Carpe Diem

I know there will be some flaming from the “big bright wheels/thin tires/lowering” segment of our little group, but I have a very nice set of silver 5-spoke GS400 wheels that I’m considering covering with 245/45-17 tires and putting on my SC430 for the summer. It seems to me that this little fat look might actually work very well with the somewhat stubby shape of my car and will probably produce a better ride than the 18s. Handling may suffer a little but my driving pattern is not very aggressive anyway.

Has anyone ever photographed an SC430 with this type of setup? If so, I’d sure like to see the photos. If not, I’ll put a couple of these wheels on one side of the car next weekend and take and post a few photos for your comments.

By the way, the diameters of the 245/40-18 and 245/45-17 tires are both 25.7 inches. Does anyone know about the offsets?

So, what do you think?

George

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well i think it's going to look very funny. but i am NOT saying that from the wheel size point of view, instead from an offset point of view.

if you notice, the sc430 wheels are very inset (compared to the fender lip) to begin with. i don't know the offset of the stock sc430 18s, but i don't expect the gs400 17s to be anything more aggressive. so it probably will sit about the same. now with the rim being 1" smaller, it will look even more inset imho (illusion), so the car would look pretty funny

Carpe Diem

Hi Rominl,

The 18x8 OEM SC430 wheels are +45. Do you know the offset of the 17x8 OEM GS400/430 wheel?

Thanks,
George

rominl

iTrader: (4)

the stock 17x8 on the gs is 50 offset. so it's pretty close

Carpe Diem

Here are the photos. I may try spacers to push them out a little.

https://www.clublexus.com/gallery/sh...cat/500/page/1

rominl

iTrader: (4)

hahaha, for real that doesn't look too good...

beachdrive

The wheels/tires look good to me and I bet they ride a lot more comfortably too.

ron36330

The set up looks good to me. Can't tell any difference. I believe in your mind you are comparing them to the 18"s but to the average observer they wouldn't know the difference. Most people don't know what an SC 430 is anyway.
I'll bet the ride is MUCH improved.
Hope you make the change and can report to us what the ride is like.
Good Luck
Ron

CantSeeMe

It looks fine , but my question is why did you downsize? Im only asking because They look pretty much like the stock sc430 without the big centercap . so why not jjust leave it stock?

herragge

This is how I feel as well. Why downsize? The car came from the factory with 18's. Just change your rubber and you will feel a increase in comfort from the runflats.

Josh Combs

Looks good but I would suggest lowering springs Also the runflats do suck, so congratulations for getting away from them.