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honestly, I cant find a nice pair of rims for the Lexus, I want 5-spoke with a deep chrome lip, but the problem with the trinity is that the spoke dont extend all the way, they curve in making the rim look smaller than 20". Anybody got any advice or help for me? Thanks
p.s. I dont have a crazy budget.
Twenties are too large, 19's are perfect. I have Vors VR8 rims (with 235/35/19 &
245/35/19), cheap, about $260/each. I had to replace the original 245/45/19s
front and rear tires that rubbed and looked way too big. Made it look like an
off-road racer.
I need to lower the front by 5 mm. That will be the 24th time I've pulled,
adjusted, and put back a wheel trying to get the ride height perfect.
Regarding rims and the four possible rims from above, I am a rim snob, and I hope
you are too. Most rims look terrible, usually due to the lack of artistic sensibility of
the buyer - the rims both don't fit the car and are usually ugly. Best is a rim color
that matches the car color, which gives continuity. Do you really want the rims to
overpower the car? Imagine a garish ring setting that overpowers a tiny diamond.
19-inch is what everyone needs, anything less or more is "off" and tells the world
your judgment can't be trusted. And please no sorry excuses like, "I know what I
like" and "it's in the eye of the beholder." No it's not.
Black wheels on a black car is tough, they don't often work. Ends up looking like
too much black down there, but not always. The best rims have not much space
between the spokes like the expensive Mercedes wheels. They are high quality
and look it. They never try too hard like 99% of after-market wheels.
The original SC pancake wheels have that quality look but they blew it by being
too small and not pushed out. Same with the older GS wheels. These cars come
alive with larger wheels. This may be Japanese modesty; they deliberately
sabotage perfection as if bowing their head in modesty, like the pottery that has
a deliberate imperfection to bring it down to earth. Kintsugi is the word for "more
beautiful for having been broken."
Do not show off your brakes. No one wants to see your brakes. Do not paint them
red, that's just stupid. "OMG! Brakes!" What you want is a multi-spoke wheel,
minimum ten spokes, or the spider web wheel like I have where you can somewhat
see through but not too much. Or else classic chrome Cragars or classic Chevy
Rally wheels, chrome on black Porsche Fuch wheels, or old classic five flat-spoke
Ferrari wheels, or authentic wires with knock-offs (bad for a torquey V8).
Don't try to reinvent the wheel - stick with the classics, or the generalized ironclad
rules: there should be more spoke than space and it should be concave. Also
the spaces should be of equivalent volume. Choice one above essentially meets
that criteria but two and three do not at all. The spokes and spaces are not right
and the perimeter rivets are unevenly spaced. Looks terrible! The Versus wheels
are good except the silver needs to be black and the rivets should be pushed out
to the outer rim and kept silver or the wheel looks too small. The expensive real
three-piece wheels have real bolt heads around the perimeter - I'd never get them
because they're countersunk and look corroded when the holes accumulate dirt.
Your wheels must not show too much behind the rim so keep the gaps between
the spokes small. The spider-style wheel below keeps the spaces even and of
equal volume. Wheels should be concave, not convex, which looks cheap. The
rims need to be medium deep dish, not to much, and not shallow. Add interest
with the 3-piece rivet or nut design or they'll be boring like the 49 out of 50 wheel
mistakes you see. Don't buy wheels because you like them, but because the car
likes them. See them on the same color car and learn from other's mistakes. Do
some work on the center cap - make it plain, no logo - and keep the lug nuts plain,
possibly with extensions to make them even with the center cap. Don't be ridiculous
with contrasting lug nuts.
Therefore, rim selection number one from above is the best, except you need
to paint the deep dish and lip black to match the rest. The silver lip as-is will
make that wheel appear as a tiny 16-incher. Cheap knock-off rim designs are
best or your life will degrade each time you curb them.
It is rare to see a good looking wheel/car combination, as it's mostly due to luck.
I consider rims the major make or break expense that almost everyone gets wrong.
My car got it right, but that was just luck, even though I think I know what I am doing.
For that reason a perfect car/rim combination should be cheered and celebrated as
something special. I always compliment a guy who gets it right.
Once you get your rims down it is time to now spend however many thousands of
hours on the stance or all will be lost.
Damn, I cannot figure out how to upload pictures. Most lists I just click on the immage and hit ruturn and it goesinto the posr....BUT NOT THIS LOUSY software.
I hope it is attached. We need to get rid of this poorly written software.
Those look good and not so expensive so no problem when you curb them
as I did with mine today. Sand paper and paint make them good as new.
But they're only 18-inch and a silver rim on black spokes will make the
wheel look smaller. Should be better all silver. I like the spider web
which alludes to the arachnid styling of the older-style SC headlights and
also there's the allusion to old school wire wheels, which fits the SC's classic
rounded 50's styling.
11-29-05, 11:24 AM
