I wanted to show before and after pics of my GX Sport Design after changing out the wheels. When I first saw my car on the show room floor under all those bright lights, I was sold!! But, after I picked it up, I just could not get excited whenever I looked at it. It was the gray wheels. They were so blah with the Atomic Silver exterior. I debated for quite awhile about spending even more $$ to switch the wheels to the ones that come on the Luxury package which are a combination chrome look and gray. I finally decided that it was worth it to not feel regret every time I looked at my car. The pics aren't the greatest, but you get an idea of how much it spiced it up, and they still tie in to the graphite accents on the Sport Design package.

 

The dark gray ones look pretty good; I probably would've saved the money... Or would've upgraded to 20" wheels with a better offset than the stock ones. But that's just me, and everyone's taste is different. Glad you got what you wanted, and congrats on the new ride!

It's interesting that you mentioned the silver ones come on the luxury package. Because I recently got a luxury (caviar), and it came with the 19" gray wheels. As did all the other caviar luxury models I saw. I wonder what determines that color?

 

I like the swap, just not a fan of the "murdered" wheels or look that is so popular these days.

 

I'm not sure what determines the wheel color. According to the brochure, the silver/gray is standard with the Luxury and the gray is standard with the Sport Design. I'm not sure why the Caviar were different.

 

Ah, that makes sense. I have the Luxury with the Sport Design package (I was only looking at models with the Sport Design).

 

I like the dark wheels on my Atomic Silver. The negatives are they are time consuming to clean (lots of nooks and cranies) as it’s very difficult to get all the dirt.
I swore to myself that I would get easier to clean wheels on any new vehicle but alas, did not happen again this time either.

 

Yes, they are hard to clean! The dark gray were just too masculine for me. I also switched out my exhaust tip for a chrome one trying to add more "bling".

 

Funny I have both and I liked the dark set better. I swapped the wheels the day I took delivery but the main reason was not the color. My dark set is 18” and I think it is better than the 19”.

 

My dark wheels are 19”.

 

The Lux 19" look nice on the Atomic Silver, we have Nebula Gray and there I like the darker look of the 19" Sports. But its personal taste, so no need to agree

 

If your wheels are still fairly new and in near perfect shape, pull them off and ceramic coat them, barrels and all. I did mine with Gyeon Rim when I did the rest of the car (with Gyeon Mohs, which you can probably use on wheels, too), and they are easy to clean. I do leave the barrels dirty, since I can't reach them, but the outsides just take a minute with a wash mit to get clean.

I'm rotating the tires with an oil change tomorrow, and you guys have reminded me to clean the barrels, too. Thanks!! If I remember I'll take a pic and post it here.

Mark

 

Too…

Masculine?

Boys, do we have some kind’ve a GIRL in our treehouse?!?

WHO LET HER IN?!?

j/k, errybody relax.

 

Would a guy have a screen name of nomibear?? Sorry, someone let a girl in!!! I traded in a Ram Longhorn (which I LOVED) for the Lexus, and had an F150 Lariat before that, so you see I don't drive the usual girlie rides. The last Lexus I had was the 1997 LX450 - the first year it came out.

 

OK, I cleaned the barrels of the wheels tonight for the first time after ceramic coating them, so they had 15k miles of dirt and brake dust built up. I highly recommend coating if you're having trouble keeping the 19" wheels clean.

This is a "before" pic of one of the fronts:


After less than a minute with soapy water and a wash mitt:


Rinsed off:


The easiest wheels I've ever cleaned, by a lot.

Mark

 

Looks good scalded dog. Did you do the ceramic coating or have it done?