J315

Hi all, I just picked up my IS350 last week, I love it! Well, except the rather Toyota-ish look of the exterior, which I blame mostly on the lovely 17" wheels it came with. And the suspension could be a little stiffer, it feels more like a luxury sedan than a sports sedan.

I've been doing some research on how to fix these two "problems." Below is what I came up with, I'd just like to bounce these ideas off some people with a little more IS experience than myself...and ask some other questions while I'm at it...

1. Suspension - I'm considering getting F Sport springs, shocks and sway bar. I know this isn't the best stuff on the market, but I want to keep my warranty valid, and from everything I've read this should stiffen up the suspension without completely getting rid of that luxury sedan smooth ride, and lower it by about an inch.

2. Tires - Before someone tells me to use the search function, I have, and I'm probably more confused now than before I started.

My pet rock, which has taught me everything I know about being a mechanic and doing body work, says that I should keep it simple. It thinks I can handle a heat gun to re-shape the plastic molding inside the fender wells and/or handle a hammer well enough to bang some clips out of the way...but that's about it.

I want the biggest fattest 19s that'll fit, preferably without any modifications, or, at most, very minimal modifications...which according to my research should be something along the lines of...

Front: 19x8.5 225/35
Rear: 19x9.5 265/30

But where I'm really confused is the offset. For the fronts, I've seen anywhere from 20 to 30, and 20 to 43 for the rear. For the same size and offset, I've seen people say they'll fit with no modification required, others say they'll fit with minor modification (heat gun/hammer), and others say that it requires rolling/shaving (which is far beyond my ability to do). I'm guessing most of them are actually correct, depending on how low the car is, camber, etc.

Given the F Sport shocks/springs and my inability to do anything more than a minor modification, what is the biggest rim and tire size I should get? What offset will make it as flush as possible?

3. After spending days looking at rims and not finding exactly what I'm looking for, I'm open to any suggestions you might have. I'm looking for something black with no chrome, or at least very minimal chrome, preferably on the cheaper end of the scale.

4. I hate the silver emblems, I want black, but I haven't been able to find any. I've seen some that are semi-black, but nothing that are really black black. I've read I could just paint them, but it seems like the paint wouldn't stick very well. A local shop does powder coating, would that be better than just painting them?

Any suggestions/comments are welcome, thanks.

acefalcon2

iTrader: (20)

for rims and tires... it depends on what offset that you are getting... for example with a 19x8.5 +35 you can run 235/35 no problem and for 19x9.5+45 you can run 275/30 no problem even 265/35....

Warranty is not voided UNLESS the DEALERSHIP can prove that the aftermarket products are causing the problems.
Lets say i go to my dealership with an aftermarket coilover and complain about metal clunking noises.. they would not do it under warranty but will do it for a fee....

3. i say do it once do it right.. get what you like.... what flows... everyone will say different things about those stuffs...

4. you can get the Black Pearl emblem.... you can't powdercoat plastic items... it will melt the plastic during the powder baking...

Andre

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

235/35/19 and 275/30/19

funnie

iTrader: (14)

Hi and welcome to CL.

1. The f-sport shock and spring will give you about a 1 inch drop and stiffen it up a bit for you, but not too stiff. You can also go with after market springs and it will not void your warranty.

2. Sorry not a tire expert

3. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/clu...-ls-sc-es.html
these wheels are hot. you can get them in a conservative or aggressive offset. You can order them in black. Saw these wheels in person and it looks great.

4. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/aut...e-emblems.html
Some people paint the emblems themselves to black pearl color. That will cost you about $15 and some time. You can also buy a set of black pearl emblems from one of our vendors for about ~$200.

Hope the info helped. Mod accordingly =)

pigeon83

The big wheels and tires will stiffen your ride up even more than the suspension modifications alone, but they won't help your handling at all.

Better tires will help the handling significantly. The IS chews up tires if you drive aggressively, so get something with a high treadwear rating, and also preferably a high load and temperature rating. The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires I just got fulfill all these criteria as they are XL and Y rated with a 500 treadwear rating.

It seems kind of silly to me, to buy handling modifications and good tires and then put huge rims that are only going to make the ride suck, if you're going after better handling and don't want to have a terribly uncomfortable car to drive. My car has the stock 18" rims and 92/95Y XL tires and it's plenty stiff on bumpy roads.