Is250x Wheels

[frankyIS250]

Hi all,

New here, looking at buying an IS250 this weekend to take advantage of the 0% offer, but am tossing up between the Prestige or the X. Both in Black.

There are benefits for both, the X sports suspension, branding and most importantly the 18” wheels, but the prestige is cheaper & option to add the wheels and has the air cond seats.

I don’t see value in adding the X wheels on the prestige through the dealer for $4000+ and would like to reach out to my new Lexus Owners Club friends to see if anyone has any information on getting the X wheels 2nd hand or through another supplier?

I’d even consider the Sports 18”.

Hope u can help.

[ProjectIS]

[Naz]

Hi Frank!

I had the same problem as you :) so I can see where you are coming from. There are 2 options but both are not good ones right now since the dollar is low.

1. Check out http://www.sewellpartsonline.com/

They have the wheels for the X but it's around 599 US each plus you need to pay for freight. When the dollar was low this was a good option. The sports wheels looks like they are sold as a set which is cheaper than the X wheel.

2. Check Ebay or see if anyone is selling the sports wheel's second hand.

In the end I just got the Prestige with EMV and separate wheels and tyres from the dealer because I did not want to worry about warranty issues if something went wrong, not to mention I wanted the light interior which the X did not have.

But have a look around and see how cheap you can get the wheels. You could possibly save some money on tyres by using something other than Bridgestone as that seems to be the most expensive. I used the Dunlop Sports Max, but there is another brand I think it was called Sumitomo which is made by Dunlop which is even cheaper

Also try contacting Fred at parts at Melb City Lexus (www.citylexus.com.au). They seem to do really good prices on parts, they also sometimes do stock clearances and may have some old wheels that they may be clearing. A friend of mine got the 2006 sports wheel pretty cheap sometime ago.

One last thing if you go with the dealer, get them to trade in your old wheels, you should be able to get something for those too.

Good luck mate :)

[frankyIS250]

Thanks Naz,

I have sent an email enquiry tonight and will hopefully hear from them tomorrow that might make my desicion easier.

Will let u know how i go.

Cheers

[QQQ]

If your consideration is 'Wheels & Suspensions", buy the Prestige and get the coil over and there's plenty of nice after market rim out there :) ...and BIGGER . its only cost you around $5000-6000 for that.... :)

[last1]

I wasn't too keen on the stock wheels on my Prestige either. The salesman suggested I buy my own set after the sale which he advised would be a much cheaper option than buying larger wheels through Lexus. I thought about it for a while... and as 'end of month' approached, he ended up including them at no additional cost in order to get me to commit.

Not sure if you can swing something similar seeing they're already doing the 0% and all, but may be worth a try, especially at end of month.

[frankyIS250]

Ended up going the X, the prestige was sold - oh well! Happy either way. Thanks for all ur advice.

0%, what a bargain!

[Niick]

woooooow another lexus owner :)

[pygothian]

The X is great value anyway. You get the satnav/ML sound etc. The wheels are nice, and you get the sports pedals and suspension too.

I just wish that stuff was on the Sports luxury. Kinda sucks the sports luxury doesnt have any sports stuff in it.

[FrankyX]

Yea kinda defeats the purpose of having 'Sports' in the branding.

Picking it up tomorrow, looking forward to the drive home.

[pygothian]

I was torn between a metallic red X, that arctic blue X or the sportsluxury - and coz I got the sports luxury with 42km on it, and it was registered, didnt have to pay LCT or DD, and it ended up being cheaper than getting the X brand new.

memory seats, heat/cooling, auto steering moving, autodimming mirrors, precollision sensor, xenon headlights and adaptive lights tho got me...after driving the sportts luxury for a weekend at night..then the X....you really miss all those extras that at the time didnt seem significant - so i went with the SL, despite not having sports suspension and nice wheels

Now I see that red X all the time...it lives about 2 streets from me.

[kinjiru]

I was torn between a metallic red X, that arctic blue X or the sportsluxury - and coz I got the sports luxury with 42km on it, and it was registered, didnt have to pay LCT or DD, and it ended up being cheaper than getting the X brand new.

memory seats, heat/cooling, auto steering moving, autodimming mirrors, precollision sensor, xenon headlights and adaptive lights tho got me...after driving the sportts luxury for a weekend at night..then the X....you really miss all those extras that at the time didnt seem significant - so i went with the SL, despite not having sports suspension and nice wheels

Now I see that red X all the time...it lives about 2 streets from me.

You made the right choice. You can always put sports suspension and some aftermarket wheels on a car. However, all those things that the Luxury has, most of them you can't easily install after purchase.

[Wally]

Hi all,

Am new here too. Will pickup my new 08 IS250 Sports Luxury in a few weeks - I hate the wheels on it (couldn't beat the salesman down to add the 18" 'X' wheels at a reasonable price - he wanted $A3,000 for them!!!), so am going to get some 18x8s aftermarket. Have already spotted a set at Tempe Tyres & they're offering me the new mags + 4 Kumho 245/40 x 18 Ecsta SPT KU31's as a package for $1400 (less trade on the old 17" wheels). What I'm after is any info on the actual tyre sizes I can fit to my new car. The sales brochure specs show that the Sports Luxury has 225/45 x17 x8.0" front & 245/45 x 17 x8.0" rear while the Sports has 225/40 x18 x8.0" front & 255/40 x18 x8.5" rear – thus they both seem to have the smaller width 225 tyres on the front, even though they both use 8” wide rims on the front. I asked the dealer about this & he said "(he) personally would not fit a 245/40r18 to the front for the simple fact they are a very wide tyre and not worth the trouble they could cause on the front, by scrubbing on the guard under cornering and load".

I'd like to fit 245/40 x18s (on 8.0" rims) all round but am obviously concerned that I'll stuff up the front with scrubbing etc. Does anyone have any thoughts / experiences to share on this so I can try to take a view on whether to go with 225s or 245s on the front? Also, if anyone has any views on Kumho's I'd be interested too as I've never used them before - a mate has some on his Monaro & he's happy with them.

Cheers...Thx for any input here.

[cevu]

Hi all,

Am new here too. Will pickup my new 08 IS250 Sports Luxury in a few weeks - I hate the wheels on it (couldn't beat the salesman down to add the 18" 'X' wheels at a reasonable price - he wanted $A3,000 for them!!!), so am going to get some 18x8s aftermarket. Have already spotted a set at Tempe Tyres & they're offering me the new mags + 4 Kumho 245/40 x 18 Ecsta SPT KU31's as a package for $1400 (less trade on the old 17" wheels). What I'm after is any info on the actual tyre sizes I can fit to my new car. The sales brochure specs show that the Sports Luxury has 225/45 x17 x8.0" front & 245/45 x 17 x8.0" rear while the Sports has 225/40 x18 x8.0" front & 255/40 x18 x8.5" rear – thus they both seem to have the smaller width 225 tyres on the front, even though they both use 8” wide rims on the front. I asked the dealer about this & he said "(he) personally would not fit a 245/40r18 to the front for the simple fact they are a very wide tyre and not worth the trouble they could cause on the front, by scrubbing on the guard under cornering and load".

I'd like to fit 245/40 x18s (on 8.0" rims) all round but am obviously concerned that I'll stuff up the front with scrubbing etc. Does anyone have any thoughts / experiences to share on this so I can try to take a view on whether to go with 225s or 245s on the front? Also, if anyone has any views on Kumho's I'd be interested too as I've never used them before - a mate has some on his Monaro & he's happy with them.

Cheers...Thx for any input here.

not sure about sizes but i've got maxxis 235/40/18 all round. i have been told that they are substancially better than kumhos and there is a world of difference between the factory yokohama v103s and the maxxis. handling is superior in the factory supplied yokos, noticably noisier but handling is so much better in both wet and entering/exiting corners!

i've had kumhos before on a mazda 6, whilst very quiet they don't offer anywhere near the performance levels of the factory yokos or potenzas.

just something to weigh up before making your purchase.

i'm changing on my maxxis for something better as i recently went to kangaroo valley/moss vale back roads for a cruise and whilst good with handling they leave a lot to be desired! in comparison the factory yokos could take the same corners inspiring you with confidence.

[last1]

Wally, I've got 225/40 8 on the front and 255/40 8.5 rears. The front wheels therefore have a lower profile, and are therefore smaller. However, they both sit flush inside the guard (you wouldn't know one was wider than the other when examining them from any angle, although the wheel nuts protrude more on the rears than the fronts). Different size front/rear is not uncommon on a number of sport cars and cars with after market wheels.

I wouldn't brush the salesman's opinion off lightly though. I've had heaps of mates go too wide with wheels, creating constant headaches trying to avoid the 'rubs'.

Dunlop SP Sport Maxx rubber. No complaints. (may complain if I had to buy a replacement set though! $$$)

There's never going to be an ideal wheel/tyre set up - everything's a compromise. Performance/Value/Quietness/Grip. Worst case scenario - buy the cheapest set they've got, and let the car's electronics take care of the rest

[Wally]

i Folks,

Just thought I'd advise some pricing. I just got off the phone to Melb. City Lexus & they're now charging (wheels only):

IS250 Blade Alloys set x 4 - $1550 (+ ~$150 freight to SYD).

IS250 F1 Alloys set x 4 - $1700 (+ ~$150 freight to SYD).

Pix on their website.

Also, the wheels I'm thinking of getting from Tempe Tyres are these - http://www.tempetyres.com.au/products_clos...mp;part_no=1417

Anyone have any comments?

[FrankyX]

That seems cheap for the Blade wheels, it's normally around $4000 add on when purchased from the dealer. $1550 plus tyres sounds like a good deal.

[Wally]

Yes...it is cheap. Sydney City lexus wanted to charge me $3,000 for the 4 Blade wheels + tyres to put on my new IS250 SL.

Also, an update...Sutherland Lexus came back to me yesterday with pricing for the F1s (rims only) $440 each - $1760 the set - that's not bad. Better than the melbourne pricing as there's no freight to pay.

[kinjiru]

I have 235/40/18's all round and I get very very faint scrubbing at full lock and when I am driving downhill and braking (in other words when the momentum of the car is being pitched forward).

That is with a 42 offset.

If you go beyond 235's I reckon you will get scrubbing which will require you to use a heat gun to bend your (doh forgot what it's called) plastic inside thingy within your wheel arches.

I'm running on the Kumho Ecsta SPT on 18's. The Kumho's are at a great price point have good handling. You can definitely get better handling tyres but you'd definitely have to pay more. I'm more than happy with the price/performance trade off and have recommended the tyres to several people who think that they are great. Basically, for the price of the Kumho's, you'd have to buy an inferior Bridgestone/Dunlop/Yokohama/Michellin tyre as it will cost substantially more to get the top tyres in the other brands. I did a heap of research a year ago.

check out www.tirerack.com as they have some good independant tyre reviews (they sell all brands so they aren't biased).

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=4

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=97

As for the wheels, I like them. They will go well with the car :)

[Wally]

You wouldn't have a pic of yr car wld you - I'd like to see how the wheels look if u don't mind...thx.

I'll post some wheel prices up here shortly - just waiting for Lexus Sutherland to get back to me. It's amazing how the prices vary from dealer to dealer. Surprisingly, the guys at Melbourne City Lexus are NOT the cheapest now.

[kinjiru]

You wouldn't have a pic of yr car wld you - I'd like to see how the wheels look if u don't mind...thx.

I'll post some wheel prices up here shortly - just waiting for Lexus Sutherland to get back to me. It's amazing how the prices vary from dealer to dealer. Surprisingly, the guys at Melbourne City Lexus are NOT the cheapest now.

Oops - sorry Wally. Been busy so haven't looked in the forum for a while.

In the interests of not posting the same picture again:

http://au.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=8135&st=15

I am post #27.

[Wally]

You wouldn't have a pic of yr car wld you - I'd like to see how the wheels look if u don't mind...thx.

I'll post some wheel prices up here shortly - just waiting for Lexus Sutherland to get back to me. It's amazing how the prices vary from dealer to dealer. Surprisingly, the guys at Melbourne City Lexus are NOT the cheapest now.

Oops - sorry Wally. Been busy so haven't looked in the forum for a while.

In the interests of not posting the same picture again:

http://au.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...=8135&st=15

I am post #27.

Hey - yr Le Mans Racing LMR06 wheels look gr8! Where did u get them from & how much did they cost may I ask?