Almost...

 

Whos car is that? I thought it was just a test fit? Meh could be wrong.

 

That's mine.

But it's a photoshop...

 

ha ha nice!

 

Hmm...

That spot looks REALLY familiar...

 

I'm also wondering the same thing. Winter is approaching and I still haven't come up with a solution. I thought that these rims will not clear the IS350 calipers, so I moved on and never considered those again. I'm guessing the majority of IS350 owners just reuse the 18s with winter tires. Am I correct?

 

i think there should be. that way we wouldnt have to pay more for 18"s we're going to end up swaping out for aftermarket moon cakes

 

I say 19" FTW!
Some nice one's too! Flush!

 

PhilipMSPT -- I'd definitely roll on 16s based on my needs and the way I drive no problem.

I think this quote of yours is right on.

I understand how important looks are, but I would dare to say that if you took 'the look' out of the equation that most of our 'skewed set of enthusiasts on ClubLexus' would never see the handling limits of a 16" tire at any point in their ownership experience.

I say this because as I read through this thread I see a lot of excellent observations. I also see a lot more comments on the look (style, offset etc) versus the very few comments on the performance aspect (cornering, road feel etc).

So understanding this I see two views. 1) My logical side is thinking 'why would anyone put anything but 16s on their IS?' and 2) my passionate side is thinking 'why would anyone put anything less than 19s on? and then of course slam it down;

 

Exactly my point!

That's what I'm trying to debate!!

So far, no one has had a good rebuttal against 16" wheels other than "looks."

 

If you don't care about looks why wouldn't get a corolla or a camery? No matter how much you say you don't care about looks it's not true. Everyone cares about looks.

Why not run 16" steelies if it's more comfortable?

 

I think if the 65 series tire it would make a bigger difference in ride quality. Most of the time when you go below a 60 the ride is pretty much going to be stiffer than normal.

You might be saving weight if your are comparing stock 16"-18". Which means less rolling resistance i.e. better gas mileage.

You have more options in tire brands because you wont get taken to the cleaners for a new tire. When you see lexus, bmw, audi, you generally see more expensive and less choices when it comes to tires. If your rolling 16" you more variety and cheaper due to the size.

Keep in mind about 18 years ago 16"-17" where standard in the performance class. Back then those tires were expensive because the standard was 14"-15". Today my tires for my Z28 are cheaper than my 18". ride still stiff but that is because i have performance enhancers on my Z28 it just looks stock

 

I'm not saying we don't care about looks.

I'm saying that the IS250 is great looking (with much more luxury amenities than a Corolla or Camry), but it can benefit a lot more with smaller wheels for a huge percentage of those who buy it.

I mean, is a Honda Civic with 18" wheels better than an LS460L with 17" wheels? We can't justify that...

 

I guess I'm not picky. I drove an impreza lowered on 18s. So driving the lexus is like floating on a cloud compared to that.

Honestly my stock 16s 205/55/16 and my 19s 223/35/19 fronts & 265/55/19 ride about the same. Even with the f-sport drop I still think it rides 90%-95% as well as stock. And it handle so much beter. Maybe it's just because I'm so used to riding in my friends tuner cars with full suspention that i'm not so critical of my IS's ride.

 

Philip how would it benefit the with smaller wheels? The other problem with more popular sizes is that manufacture will sell those at a higher cost because popularity of them. So you are not really benefiting from smaller tires.

A Honda Civic could be better the a LS460L . Both have nav, both have hybrids. Civic at a fraction of the cost even with the 18" It probably performs better on the track then a LS too!