a 6.5 inch wide rim, nothing performance about that. The 1st gen ES 300 was 52 inches high. The new one is 56 inches high. That is a 4 inch higher ride height!!!

I would/did upgrade my wheels from Lexus, which are the 16' 10 spoke chrome rims/225/55/16 tires.

I ended up going with the 17' GS400 wheels because of the sleek 5 spoke design and my unwillingness to sacrafice any ride comfort from having larger wheels/tires.

The days of having a showy car for me have since long gone.

Jon

great poll dave but did u have 2 say "dubs" makes me want 2 vote against them when i hear 20's mentioned tha tway... but i would always go 20's on a gs but i know people here love performance too..

I want to go bigger than my OEM 17's for the following three important reasons:

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I want lighter wheels than the stock 17's, so will be going to forged wheels
I want to get bigger rims simply because 17's look too small on a GS. My neighbour with a Honda Civic Si coupe has 17's on his car and that size wheel looks perfect on that size car. Imagine how a GS looks with 17's - yuck! :thumbdn:
I am concerned with the higher rotational inertia that a bigger wheel will cause, so I have to buy very light wheels to offset that. I will very likely go to 19's next year.
[/list=1]

Originally posted by 1SICKLEX

I disagree dude larger wheels accent wheel gap. The spring is not compressing anymore. You just have a bigger wheel with big gap. A perfect example is the 2004 Maxima with the 18s. Large wheel, large gap.

Car makers HAVE TO put on larger wheels b/c cars are getting bigger and bigger and to offset an ugly look with 16" wheels, they are adding 17 and 18s on many cheaper cars.

I did not elaborate, what I should have said was the larger wheel fills the fenderwell when combined with a lowered suspension. Of course without a drop big wheels makes the car look HIDEOUS. IMO when the car is lowered, larger wheels give an impression of aggresiveness since the eye mostly focuses on the wheel, and then the fender, you almost do not see the tire.

Also like Hameed said, in proportion to the size of the car, larger wheels look better.

I do agree that carmakers have to put larger wheels on their cars because they are just so large nowadays. Think about this, a GS is 189inches long, a 03 Altima is 191 inches long! Everybody is upsizing their models! LOL

The stock 16" doughnuts on my SC400 were great for a Buick type ride. I want more performance from my Sports Coupe.

I've had 17" and now 18" and I've loved them both. It helps with handling and really helps put the power to the pavement. I could get wheel spin with my 17's, but now I feel much more planted with the 18's.

Now 20's on my car seem too big. It's all relative, but from a performance standpoint you can cross the line and start getting diminishing returns. Also, when the car was designed 17's and 18's were as big as passenger cars got. The brakes were designed to stop only so much.

1996 ES--went from stock 205/65-15 to equivelant outside diameter 215/50-17 and love it. Handles much better, and the 50 series tires still provide a comfortable ride. (Yes, I know that's still a less aggressive setup than comes STOCK on newer GS, IS, and SC models, but it's a huge step up from the 205/65 "donuts" And remember, the older ES's don't like setups wider than 215, 225 at most--couldn't exactly go for 275's in the back :D )

I upgraded the wheels on my GS from 16 to 18in. I felt 18in wheels were a good compromise between looks, performance, and comfort. The GS does look even better with 19 or 20s, but living in NYC and since i drive this car everyday i didnt want to risk getting anything over 18s. Also a person's driving style is important in picking wheels, i tend to drive very hard, while 20s are more for cruising.

My 1993 LS400 had 225-60-16..........Geez.......Now, 20x9.5 REAL BRABUS Monoblock V:D

Hey guys!

I bought a 92 SC4 in August and I've been researching wheels/wraps since. I plan to make that my first upgrade (other than removing the snorkle from the airbox, which gave me a nice sound to the stock exhaust!).

I won't take any credit for this info, as I found it at www.intellexual.net and that person said some of it he got from clublexus folk, but my personal choice, given the chart there was to seek out a 19"X8.5" front wrapped in 245/40 and a 19"X10" wrapped in 275/35 for the rear. According to the intellexual.net site this will give me the same outside diameter as my stock 16s with stock rubber, and I double checked this to make sure.

After checking out my wheel well, I think I'll drop the car 1". We have poor roads in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, but this car will get garage treatment for the 6 months of winter! and I'll drive carefully.

The 1" drop came from intellexual.net as well. 1" should keep me within the Lex alignment specs and after inspecting the wheel wells, I decided I don't want any of the wheel / tire hiding beneath the fender / quarter pannels. This will be done with coil-overs, so I'll have room to play with ride height.

After reading the posts in this thread, a question arose in my head... I was under the impression that larger wheels and thinner tires actually helped lighten the wheel/tire combo. Is this not true? I realize it depends much on the rim you choose, but I read somewhere (so long ago I don't remember where) that tire rubber is heavy, compared to the additional material needed to go from say a 15" to a 18".

Whatever the case, in spring I'll be sportin' 19's, unless I find a drawback before then...

Also, Supra big break upgrade (or similar) and SS lines... Don't think I want to shell out the $$$ for brembos

Wow I'm kinda surprised at the preferences of this board!! Maybe this one should be a sticky to get maximum exposure.

I know there has to be more people that like large diameter wheels than the 13 that posted!

I got a set of 20" on order... I figured anything larger than OEM would destroy the ride, so why not go extreme all the way

Originally posted by gewe21
...why not go extreme all the way

Because there are varying degrees of "destroying the ride"?

and there's also varying degrees of "coolness", the bigger the wheels, the cooler the car looks, as long as:
- the model suits the car bodyline
- no shoving 24" in a GS, that's plain stupid... so the biggest that still go well in proportion
So I figured, let's go extreme and do 20... coz I have one bicycle to go around town anyways.... :D

Originally posted by gewe21
and there's also varying degrees of "coolness", the bigger the wheels, the cooler the car looks, as long as:
- the model suits the car bodyline
- no shoving 24" in a GS, that's plain stupid... so the biggest that still go well in proportion
So I figured, let's go extreme and do 20... coz I have one bicycle to go around town anyways.... :D


Very good point about the body line, and ludicris plus sizing.

If you dont mind, what 20s did you order for your LS. if you wanna keep it a secret , I understand:D :cool:

Not at all... I'm old school in style, hence the car of choice (LS43) and rims will be Wald Duchatelet 2 3 pcs... I just feel its dish style well matches the LS' fullness, big bulky/blocky shape ...
Other choices was 5 spoke style (Maya DTS) but it was too sporty for the LS...

19's:thumbup:
balance between prformance/looks imho

although nothing better than seeing a gs in motion on 20's with a deep lip:)

I'll be getting 18s in a few weeks. I love seeing 20s on a car, though. DGOT20s
ride looks hot and since we have the same color I really thought about putting some dubs on mine as well. His Dronells are tight as well. That car is sweet as hell...in a good way.

Actually some of the rims I am leaning towards have similiar designs. His car is an inspiration. His and another GS with the Lowenhart BR5s(not sure of his handle), are two of the best looking rides I have laid my eyes upon and they both are riding on 20s. I'd love to get a set under me but Chicago roads can be nasty and I want my smooth ride.

I really want 20's because of the look and the chicks (it's always about the chicks don't lie to ya self) but I love my ride on my stock 17's and I like 2 go fast but the 20's have more perks you know (the chicks:D )

I'll be upgrading from the 16's to an 18" wheel. Aesthetics and performance are key points yet the other is the shrinking choices in tires. My '80 Celica has stock 14" wheels and the pickings are becoming less as each year passes. Pop's '63 Fairlane on 13's is quite a challenge for him. Fine if you don't mind "C" stamped across the sidewall. ;)

The auto manufacturers keep making them bigger so the tire manufacturers accomodate.

20's for me all the way..................

I went from OEM 16s to OEM 17s. But I will eventually want 18s. Like RMNGS3, I wouldn't want to get any bigger than 18s on NYC streets.

The bigger the better :bigok:

that's me :cool:

I went from 15" bubbalicious rubber on stockies to 19" sexiness on Volks from their Fine Forged Line. The only way I could ever roll. Every single car I have owned has had wheel upgrades and they pretty much always will. I have a preference for Volks due to their excellent quality, relative low cost, decent exclusivity and best of all high resale.

I sold my last set after 3 years of ownership and lost almost nothing. :bigthumbu

I perfer keeping my stock wheels personally. :bigok: :cool:

my 17" Supra TT wheels are nice... but for meets/shows i plan on getting some 19's...

keepin it stock so far. :p

I can't agree more with upgrading to 19's, the SC wheel wells are just too large for 15"-16" stocks.

My personal opinion is that an 18" wheel is the max size for me and the SC. I think 19"+ looks sexy as hell!!! But as someone said before, you reach a point where you start getting diminishing returns. While my car is stock now, if I decide to upgrade the wheels it would be to an 18" (Volk preferrably), with a small suspension drop. The end result I would want is something much more focused on performance than flat out aesthetics. Plus, I'd still like to be able to drive every day (it is my daily driver) and not be as concerned with the road conditions.

19' rules!!!!!!!!!! :woot:

i'm actually thinking of downgrading from 17" to 16" to get a better ride and a larger factor of safety when i run over potholes. with all the rain we've been having in the bay area, the potholes are sprouting too quickly.

ricky

Because I plan to do a little more performance modifications to my RX, I plan to stay at 16 inch. Right now, I have 235-70-16 Michelin CrossTerrains, an upgrade from 225-70-16 Goodyear Integritys. The stock rim is about 25 to 26 lbs with the tire being 26 lbs. I want to first reduce the rim weight to 15 lbs or less if possible for the budget and move to a 225-60-16 tire that will have slightly less weight but also more revolutions per minute for better power transfer to the wheels (unsprung weight coming down big time). I am looking at Bridgestone and Sumitomo tires since they fit the mold for that size.

Keeping it stock, unless I'm doin exterior modifications (body kit, springs, rims)

stock for me
IMO, lexus is targeting full luxury with quiet and comfort
only stock wheels can do that
18 and 19 will need thin profile and noisy tires on my 2nd Gen GS300
not what i want

I had my IS for all of 3 months, and that was it for the factory 18's. Went straight to 20's, and haven't looked back since.