Today I got new wheels put on our GS. While at the shop I saw some interesting cars. A guy that works there has 24's on his 300C. There was a kid putting 22's on his 3GS. There was also a guy putting 22's on his brand new 07/08 MB CL. All of these cars needed a lot of chopping and cutting to make these massive wheels fit. I'm getting older and there are a lot of young guys in the game. Here at CL there are a lot of younger guys.

My question is would you do something like that to your car? Why not stop at 20 or 21? Why cut into your suspension? Why cut into your well. Fender rolling I can understand. But the plastics under the wheel well were put there for a purpose. Is it worth it to go extra large?

 

In my opinion I wouldn't ever cut anything I can't return back to normal if I ever wanted it to. I personally wouldn't go beyond 19s.

 

I would never do something that drastic - especially on the $$$ cars you were talking about.

Jonny

 

I wouldn't do it either, but then again I do somethings with my RX300 others might not do with theirs, so who am I to argue if someone wants to do this.

 

I don't see the appeal in ridiculously large rims at all, and I'm only 23

 

I hate large rims and by large i mean above 20 or so on a sedan , and im 19

 

For the longest time I wanted a 2001 Silverado on 28"s, I have since grown out of this want,lol. I would put big wheels on a car if I had an extra chunk of money laying around. I'd rather have a fast sports car though. I like big rims on cars that they fit. i mean 20"s on a civic is ugly. I guess it matters on what car it is how big I would like. BTW I'm 19 too

 

Never mind the age question. I wouldn't recommend it , no matter how young or old you are....for several reasons.

First, massive wheels like that, with ultra-low profile rubber-band-shaped tires, really work only on glass-smooth roads, in dry weather. Get a road with bumps, waves, creases, potholes, frost heaves, etc....and you not only get a harsh ride that can knock rattles into the car's structure but can damage the wheels and even cause them to crack and fail due to little rubber on the tire to protect them.
And extremely low-prifile tires, in general, have little traction an anything but a dry surface.

Second, the car was designed, at the factory, to run with the wheels and tires that the engineers put on. The speedometer, odometer, steering gear, suspension, brake rotors, and calipers were designed to operate with those specific factory wheel-tire combinations. Start messing with this by
putting on oversize wheel combinations whose outside tire rollling diameter is larger than stock and you can mess up the speedometer and odometer readings ( the wheels will rotate slower at any given speed and distance traveled and give too-slow speedometer and too-low odometer readings). Many CL members have done this and then complain about the speeding tickets they get because their speedometer reads too slow.
Aftermarket wheels and tires, in SOME circumstances, ( not all ) can also block the airflow to the front brakes that is necessary for brake cooling, and cause suspension and steering effects that the engineers did not intend for that suspension.

Third, in some cases, switching to aftermarket wheels can limit or void one's warranty coverage ( check with the dealer service manager on this ) . The manufacturer cannot be responsible for any damage to the car that results from altering the standard factory wheel and tire-size package.

Now, of course, some people DO put on aftermarket wheels and tires and have little or no problem....and there are some people who will disagree with my position on this. But I, myself, have seen enough people over the years have enough problems that, in good conscience, I cannot recommend it.

And, true, there are a lot of aftermarket companies that sell conversion tuner packages....companies like Saleen, Roush, Lingenfelter, etc.....but they don't just swap wheels and tires *****-nilly. They are companies that employ professional auto engineers that know what they are doing, make all the required changes in the car's engine, chassis, brakes, electronics, and suspension to handle the conversion, and, most important, offer their OWN warranties to address the warranty issue.

 

I agree with some of you but defintely depending on the car 22's only fit the big "BIG BODIED" cars like my Q, the 750 and S-Class. Honestly the ride is ULTRA smooth and people marvel about how well the car rides with the ultra thin tires. What people need to know is the car is either going to ride smooth or rough depending on the car's suspension. The Q45 has an Auto dampening suspension and can be set at different levels of comfort. I just leave it on automatic and the car feels like its riding on glass. You can not tell the difference if you were riding on stock wheels vs 22's other than hitting potholes of course. But other than that I have sacrificed NOTHING and would do it again. If you go big with 22's on a GS, Maxima, ALtima and other shorter cars with shorter wheelbases the suspension was not made for wheels of that magnitude which indeeds put stresses on the car and leads to other mechanical problems.

 

It was just hurting my heart to see that technician taking a power saw to that brand new CL. BTW, the new CL looks way better in person than I thought from looking at pics. Anyway, I went closer to see what was going on. The bolt that connects the top horizontal arm to the vertical arm was being cut off to make room for oversized wheels. The offsets were rediculous. The tires so low profile I can't call them tires. The guy will definitely be back for bending a rim. I just thought it was disgusting. That's harsh but that's how I felt.
The other two cars also had tires so skinny, they can't be much protection. In fact, this is the second set of wheels for the 300c. The 3GS hurt the most. Beautiful car with gigantic wheels. Just crazy.

 

This guy at the wheel shop in anaheim said they didnt have to cut or mod anything for the 22's to fit on the Lexus. But I do know a few have said they have rubbing problems on the GS.

 

Well, some people feel that they need to have huge rims, perhaps to compensate for their small genitalias. Personally, I feel that anything more than 17, at least on a GS, is too big.

 

I wouldn't go larger than 20" rims myself. However, I'm one of those that like to try and get as wide a rim as possible. Depending on what exact body work or cutting is needed I can say I may or may not do it. It just depends on what needs to be cut. I'm reaching my mid 30s and it seems like my modifications wants and needs are growing stronger I just like to change things up from stock and make things sort of my own. I'm also trying to get my 3.5 year old son into modifying cars. I figure I rather him spend all his money on cars than drinking and drugs. Also, I hope he/we can learn some useful skills and techniques along the way like welding, metal fabrication, body work and such.

For me, I'm still on the conservative side but I have no problem doing heavy modifications if I can afford it or I have the skills to do it. More power to them I say. I think there is nothing better than someone simply enjoying his car whether stock or heavily modified. Do whatever makes you happy

 

17's on a gs look small. 19's fill the wheel well just right. the genatalias comment was funny. i feel the guys with small rims have small wallets and that will hurt with the ladies to, so i guess your screwed either way...

 

I'd say the reason 99% of guys buy ridiculously oversized rims (not 18s, 19s, or even 20s on the right car, I'm talking about rims way too big for the car) is to show females that they have money to waste on something shiny. Otherwise, I absolutely can't understand the appeal. I like a set of nice looking rims as much as the next guy, but 22s on a GS sounds ridiculous to me