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Not everyone's cup of tea. Downsized from the 18" luxury wheels to 17" Enkei PF01's from my last car. Kept the 18's to use for my winter tires. If I bought them new, I would have gone with a different color since matte grey on beige is kind of ugly. But I already had them and free is hard to pass up.
I purchased the ESh strictly as a work car and for practicality over nearly anything else. If I were purchasing for looks or performance, I would have stayed with Acura and picked up a TLS-Type S. I drive Uber and Lyft part time and focus on the premier and comfort rides. The ESh is perfect for that. Comfortable, efficient, roomy and reliable.
17's have the added benefit of
not curbing nearly as easily as larger wheels
soak up bumps better with a larger sidewalls
only weigh 16 lbs. per wheel (vs. 27 lbs for the 18" lux wheels) which reduces jarring with potholes and road imperfections due to less unsprung weight
Not everyone's cup of tea. Downsized from the 18" luxury wheels to 17" Enkei PF01's from my last car. Kept the 18's to use for my winter tires. If I bought them new, I would have gone with a different color since matte grey on beige is kind of ugly. But I already had them and free is hard to pass up.
I purchased the ESh strictly as a work car and for practicality over nearly anything else. If I were purchasing for looks or performance, I would have stayed with Acura and picked up a TLS-Type S. I drive Uber and Lyft part time and focus on the premier and comfort rides. The ESh is perfect for that. Comfortable, efficient, roomy and reliable.
17's have the added benefit of
not curbing nearly as easily as larger wheels
soak up bumps better with a larger sidewalls
only weigh 16 lbs. per wheel (vs. 27 lbs for the 18" lux wheels) which reduces jarring with potholes and road imperfections due to less unsprung weight
uses tires that are less expensive.
Would you happen to know the width and offset of the aftermarket wheels?
Not everyone's cup of tea. Downsized from the 18" luxury wheels to 17" Enkei PF01's from my last car. Kept the 18's to use for my winter tires. If I bought them new, I would have gone with a different color since matte grey on beige is kind of ugly. But I already had them and free is hard to pass up.
I purchased the ESh strictly as a work car and for practicality over nearly anything else. If I were purchasing for looks or performance, I would have stayed with Acura and picked up a TLS-Type S. I drive Uber and Lyft part time and focus on the premier and comfort rides. The ESh is perfect for that. Comfortable, efficient, roomy and reliable.
17's have the added benefit of
not curbing nearly as easily as larger wheels
soak up bumps better with a larger sidewalls
only weigh 16 lbs. per wheel (vs. 27 lbs for the 18" lux wheels) which reduces jarring with potholes and road imperfections due to less unsprung weight
Not everyone's cup of tea. Downsized from the 18" luxury wheels to 17" Enkei PF01's from my last car. Kept the 18's to use for my winter tires. If I bought them new, I would have gone with a different color since matte grey on beige is kind of ugly. But I already had them and free is hard to pass up.
I purchased the ESh strictly as a work car and for practicality over nearly anything else. If I were purchasing for looks or performance, I would have stayed with Acura and picked up a TLS-Type S. I drive Uber and Lyft part time and focus on the premier and comfort rides. The ESh is perfect for that. Comfortable, efficient, roomy and reliable.
17's have the added benefit of
not curbing nearly as easily as larger wheels
soak up bumps better with a larger sidewalls
only weigh 16 lbs. per wheel (vs. 27 lbs for the 18" lux wheels) which reduces jarring with potholes and road imperfections due to less unsprung weight
uses tires that are less expensive.
Did it improve the ride with the smaller wheel/larger sidewalled tire combo? I'd bet that it would but is it a noticeable difference? Did your performance and/or gas mileage improve with the lighter wheels too?
I like your way of thinking of recycling parts that are just lying around and using them instead of throwing them out and think that they look nice on your ESh.
You can always take those wheels off and have them powdercoated a different color if it bothered you enough. Just a thought.
Would you happen to know the width and offset of the aftermarket wheels?
Yes, they're a 17x7 with a 48mm offset. The 17x8 also work with 50mm or 45mm offset.
Originally Posted by FreddyG
Did it improve the ride with the smaller wheel/larger sidewalled tire combo? I'd bet that it would but is it a noticeable difference? Did your performance and/or gas mileage improve with the lighter wheels too?
I like your way of thinking of recycling parts that are just lying around and using them instead of throwing them out and think that they look nice on your ESh.
You can always take those wheels off and have them powdercoated a different color if it bothered you enough. Just a thought.
It didn't improve the ride as much as I expected. When I downgraded from 18's to 17's on my old Acura TL, it made a noticeable difference. But the ES has a soft enough suspension that it didn't make the difference I thought it would. Props to the engineers that designed the suspension for that.
I do notice a difference in major road imperfections and pot holes however. Definitely less jarring with the lighter wheels. I presume that's because the suspension only has to deal with about 40 lbs. of unspring weight vs. about 52 lbs. with the lux wheels (tire and wheel weight combined). A 20%+ drop in weight equates directly to the amount of weight essentially being thrown around by the suspension when you hit a pothole or recessed manhole cover. Either that or the extra sidewall. Could be either. Or both.
No noticeable difference in fuel economy. Although it's a total of 45 lbs of reduced weight, that's apparently not enough to make a difference in a 3,700 lb car. Especially when weight is a double edged sword in a hybrid. Less weight to get moving, but more weight (eg. more inertia) to use to charge the batteries when you're slowing down.
I've thought very seriously about powder coating. I have a friend of a friend who works at a reputable powder coating shop just a few miles from where I live. But the longer I have them on there, the more the color is growing on me. I still don't think they look nearly as good as the stock lux wheels but they're not terrible. Plus, I have the lux wheels on for about 4-5 months out of the year during winter.
Definitely a function over form decision. But heck, I even chose the color for function. Beige is easy to keep clean because it's the same color as dirt So even when it rains, all I have to do it clean the windows.
Did it improve the ride with the smaller wheel/larger sidewalled tire combo? I'd bet that it would but is it a noticeable difference? Did your performance and/or gas mileage improve with the lighter wheels too?
I like your way of thinking of recycling parts that are just lying around and using them instead of throwing them out and think that they look nice on your ESh.
You can always take those wheels off and have them powdercoated a different color if it bothered you enough. Just a thought.
What is a 4GS owner doing on the 7ES part of the forum?
I almost had to trade my 4GS in for a 7ES!
Akio Toyoda was an avid racer at the Nurburgring, and good friends with former Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez, who was very jealous of Toyota Motor Corp's financial success - he brainwashed Akio into thinking that Toyota products were bland, hence when Akio took over the reigns of TMC in 2009, Akio stipulated that there will be "no more boring cars", and the 4GS was one of the first models to be made more sporty under his leadership.
However, due to consumer feedback or whatever, the 2016-20 4.5GS midlife refresh did an about face, and it was softened with more sound insulation material added.
I had my 2015 retrofitted with the midlife refreshed 2016-20's softer springs and softer shock absorbers.
The 4GS Luxury trim OEM tires are 235/40 R19 - which is exactly the same as used on today's 7ES F Sport trim.
Downsizing 1" to 18" @ 235/45 R18 - which is the same as used on 7ES non-F Sport trim - made it only a little softer.
However strangely, downsizing another inch to 17" caused a noticeable difference in both the cosmetics and the ride.
Now, it really looks unfashionably "tall sidewalled", and even heavy - although it is actually lighter in total.
Meanwhile, the ride finally feels like the car is riding on a "cushion of air"!
I could get even more comfort by using slightly narrower rims like 7.5" rims on 225/55 R17, and even slightly more comfort again by using 7.0" wide rims on 215/60 R17.
Thanks to the 17", I no longer have to trade-in for a brand-new Lexus 7ES.
Originally Posted by losiglow
Yes, they're a 17x7 with a 48mm offset. The 17x8 also work with 50mm or 45mm offset.
It didn't improve the ride as much as I expected. When I downgraded from 18's to 17's on my old Acura TL, it made a noticeable difference. But the ES has a soft enough suspension that it didn't make the difference I thought it would. Props to the engineers that designed the suspension for that.
I do notice a difference in major road imperfections and pot holes however. Definitely less jarring with the lighter wheels. I presume that's because the suspension only has to deal with about 40 lbs. of unspring weight vs. about 52 lbs. with the lux wheels (tire and wheel weight combined). A 20%+ drop in weight equates directly to the amount of weight essentially being thrown around by the suspension when you hit a pothole or recessed manhole cover. Either that or the extra sidewall. Could be either. Or both.
No noticeable difference in fuel economy. Although it's a total of 45 lbs of reduced weight, that's apparently not enough to make a difference in a 3,700 lb car. Especially when weight is a double edged sword in a hybrid. Less weight to get moving, but more weight (eg. more inertia) to use to charge the batteries when you're slowing down.
I've thought very seriously about powder coating. I have a friend of a friend who works at a reputable powder coating shop just a few miles from where I live. But the longer I have them on there, the more the color is growing on me. I still don't think they look nearly as good as the stock lux wheels but they're not terrible. Plus, I have the lux wheels on for about 4-5 months out of the year during winter.
Definitely a function over form decision. But heck, I even chose the color for function. Beige is easy to keep clean because it's the same color as dirt So even when it rains, all I have to do it clean the windows.
The OEM 8" wide rims are for 235/45 R18, and when downsized to 17", it would mean 235/50 R17 tires.
7.5" rims would be for 225 mm tread width.
7.0" wide rims for 215 mm tires, so I presume you are riding on 215/60 R17 tires???
Also, what tire make, model, and load & speed rating are you using?
Because this will also have a major impact on your ride quality.
Similar to you, my missus has a "bronze" IS200t - simply because it blends in with the mud, so not as much car washing required...
Yes, they're a 17x7 with a 48mm offset. The 17x8 also work with 50mm or 45mm offset.
It didn't improve the ride as much as I expected. When I downgraded from 18's to 17's on my old Acura TL, it made a noticeable difference. But the ES has a soft enough suspension that it didn't make the difference I thought it would. Props to the engineers that designed the suspension for that.
I do notice a difference in major road imperfections and pot holes however. Definitely less jarring with the lighter wheels. I presume that's because the suspension only has to deal with about 40 lbs. of unspring weight vs. about 52 lbs. with the lux wheels (tire and wheel weight combined). A 20%+ drop in weight equates directly to the amount of weight essentially being thrown around by the suspension when you hit a pothole or recessed manhole cover. Either that or the extra sidewall. Could be either. Or both.
No noticeable difference in fuel economy. Although it's a total of 45 lbs of reduced weight, that's apparently not enough to make a difference in a 3,700 lb car. Especially when weight is a double edged sword in a hybrid. Less weight to get moving, but more weight (eg. more inertia) to use to charge the batteries when you're slowing down.
I've thought very seriously about powder coating. I have a friend of a friend who works at a reputable powder coating shop just a few miles from where I live. But the longer I have them on there, the more the color is growing on me. I still don't think they look nearly as good as the stock lux wheels but they're not terrible. Plus, I have the lux wheels on for about 4-5 months out of the year during winter.
Definitely a function over form decision. But heck, I even chose the color for function. Beige is easy to keep clean because it's the same color as dirt So even when it rains, all I have to do it clean the windows.
Thank You for the information/explanation! As far as cleaning the windows, You could always apply a glass coating on them and then you won't even have to do that!
03-15-24, 08:42 PM
So even when it rains, all I have to do it clean the windows. 
