awtrott

Haaa, so we have a island boy clone on the scene. I'm from the every powerful island of the Jamaica, to which I going on Friday for a week.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the wheel. I photoshoped it onto my car and it looked pretty good to me but I do see your point. I just can't find anything thing else that works for me. I don't like the 5 spoke wheels because to me they are more suited for smaller sportier looking cars like my E Class, but that just my feeling. The full face is ok but not when it's 18". Full face is more suited for 19s and up, so this and the fact that the face of this wheel is silver with chrome lip which goes well with my baby blue LS is why I went it.


I may change my mind.

Nuff respect ras.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

yeah i know the style of wheel you are talking about, see if you like the work varianza's at all or something like that?

my boy debian just got back from jamaica last week. i guess now is the time to go huh? when is the summ'fest down there?? be sure to pickup some new dancehall mixes while ur there.

we got capleton, beenie, marcia, i-wayne, cocoa-tea + lost of others showing up here in dc in about 3 weeks. i ca'an wait to see capleton (da real fireman'). have fun down there,

respect

debian

Awtrott...I am sure I6turbo will answer you question soon...he seems to know how to calculate the offset.
Not being a hater but I agree with Sojah about the wheel selection..looks like they belong on a chrysler or some american car.

Sojah...Sum fest was taking place the week I was down there. Back in the day it was in August (going really far back it was called Sunsplash). What's wrong with greasy hippies? lol

My dilemna is whether to go with
1) 18x8.5 wheels all around (then I don't lose the ride comfort and buy 5wheels)
2) 19x 8.5 Front and 19x9.5 or10 in the rear (this way is style and less comfort)
3) 19x8.5 all around.

Seems like a 19"x8 or 20'x8.5 is too skinny looking. Which is why I wanted to know the widest width on the front and back at certain diameters.
I call people about used wheels and often time once I ask about replacements, as a just in case, I hear that that style is no longer made.
Many of the WALD wheels, which I think are phenomenal, are no longer made in a bunch of sizes.
Staggered with a lip looks amazing to be sure.
Just thinking aloud.
Respect,
Ian

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

My brain if fried from work but I had a second and did a quick calculation -- hopefully didn't make a mistakes, but no guarantees:
Your 8.0" +40 offset would stick out .46" MORE than the stock 7.5" +45 offset wheels, front and rear.

Your 8.0" +40 offset would stick out .13" LESS than my front wheels, and .55" LESS than my rear wheels shown in the photos on the first page.

As others have implied, a staggered setup (wider wheels on the rear) will give a more performance oriented look because the rear tires tuck under the fenders more if you have the same width and offset wheels front and rear. Or, you might run a spacer in the rear if you could find a good, safe, reliable one. The other thing to consider is that 18's can look a bit small on the LS, so you might want to try for at least 19's if you're going aftermarket. IMO, the factory 18" Sport wheels are pretty hard to beat if you're sticking with 18's, but of course that's certainly a matter of subjective opinion.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

i just picked up these on saturday:
front 19x8.5 rear 19x10, front 245/35zr19 offset 36, rear 274/30zr19 offset 44



real pics mounted on car coming soon...

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

Nice!

awtrott

Now is definitely the time go since start Aug 6th our independence celebration begins, and yes I will be stacking up on my cd collection for sure.

Varianza fs2 is a winner for sure but I can find any prices listed anywhere. I'll keep digging.

Repsect faada.

awtrott

Choosing the right wheels is daunting task for sure.

awtrott

Turbo16, thanks for the feedback and the offset calculations. I agree with your size assessment but I have this huge fear of losing too much of my ride comfort and in that same breath don't want my ride to look like it's on crack. I hear you on the OEM 18s but they just don't do it for me.

BTW; your ride rock. Or as we Jamaicans would say “Yu ride look curry” lol

What do you guys think of these?

sojah

iTrader: (1)

those wheels ^ ^ ^ are definitely better looking (to me) than that first set you posted up.

awtrott

Thanks. I may go with the 19s with these.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

well i just put on some 19's on an 05 ul ls this past weekend and the wheels already had tires on them so unless i want to replace them then this is what i gots. but i did some tire calculations on that tire 1010 site and ideally on a 19" wheel a tire sized ???x40x19 would be the same exact size (to the naked eye) as my stock 17's with like a ???x55x17 size tire. so in a perfect world i would have put a 40 size tire all the way around for comfort. i did loose a little bit of comfort (the tires are 30x19 in the rear, and 35x19 up front) that you can feel when going over imperfections in the road, but on a smooth road the comfort is about the same. the tire tread noise is a little increased but not by much (on the nittos that were on the wheels i purchased).

so if you are looking at purchasing tires new i would seriously look at getting at least a 40 up front and 35 rear if not 40 all the way around. just gotta make sure they are not to wide if you get 40's all the way around or you may have to roll or shave the fenders (pretty common).

I6turbo

iTrader: (1)

I hear ya -- I'm the pickiest SOB you've ever seen on ride and quiet comfort. I've thrown otherwise perfectly good tires in the dumpster because they were too loud or wouldn't stay balanced (Yokohama on the first count and Pirelli on both). LOL Even in my Supra with the relatively loud exhaust, high power level, etc., I won't tolerate anything that's overly noisy, so I only run Pilot Sports and BFG drag radials, both of which are actually quiet, pretty comfortable tires (and the BFG DR's grip insanely well, which is why I run them on the rear most of the time).

Re: the LS, my 19" Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus are literally about 95% as quiet and comfortable as the OEM 17" Bridgestones here on the Florida roads I drive on. On some road surfaces I think they may be quieter, and on some they are a little louder, but they aren't bad at all. And they are excellent from the comfort and ride quality standpoint too. I did a TON of research and picked these tires in hopes they'd be the best available for comfort and quiet. From my research I thought maybe they'd be acceptable as up-size, high-performance tires go, but I never thought they'd be as good as they are from a comfort and quiet standpoint. I love them and highly recommend them. Only problem is, they ain't cheap.

EDIT: I'm not sure how much of a role they play, but I was also careful when selecting wheels not to get anything very heavy. The 19" Volks plus tires actually weigh a couple of pounds EACH less than the factory 17's. Keeping the weight down helps a bit with the overall performance and feel of the car on the road, but I'm not sure just how it'd play into just the ride comfort and quite.

On my prior LS I had 19" Dunlop Sport 01-A's (on the same wheels) and I did NOT like them due mainly to the noise but also the significantly stiffer ride. I bought them partly on price and partly on what turned out to be some poor advice from others. I regretted it for the entire 25K miles that I used them.

awtrott

I forgot to mention in my earlier reply that they are some good looking wheels.

Here is the setup I'm planning to go with if I get the 19s:
Wheel =19x8.5, offset 38
Tire = 245/40/19 all around

I like the staggered look but I'm choosing longer tire life over looks just by being able to rotate them every 5000 miles.

Form Turbo16 previous calculation I will assume that the offset should have the wheel sitting flush with the fender if I went with these specs.

Post pics with them on your car soon

awtrott

Ok, so you got me sold on the 19s. Good call on the BFGs as I had done some research and found them to be favorable among high end car owners. I am now wearing Kumho Solus KH16 with which I replaced my Pirelli with only 11k miles (The worst tires ever). I must say that the Kumho surprised me, even now at 36k mile they are still fairly quite. Too bad they don't make them in 19". BFG it is.

Awesome feedback from you both. Thanks.