Hi.

What are the advantages of 16" whees/tires vs. 15"?

Also, I found 16" wheels I'm interested in which includes tires which are 215-60-16. The recommended 16" tire for my car is 205-60-16. Is the difference in width going to be an issue other than maybe throwing the speedometer off a little?

I have a 1998 Lexus ES300.

Thank you.

 

Find a tire calculator - https://tiresize.com/calculator/ - a 205 vs a 215 is 10mm.. that a tiny amount. You likely wont notice any difference.

 

Yeah seems like the sizes are very similar and won't cause any major issues. I would recommend new tires anyway if your budget allows for it, would greatly improve the ride comfort. The 16" vs 15" is mostly a visual improvement. There is a very slight sharpness and responsiveness upgrade with the 16". I've had 15's, 16's, and 17's on my 1998. I prefer the 16".

 

Hello,

I know UCF20 LS400 wheels (P225/60R16) fit in those cars with no issues, added width won't affect the diameter of the wheel, so the speedometer readings will stay the same. I have 16" Platinum Edition rims, they were later used on some Avalons, here are some pictures, I personally think those are the best looking on those cars, but they are tough to find nowadays.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

This is probably a silly question but would adding a slightly larger wheel and tire put more strain on the power steering pump due to the increase weight etc? My car has about 209k and the power steering pump I think is original.

 

Technically, in practice won't matter. Power steering pumps never, ever fail in these cars if you keep the fluid fresh. Eventually the high pressure line will fail and leak.

 

i've never changed out the power steering fluid before but would an easy way to replace the fluid be taking like a turkey baster and remove as much fluid as possible then refill. Then drive car for a while to circulate fluid then replace again until clear?

 

Yes that works, the process is a bit slow. Dirty fluid ruins the pump seals and lines.

Alternatively you can raise both front wheels do the turkey baster thing no need to run the engine, turning the steering wheel lock to lock this moves fluid through the system.

 

The 16’s don’t affect the steering enough to notice, it stays very light. Going to a heavier 17” wheel will definitely make it harder to steer. It all comes down to weight of the wheel assembly and friction of the tire.

Here is my 98 with Avalon 16” wheels.

 

I purchased the used 16" wheels and tires. The wheels came from a newer Toyota Camry Hybrid. My Lexus hub caps fit which is cool! The tires are an all season touring tire, 215-60-16. I like how they handle!

Here is a photo my 98 ES300 with the new wheels:

 

Thank you everyone for your input! I really appreciate it!

 

Those rims are in pristine shape, they look like new.

Mines have been through hell and back, they are pretty beat-up, and turns out finding different ones is quite a challenge nowadays, while Avalon rims look similar, they have a different texture, ES has more of a flat finish with barely visible ribs on the surface, which makes a world of a difference, below is the picture. This little detail also makes it a lot more difficult to restore those, it's hard to replicate the texture in damaged places and regular powder coat would just cover it up.

 

I liked my OEM Lexus wheels but the chrome was apparently flaking off in the inside which caused the tires to slowly loose pressure. Refurbished ones on EBAY are expensive! So I was happy to find these Toyota 16" wheels with nice tires on them.

 

Oh yeah, that's the thing about chrome wheels, sooner or later, chrome will start flaking off, to the point of weights flying along with it. That's part of a reason why I don't like chrome on wheels, it will never look like new, no matter what you do to it..

 

I know exactly what you mean about the finish. Mine are actually pretty rough and could use a cosmetic restoration. The Platinum ES300 wheels are really nice but very difficult to find used for a decent price. The finish appears to be diamond cut by a CNC machine with paint on the inner sections.