Solomoan

Unfortunately, I had to go to the Black Pearls, when my first choice would have been to debadge. There are at least 2 post holes and maybe three. These Black Pearl badges should be available through your Lexus dealer.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

there was a post a while back of someone getting the black pearl badgets, they werent cheap also. Need to get our local sponsor to give us a better price

mcfly

Holy ugly wheels, batman!

Turkoman

"Ugly" is a subjective thing. I have seen many here praise cars with 18" stock rims, which I am not too fond of (and personally think they are ugly) but never took the time to post just to say "ugly rims" to a guy who has just gotten his car and is proud of it.

Do you mean that the wheel size is too small and that is "ugly", the number of spokes, the finish? What exactly is so ugly to the ones who have actually took the time to mention this and to ask him to throw away his investment here? Could it be that you meant that any 17" aftermarket wheel setup is "ugly"?

I am not trying to flame you here. I am trying to understand what makes people summarily rule out a wheel as "ugly". To me the 18's of the same rims would have been better but other than larger rims being better looking with pretty much every wheel design out there except in some truck tires, what makes his wheels "ugly"?

mcfly

I think you're asking what you assume is a simple question, like "why is the sky blue", when in reality it's a damn site more complicated.

Why do some men find Gwenyth Paltrow hot, and others couldn't be bothered? Why do some people find Van Gogh's work a marvel, while others think he was just some nut that decided to go to France, cut his ear off, and spill some paint on canvas in the process?

Why do I find those wheels ugly? Well, because I do.

IS350_PHIL

iTrader: (2)

My old baseball coach had a saying "Opinions are like ***holes, everyone has them and they all stink" Funny old man...

mcfly

Clever. Really.

Solomoan

(Comes from working on the floor of a commodity exchange

I still have the original wheels that came with the car. I'd have loved to have the IS 350 wheels, but needed the AWD, therefore had to go with the 250 and the standard 17's that came with them.

My thought is to go back in the fall and buy a set of all weather Michelin Pilot's in either 17's and put back on my OEM Lexus wheels, or upgrade to 18's and bite the bullet, buying new tires and new wheels.

Have to see what the tax man says this week!

I appreciate the opinions and Turkoman for sticking up for me. No hard feelings here.

IS350_PHIL

iTrader: (2)

Buy frozen concentrated orange juice!!
/obscure?

x986

Solomoan, or anyone,
Are there holes behind all three badges on the back of the car, or only the logo? My "guess" would be that "Lexus" and "is x50" are just held on with double sided tape.

STIG

those black pearl badges go well very with ur color! nice!

Solomoan

There have been other posters stating that in their attempts to debadge, they have discovered posts and holes in not only the "L" , but also in the "Lexus" and also within the "IS 250 AWD" for a total of three holes to deal with in a complete debadging.

Thus, my move to the black pearls.

Turkoman

You analogy is not correct. The analogous question would be "why do you like a blue sky?". An answer could be "because it is associated with a bright sunny day", "because it reminds me of summer" etc. And if someone asked me why I found Gwyneth Paltrow hot (and I don't), I could say "because she has a beautiful smile", "her eyes look so innocent yet with a look that shows potential to be naughty" etc. etc. I could also tell you why people like Van Gogh's work but the way you have posed that question would be a subject of a whole other tread focusing on how art could be critiqued.

You could say, the finish doesn;t look right, the aspect ratio seems strange, the studded look doesn't do it for you, etc. etc.

The fact that those who find them ugly can't provide details about why supports my hypotheses. In fact, one person mentioned the wheel gap, which would be the same with an 17, 18 or 19" wheel. So obviously there is something else that he dislikes.

Hence, I think the criteria for ugly at least to many users appear to be:

1. Wheels <18" are ugly
2. Wheels perceived to be inexpensive and cost less than $300 are ugly.

I have to say, I agree with #1. I think larger rims do look nicer on any car except off-roading trucks. The second one I don't understand since we are talking about looks and not performance here.

Solomoan

Got good news from the taxman, and have taken various suggestions to heart, and realize they are not comments on me, but rather the appearance of the tire/wheel. I should be mad at Lexus for shortchanging the OEM wheel/tire combo for the 250 AWD buyers who want the option of an upgraded, larger tire with a better looking wheel.

I am going to move to a 19x8.5 Falken gunmetal wheels with 235/35/19 Toyo Proxes 4 or T1R's from EdgeRacing in Miami. Should be a significant appearance upgrade.

Thanks for the comments, and I'm not the kind of guy who needs people to agree with me, and appreciate honest assesments.