galileopan

The saga continues. Dealer swears 17" Lexus brand *alloys* cannot be had for the GS430. He's willing to return the $200 I paid on the order, or give me the chromes at invoice, or put on 18s, or anything else he can get. At this point, beyond pointing to the brochure, website, equipment lists from Edumnds and Intellichoice, and suggesting that their customer service would be more "excellent" if they could get their message together about what actually is and is not available before they advertise and take orders and money... it ain't worth arguing over any more. I'm sure there are good wheels and tires out there.

So, o GS mavens: what wheels / tires should I get -- that a California dealer is likely to have?

My criteria are:
1. Better grip than the stock 16s.
2. Comparable ride to the stock 16s. Some tradeoff is inevitable, but I don't want a big degradation.
3. Price. I (tried to) order the alloy 17s because I didn't want to pay $1500 or more for chrome to begin with. I'm willing to go up to about $1K (that's dealer's cost).

Appearance is not an issue. All the wheels I've ever seen on these cars look fine to me (I doubt he'll propose solid painted steel with hubcaps!). I don't want to deal with chrome anyway. Also, I essentially never drive in snow, so I assume I'm better off with summer rather than all-season tires for best grip and ride.

Thanks in advance.

Sam Khoury

I can't believe this dealer is denying it when there are tons of GS's with 17" alloy wheels. Does this dealer have a Lexus GS brouchure!? It's right there in the brochure!!!! Here's a link to the page from the e-brochure (which is exactly like the ones that the dealer gives to customers).

http://www.lexus.com/images/showroom...GS_Page_12.pdf

Look at the "wheels and tires" section on this page. Right there in black and white, "Optional wheels and tires(GS 430): 17x 8.0-in alloy wheels with 235/45ZR17tires."
http://www.lexus.com/images/showroom...GS_Page_14.pdf

Please print these and bring them to the dealer and tell him that he doesn't know what he's talking about. I would actually call Lexus customer support at the corporate office and have them explain it to this dealer.

mooretorque

The Moda R6 looks very similar to the alloy 17" Lexus wheel. Available from TireRack (and elsewhere, no doubt) in 17",18", and 19" size. One of the members (1SickLex, if memory serves) went to this wheel in an 18 because he wanted to preserve the stock look but wanted something larger. Obviously, as wheel size goes up, tire aspect ratio must decrease in order to stay as close as possible to the wheel/tire circumference that your odometer/speedometer is programmed for, so some degradation in ride comfort is inevitable, esp compared to 16s with a 55 series tire.

As far as tires, I like the Bridgestone Pole Position S-03 (quieter than the RE030 that is stock with the 17" option, better performance in all other respects, and cheaper than the OEM tire!!) but others will weigh in with their favorites. Might try TireRack's tire reviews; very helpful, esp the ratings which are compiled from buyer's survery replies!!

Good luck!

galileopan

>Here's a link to the page from the e-brochure (which is exactly like the ones that the dealer gives to >customers).

>http://www.lexus.com/images/showroom...GS_Page_12.pdf

I know. I cited that (and will bring it), and have printed out the option lists, codes, and invoice and list prices from Intellichoice and Edmunds. The dealer insists his parts people say they can't get it for an 03; that they no longer ship those wheels and just haven't updated the lists.

At this point I don't care -- I just want some grippier tires. How bad is the ride degradation going from 16s to 17s to 18s?

Sam Khoury

When I went from 16's to 17's on my last GS300 (1999), it was a very noticible ride degradation. When you go from 17's to 18's it's not supposed to be that much more of a difference.

If you're looking for a stock looking 18's wheel. I have the following wheels which I will be installing in a couple of weeks. I'm just waiting for a few more NYC potholes to get fixed. My company blocks the links to these pics so I can't see which ones I'm posting.






I got them from a guy a seller on eBay, ngobros2000@aol.com. A few people on CL got them from him Here's the auction where he is auctioning them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2408778052

He's located in California. He included Lexus centercaps with them since they are made specifically for Lexus in Japan.

Here's a thread from the Wheels and Tires forum with a pic of GS with them on there.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=74618

For these rims, the correct size on a GS is 245/40R18. If you're looking for performance tires, get the Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position. If you want all season tires, get either the Micheline Pilot Sport A/S or the Sumitomo HTR+ but for the money the Sumitomos are a much better deal, almost half the cost of the Michelins with almost the same performance. Here is a link to some tire test results from TireRack.com comparing them.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/sumi_htr_plus.jsp

Either way, get them from TireRack.com. They have the best prices and can recommend an installer near you. If you decide to buy from TireRack, make sure you use the ClubLexus affiliate link before making your purchase so that CL gets credit for the sale. It doesn't cost any money, but it helps CL. Here's a link to a thread containing the TireRack.com affiliate link.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=71503

Hope this helps.

kutscher

Those look very nice. They keep the lexus OEM look some what and upgrade the size. : )

Lexus of Wayzata in Minneapolis quoted me $1200 for new 17" GS4 OEM chrome wheels installed, with a trade in of my current alloys. This sounds like a great deal, I wonder why they can do that but your dealer can not?

doug_999

I did not want the chrome 17" wheels either - but that was the only way I could get the 17s. However, now that I have them, I am glad that I got "stuck" with them - they really make the car look good. If you like, I'll email you a picture.

Doug