ATL350

Couple of reasons perhaps... the bigger wheels came with the huge push by the automotive press to have everything be “sporty”. 0-60 time are the prime concern of many car reviews, and then “handling” for “canyon carving” and “driving switchbacks”, because, hey, isn’t that we all drive every day over the normal poorly maintained, potholed roads of real life? The trend incudes the largest possible wheels (optional, of course, so more money to the dealers/manufacturer). The auto companies furthered this by the design of the wheel well openings, making them larger so that the standard base tires look “too small” and you have to pay more for the larger combo. This obsession with sport, most of which is mere pretense and mainly trim/appearance detail (does you family hauler minivan or SUV really need an under 5-second 0-60 time lest it be, gasp, somehow “unsafe”?) has been sold to the public who was often given little choice. So we get hard ride and seats with overly aggressive bolsters and blacked out trim (which is sporty, how, exactly?). There is also the rarely mentioned added cost (sometimes much higher) to replace those tires and wheels, and the cost in ride comfort. To counter the lousy ride dynamics the auto manufacturers have had a spend a lot of money in suspension design with adaptive dampers or even air suspensions, all of which can smooth out the ride nicely, but substantially increase the purchase and maintenance cost of those cars, and are usually only available on higher end cars/models anyway.

If one wants a sporty car and ride, that’s cool but it has become the default in many instances. This generation ES is probably the firmest riding ever; still nice in comparison with many other models, perhaps, but not what is used to be (and they really screwed up the LX as reflected in sales numbers). I fear the next generation will continue that trend, lifted higher ala Crown, with the big wheel/stiff ride/hard seat combo. Basically we have less choice and less comfort than we used to. Like most cars the ES is built to a price point, and it’s doubtful air suspension or fully adaptive dampers will be offered.

mikemu30

Yep - I fall for the larger wheels every time and primarily for appearance - but I LOVE THEM!. Couldn't care less about the cost to replace, firmer ride, mpg etc. So true the smaller wheels don't fill the wells at all and makes it a non starter for me.

hotwings

Car makers made the wheel wells bigger to accomodate their crazy sized tires!
@ALT350 is spot on!

LexFinally

In a word, styling.

Cars' sides have gotten much taller in recent years because of side-impact crash regulations. Today's cars have to more or less resist invasion if they're T-boned by a high-bumpered SUV. If you look at cars 20 years ago and now, even small cars today have much higher, sheer sides (check out the evolution of the Corolla, Civic or Miata for a dramatic example).

Stylists have been left with limited options to make up for that "wall of sheetmetal" look. One was the steeply scalloped sides created by Chris Bangle at BMW just to break up the visual monotony. I hate it, but that's one big reason he did it. And variations of it persist today in cars as diverse as Elantra compact sedans and Lexus SUVs. Another is to fill up some of that tall space with bright, decorative, taller wheels. As pointed out here, tall wheels demand low-section tires, which has cascading negative effects on ride and lessened wheel protection. But if they didn't do it, the cars would look ridiculous.

As an aside, another question we often hear is why modern cars have ridiculously huge grilles. That's a similar story: Today's cars must meet standards for not gutting pedestrians in a crash, so they're mandated to have blunt, soft plastic noses. The huge grilles are to disguise that problem so the car's nose doesn't look like giant featureless condom, which people would like even less.

hotwings

This is the first explanation I've heard that makes any sense but they don't have to be pushing the low profile tires so hard, they could inrease sidewall height with smaller wheels.

LexFinally

Yeah, but there's only so much room in the wheelwell. The lower the tire, the blingier the wheel can be. This also gives the carmaker one of the few remaining ways to make the high-priced model look blingier than the base model, which is how we got to the bizarre place where the base car rides better than the extra-cost version.

I'm not saying this is a good thing. I'm just saying it appears to be why it's happened.

mikemu30

I get it and that's why I want them filled to capacity

ndunn

I've been in the market looking for a car during the past two years. I have considered everything from an SUV to a Corvette and have finally landed on the ES 350 as my choice for it's relative practicality, dependability and feature set. After test driving the car it feels right enough and it just makes sense as is. I have witnessed the disappearance of basic and what I consider common sense features and now feel this model will succumb to those forces so there is an urgency to purchase before it is too late.

I have one qualm that has bugged me though and that is the inflexible set of options that they all come with and on top of that some dealers insist on protection packages and pulse devices and if I don't accept that, well forfeit the meager discount they offer of $2500. In this day and age the car market is inflexible and customer choice is quickly disappearing. Since I am accepting a prebuilt feature set of options I don't care for at least the dealer could resist piling onto the money grab and provide the customer a modicum of choice and the ability to say no without walking away. I look forward to purchasing a vehicle which will provide me an escape from this market for many years to come for it is maddening.

hotwings

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mikemu30

No instead spend $60k on a vehicle that you'll hate the looks of every time you get in? Cmon.

hotwings

EXACTLY
I'm not convinced the lower weight oil is really all about fuel economy based on the point you made.

hotwings

So you hated the way cars looked for decades before wheel sizes became ludicrous?
Guess we just have to agree to disagree, but I wish there was a better choice for logical thinkers

Shaboom

Yep—-you hit the nail on the head. Buy a 2024 ES 350 equipped with everything you want, maintain it conscientiously, shelter it thoughtfully, drive it responsibly and be spared, for a long time, the ordeal of searching and paying for another ever rarer, sensibly priced, safe, reliable and stylish sedan.

mikemu30

Like you said, let's agree to disagree. Call it personal preference. But yes indeed I hate the way the ES looks with 17" wheels and the new RX with the base wheels just doesn't fit the look of a $60K vehicle - TO ME.

eyesurgeon

Oversized wheels and tires are possibly the worst modern trend in the automotive world, along with the automotive media-driven ruining of luxury cars with an obsession on track performance. It takes very sophisticated suspensions to mitigate the ride-ruining effect of larger wheels, which adds expense and complications, increases flat tires and wheel damage. Luxury EVs like the Porsche sedan that I had as a loaner for 2 months are the worst, they spend so much money eeking out EV range and then immediately knock off 15% of the range with oversized wheels because people demand them. One of the reasons I bought the Lux was 18s instead of the F sport 19s.