ES3

Mort,

I wonder if there may be some confusion somewhere... this is the response I got from your dealer after inquiring about the 16" steel rim package you suggested?
-----------------


Good afternoon,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding steel wheels for the IS350. At this
time, there is nothing our dealership can offer to you in ways of a 16 inch
steel wheel. That size wheel will not clear the front brakes.

We have only used the Lexus 18" Tourmaline accessory wheels for snow tires
on this vehicle. At this current time the Lexus accessory wheels are our
only option other than using the original equipment wheel.

The customer that states we have 16" steel wheel packages must be confused
with our 2001-2006 IS300 packages.

mort

There is definitely some confusion here, as I have gone to great lengths with my dealer to assure this package would work...why would they sell it to me and have it in storage at the dealership??? If this is not resolved, I will even post all my email correspondence with them. I assure you my contributions here have been totally sincere. I have just sent an email off to the dealership, with the response you received included, asking for an explanation, and will post their response when received and plan on visiting them personally tomorrow. Something is very strange here because once the issue of brake clearance was raised, I went to great lengths to get confirmation on my purchase. Again...why would I have these wheels and tires aquired from the dealer and in storage for an IS350 purchased new, off a boat, the same time...not a 300!!!

mort

I will continue to report on this this matter...read below


I will contact Greg again at Belleville with your concern. I will ask him to mount them and call you to stop by and try them. I am going by what the service department there has insisted will work. I will contact you ASAP with what is going on with this.

Troy
----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Morton
To: tdolan@vandermeer.toyota.ca
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 5:49 PM
Subject: Steve Morton - Lexus


Hi Troy,



Hope all is working out for you in Cobourg.



I realize you are no longer at Belleville Toyota but am contacting you because I was dealing with you on this matter and you were the one who assured me my winter/tire package would work on my Lexus, with no problem clearing the brakes. I have told many people on an internet Lexus forum that this combo would work and someone even contacted Performance Lexus in St. Catherine’s to arrange the same setup, being skeptical that it would not work. Below is the response received from Performance Lexus. I would appreciate it if you could look into this as I have a set of winter rims and tires paid for, in storage that apparently will not be of any use to me.



Steve











Quote:

Originally Posted by mort

I have mentioned this before on another thread concerning winter tires, that my dealer ordered me 4 - 16" steel rims with corresponding tires, 225's. He has used this combination on IS 350's last winter and had no problem with brake clearance. He is also storing the wheel/tires for me as well as my 18's in the winter.




Mort,

I wonder if there may be some confusion somewhere... this is the response I got from your dealer after inquiring about the 16" steel rim package you suggested?
-----------------


Good afternoon,

Thank you for your inquiry regarding steel wheels for the IS350. At this
time, there is nothing our dealership can offer to you in ways of a 16 inch
steel wheel. That size wheel will not clear the front brakes.

We have only used the Lexus 18" Tourmaline accessory wheels for snow tires
on this vehicle. At this current time the Lexus accessory wheels are our
only option other than using the original equipment wheel.

The customer that states we have 16" steel wheel packages must be confused
with our 2001-2006 IS300 packages.

ES3

Thx for your follow-up... please keep us all posted. For what it's worth your delearship did suggest that the 17's would clear the brakes--but we already knew that. I was just hoping for the 16's, because traction will be a TON better!

c5mtl

so what does u people think is the best winter tire for the 350???any comment on hakka4

ES3

I think 17 inch rims are the ONLY option? I'd go with Blizzak snow tires on a 17 inch rim. Or just go here: www.tirerack.com

c5mtl

i think blizzak is way over rated....great maketing sells tons of tires....hakka's way outperform them

ES3

Don't think I can get Hakka's in the U.S!?

Mort, you out there? Any updates?

Brandon@TR

Really, to which Blizzak tire are you comparing? What Data do you have to support this claim?

The best bet right now for the IS350 is the 17 inch package with the Blizzak LM25's, the current price with the sensors is $1606 plus shipping. These are sent mounted and balanced with the hardware including the TMPS sensors, WITH STICKERS now on the back of the wheel with the initialization codes, so the dealer can program the second set of tires and wheels.

ES3

Wow! That's not cheap, can you run a 2nd set without a TPMS?

Brandon@TR

I'm sure you can that would take about $450 off the price if you didn't want the sensors.

ES3

Thx! Between the 17 inch package or just putting those winter tires on the Lexus 18 rims, do you have a preference? Do you think the wider 18's will be THAT much less efficient in the snow than an 17 inch package? Also, do you know the width of the tires on the 17's? Are they all the same size, instead of staggered, like on the 18's.

Another thought, any idea if 4 225/45/17's would work all the way around on the IS350, considering the large front brakes and 13inch rotors?

Brandon@TR

Our information about the car from Lexus and from having one here is that the vehicles computer looks for a staggered size with slightly different over all diameters. We would not recommend running the same size all the way around. The sizes are 225/45 and 245/45.

ES3

What's strange about that, is I thought the IS250 and even the IS350 came standard with same sized 17's all the way around? The staggered 18's are an option???

Brandon@TR

I don't know if anything is strange about it. I was answering your question about what were the 17 inch tire sizes and if you can use the same size all the way around.