dieselpwr

Recently picked up a HS250h. Liking it so far, was never really big into hybrids but the price was right and my dealer happened to have the exact car I was looking for (starfire on beige non-nav). But it gets the job done.

My car came with the AWFUL 17" wheels. I really can't stand to look at them, the car is already wierd looking enough without such a strange wheel design. Are there any good places to pick up alternatives (replicas of the 18s etc) or are ebay and tirerack my best bet? Do IS or any other lexus model wheels fit the HS? Also I wonder if there is any market for the 17s if I ever do find a replacement set...

I was told that the USB to iPod connection allows for navigation of my music strictly via the head unit. Is this true? Has anyone been able to dock their iPod/iPhone, have it charging, and play music using the iPod menus?

Last question, I have the halogen projector headlights which are quite decent actually (to my surprise) with a nice cutoff. Has anyone added a drop-in HID kit to these? I'm wondering if the cutoff is appropriate for a drop-in kit or if it's a bad idea and new projectors would be necessary. Thanks for any tips guys.

flipside909

Congratulations on your new HS!

You can always source a set of take of 18" wheels from a local dealer or a used wheel supplier. Because the HS is so new, it will probably be hard to find these unless you wait a few more years.

The HS can use certain wheels from other Lexus and Toyota passenger cars. It has a 5x114.3" bolt pattern. What is your budget? If you have some money to spend, it's probably worth it to get a set of aftermarket wheels.


You can operate the controls of your ipod via the factory head unit as well as the controls on the steering wheel. If you have the factory NAV, you will be able to access songs and playlists even while your vehicle is in motion.


Have no fear, there are ways to upgrade your HS including the HID's. Check this:

2010 HS250h by VIP Auto Salon

subparrnd

Welcome!

If you ever replace your 17" wheels, let me know. I would be interested in buying yours!

I would take a look at www.wheelsnext.com for some relative bargains!

Good Luck!

Homer

encore888

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your new HS!

psoccer555

Greetings! I've had my HS250h loaded for 5 weeks and love it. I didn't check out the Lexus website to see exactly what wheels you had so I may be speaking out of turn. I too did not like my wheels on my car. My HS came with the 18". I arranged with the dealership to have my wheels chromed. I'm pleased to say the chroming turned out very cool in my opinion and the opinion of several at the dealership. I have pics of my car I will be posting soon I hope, when I get a bit of time. My HS is Black Opal Mica. I also had the dealership dark tint the windows and add a clear bra. Some will say I overspent having the dealership do this. I went to other businesses on my 04 RX for clear bra and tint. The hassles I had were not worth it to save a few bucks. So you might think about chroming the wheels!

dieselpwr

Well I worked out a few kinks and got the car tinted (30% llumar) and I love the results. To answer my own question, and if anyone else out there is wondering about the iPod issue (controlling via the iPod while charging), BMW (to the rescue!) uses a unique dongle for their iPod integration that has done the trick for me. It has a 32-pin connector for the iPod/iPhone, but branches into a USB plug as well as a stereo plug. What I do is plug each into the car, and listen to "AUX" on the car's stereo. This way the phone charges and I can navigate it's native menu. Perhaps there is a mass-produced similar cable out there, as I'm sure the BMW dealers charge alot for these cables (I have connections so mine was free).

I'm going to look into retrofitting some HIDs and see what wheel options are out there. It's an odd shaped car, quite difficult to shop for wheels, but I think the IS 18s would look good. subparrnd I will definitely let you know if I'm looking at selling the original 17s. What might they be worth? PM me if you'd rather.

psoccer555

I finally got pix posted so you can check out how my wheels came out chromed by the dealership. the pix are under a new thread with my psoccer555 name.

Squirrelsb

Hi and congrats on your HS. I have a premium myself and love the inside tech very much. As for your wheels, I'd also recommend going to Discount tire or any tire place and get 18" tires once yours wear away. I like the look of the 18" alot better and I noticed they give the car more stability especially on bumps. As for the ipod, I have a built in Nav unit and I can say that the songs and playlist only show up when I'm physically connected via the USB on the car. If I just use bluetooth and dont connect my iphone, I can play my songs just fine but the playlist doesnt show up on the nav screen.

Oh meant to ask someone.. can you give someone a jump with the HS? I know the battery compartment is in the back and I'm wondering if theres any value to carrying jumper cables in the car?

dieselpwr

Is the battery compartment in the back? Funny you should ask... when I was having mine tinted, I guess the guys left the power partly on (understandable with this car, and the key inside for about an hour and a half) and the relays started going crazy with lights flickering and I knew the battery was dying. I had to actually consult the manual on where to apply the jump box they had in the shop, turns out there's a (+) lead inside the fuse box under the hood. So perhaps you could indeed jump someone from that location (I'd make sure the gas engine was running though).

RJQMAN

A question from a newbie - I like the wheels on the GS 450H a lot. They are 18" wheels with the same bolt circle, but I do not know the offset on the stock Lexus GS450 wheels, so I do not know if they would fit on the 250H or not. Does anyone out there know if I could use the 18 x 8 5 spoke alloy wheels with 24-40zR18 ties that are standard on the GS450H on a 250H Hybrid? Would they work ok? Or am I asking for toruble? Feel free to post or PM me.

rajeev6

HS comes with either LED or regular halogen with lens. Mine came with regular and I did install aftermarket HID kit.

For those who're new to HID kits, you've to know what is your current halogen bulb before you order a kit. The kits come with a pair of ballasts and a pair of bulbs which are good fit to your current setup.

The connection is not too complex - unscrew the current bulb out, disconnect from wire. The wire then connects to ballast which then connect the new HID bulb. Screw the bulb in place just like regular halogen ones and you're done. (you do need to secure the ballast though - either with bolts or with many zip ties).

HID kits also have another specification - 5000k, 6000k etc. 4500k is usually OEM white and the higher the K the bluer the light will be. I'd recommend sticking closer to OEM color with 5000k.

DISCLAIMER - aftermarket HIDs are not legal in many states.
(You'll be risking it if you really went for a very blue color bulb)

BTW : I did it in my previous Camry and used it for more than a year before traded that in. I have it in my HS for more than 8 months now. I bought it from hidextra dot com - they were good first time (for Camry). For the HS, I ordered a kit with 5000k but it looks like they sent me a kit for 6000 or 7000k - it's bluer than what I wanted .

DDS62

I assume you are talking about the 5 tri spoke wheels on the 2011 GS. The tire that goes with that wheel is a 245/40ZR18 with an O.D. = 25.72”. The Outside Dia. Of the tires on the HS base model is 26.31” and 25.97” on the Premium model The wheel on the 2011 GS has a 45mm offset, the wheels on both the Premium and the Base models of the HS have an offset of 39mm, meaning Lexus has chosen to keep the location of the centerline of the wheels and tires on both base and Premium models of the HS exactly the same. The width of the wheel on the premium HS is 7.5” (7” on the base) the width of the wheel on the GS is 8”. The mounting holes and the bore are the same on all of these wheels.

Trying to replace wheels on Lexus cars with other Lexus wheels is a good decision because Lexus wheels are “bore centric” meaning the tires are located on the axel by the precision bore as opposed to “lug centric”. However I have had no luck in finding another Lexus wheel that fits excatly because the HS has a lower offset. Seems that no other Lexus wheel is less than 40 mm offset and most are 45 and 50 mm. Of course the ones that were 40 mm (which should work) I didn’t like.

IMO the diameter of the GS tire is close enough to the HS (premium) not to make a noticeable (1%) difference, but then again it is a full 2.3% smaller than the base model HS. Assuming the base model establishes the standard for calibration you would be going 2.3% slower than the odometer reads and you would be getting 2.3% less milage than the instruments indicate.

IMO changing out the 7.5” wide, 39mm HS wheels with 8” wide 45mm wheels would be bad gamble to take without finding a reputable dealer to guarantee they would work. I would bet the condo Lexus would not do that for you, and likely you won’t find another dealer that will either. The centerline of the tires with the GS wheels would sit ¼” inboard of the centerline of the stock HS tires. I am not sure if that is objectionable or not. The outside surface of the tires on the outside of the car with the GS wheels would sit 5/32” outboard of the stock HS tires (probably OK) but the inboard side the inner surface would sit 5/8” further inboard than the stock HS tires. That sound a bit big to chance.

I would not try it.

Here is a wheel that would use the same tire size as found on the base models (I like more rubber), but it is not a Lexus wheel. I have no idea what the bore is and have not inquired at Tire rack to check if they would guarantee a fit

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Wheel...All&sort=Brand

RJQMAN

Thanks for the in-depth info. Much appreciated. I am also concerned about the inboard - the turning circle is already not quite as good as I would like, and I would hate to have the tires rub. I appreciate the detailed information very much. When I make a decision, I will post some pics.

acheparev

Yes, you can jump the car. The engine battery is completely separate from the Hybrid battery. There is a metal plate in the fuse box under the hood and a bold you need to attach cables to. It's all in the manual.

BTW, if the engine battery dies, you're stuck. It's a Gel battery and mine died a few months ago (dealer said it was faulty). It wouldn't take a jump and the hybrid batteries are useless when this one is dead.

Had to have the car towed on a flatbed to the nearest Lexus dealer for repairs. At first Lexus wasn't going to pay for the tow, but then relented.