Arch Roll Needed If I Use Spacers?

[Keynun]

I've currently got the following wheels (car is lowered):

18x8.5 et40 (so et25 with spacers?)

18x10 et45 (so et30 with spacers?)

Does anyone have experience of getting similar spec wheels to fit under the arches? I don't want to touch the arches if I can get them to fit without rolling, but good quality hubcentric spacers are not cheap either.

[Tulpen]

Try the US Lexus forum.......there are guys on there who do all sorts of weird things to their cars.

[harrylime]

Why the hell would you want to mess about with a car that took a billion dollars and hundreds of engineers to develop, and is widely regarded as one of the finest bit of automotive engineering ever seen? I would suggest selling your Lexus, and buying a Vauxhall Corsa to tart up

[Titch LS]

Our American friends seem to go in for this sort of stuff more than we do. I would put it down to them not appreciating just how much superior engineering goes into an LS. You don't win 12 global J.D.Power surveys (a record) by chance. We all know about the superb world-beating V8, but even little details like the extra soft leather on the inside door handles isn't there just by chance either. It's there to make you feel cocooned in luxury when you get in. Like Hugh, I couldn't bring myself to seriously 'bling up' my motor. I appreciate what went into the LS. Others may have a different view of course.

[Keynun]

Why the hell would you want to mess about with a car that took a billion dollars and hundreds of engineers to develop, and is widely regarded as one of the finest bit of automotive engineering ever seen? I would suggest selling your Lexus, and buying a Vauxhall Corsa to tart up

I appreciate some people do not like lowering a Lexus and putting on nice wheels (which may I add are from a LEXUS GS SPORT and not a random bloody universal wheel brand) but there's no need to suggest I buy a corsa.

God forbid you take a look at the USA site, where there's at least 100 cars that are similar to what I have done, you may go bat**** crazy and tell them all to buy a corsa too, LOL:

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-1st-and-2nd-gen-1990-2000/260772-ls400-owners-post-your-wheel-setup.html

I'm not putting a body kit on it guys.....it's hardly tarting up the car, in fact it looks quite outdated with stock wheels these days.

[mikeyv]

Your car, your choice, we're all different.

You're right about the wheels too, definitely the worst feature of the car imo.

Get some pics up when you've done it.

[Yoda]

The thing about customising is just that. A vehicle is built for a generic population and multiple countries to meet multiple regulations. So any factory vehicle is compromised in order to make as many sales as possible. This is why special editions are always limited runs. There isn't the market for a factory tuned special edition car as most people won't buy it. So they make a limited run of them to make them sought after and desired and make the maths work. Even manufactures do custom work. That's what concept cars are all about. They want to demonstrate what they can do with all the rules and regs lifted. But they don't produce them because for the most part they won't sell.

Customising, when done right can make a car that is already brilliant, even better. But it does have to be tasteful. That said there will always be people who don't like it. I've come in for some abuse about what I've done to my truck. And I've had people tell me that putting a Lexus engine, basically Toyota, in a Mitsubishi is an unforgivable sin. There is a whole world of customising going on and not all of us are Kevins who drive around in Nova's and 106GTi's.

I'm fairly confident that I could show images of countless cars before and after modification that most people would agree have improved the car. It's about knowing what to do and doing it right. A lot of these mods are purely aesthetic. Just changing a line, contour or panel of a body in a subtle way can dramatically improve a car's look. On the other hand, certain cars should not be modified. Because of their highly classic status or pedigree. A Ferrari 250GTO for example. Genuine Selby Cobras. Mercedes 300SL. Cars of that special historic status should not be touched. Modern versions would probably be the Veyron and Enzo. And in the middle era I think you could argue that the Lamborghini Countach is now in this group. There's obviously many more but you get the point. It's not that these cars can't be made better with customisation. (Excluding perhaps the Veyron and Enzo) it's that it's ethically wrong to try. They are perfect with their flaws. While the LS400 is a great car, it doesn't sit in this category. A car that might in the future is the LFA, because it's a technical masterpiece. But not just yet. It needs time.

Don't get me wrong. Most people who modify cars ruin them. But a few companies and people get it right. Lotus have always been great at it. Look what they did to the Vauxhall Carlton, turning it into the Lotus Calrton. That's my personal take on it. If you modify a car I believe it should be done in such a way that it looks factory. So that if you show it to someone who was none the wiser and told them it was a factory special edition, they would believe you.

For this reason I believe that a subtle roll on the LS400 arches would work if done with the right wheels and tyres. It can't look like you tried to slam it to the ground in a wide boy style. It has to be tasteful. But you must not lose ride comfort for it. Otherwise you are wasting the billion dollars Lexus spent to develop it. Which probably means aftermarket suspension too.

[Keith Bowler]

Why the hell would you want to mess about with a car that took a billion dollars and hundreds of engineers to develop, and is widely regarded as one of the finest bit of automotive engineering ever seen? I would suggest selling your Lexus, and buying a Vauxhall Corsa to tart up

I appreciate some people do not like lowering a Lexus and putting on nice wheels (which may I add are from a LEXUS GS SPORT and not a random bloody universal wheel brand) but there's no need to suggest I buy a corsa.

God forbid you take a look at the USA site, where there's at least 100 cars that are similar to what I have done, you may go bat**** crazy and tell them all to buy a corsa too, LOL:

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-1st-and-2nd-gen-1990-2000/260772-ls400-owners-post-your-wheel-setup.html

I'm not putting a body kit on it guys.....it's hardly tarting up the car, in fact it looks quite outdated with stock wheels these days.

Hi - I don't see there being anything wrong with trying the 8.5" standard GS 300 Sport wheels, they should fit OK without spacers, though the 10" rears will foul the arches. Depending of course on how low you have gone.

I had this set up on my GS Sport, it was standard and it looked the bees but then the suspension was set up in the factory to suit the wheels.

I reckon the staggered look with wider 10" rears suits the GS but the 8.5" standard sport wheels are a better fit all round on the LS IMO due to the shape of the car.

Best tyre combination I found on the GS was 265-35-18 on rear and 245-40-18 on the front.

I have tried the the 8.5" wheels all round with 245-40-18's on my LS and it looked and worked OK, though my LS has the DHP spec, so a little lower than standard but I did get a lot of 'tramlining' on the front wheels and that was using ContSport tyres. I have since swapped back to the standard size 17" DHP wheels and 235-50-17 Bridgestone RE50 tyres and have no more 'tramlining' issues.

IMO the GS Sport wheels look great on the LS but sadly the suspension setup was not designed for the size of wheel on the GS Sport.

Why not have a word with Tony 'Bones' at Wheels in Motion and he may be able to help with tweaking your suspension set up to suit the wheels. It might be wise to increase your ride height a touch too if you have gone very low.

As far as arch rolling is concerned, if done properly, it can be 'discrete' and virtually unnoticable. I think you will find that most VIP American LS's with cambered wheel setups will have rolled arches.

I have also seen a UK LS on air bags and that had 20" wheels IIRC (was on eBay a few months back) and could be 'slammed' to the ground with no apparrent issues.

[cruisermark]

hi

are these the wheel we are talking about

if yes they seem to fit and look ok

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/97116-new-alloy-wheels-ls400/

[TigerFish]

I'm slightly confused by the original question to be honest. Are you saying you have them on already without spacers, and want to know if the spacers will take them too far? Or you want to know if the wheels without spacers will foul the arches? If you already have them without spacers, a tape measure will give the answer to how much scope for going out further you've got.

[harrylime]

I'm not into customising, but have no problem with those who do. I respect and admire the skill that goes into the best custom jobs. I wasn't really attacking anyone's taste either, I was wondering why anyone would take a car that has been so meticulously developed, almost to extreme lengths, and try to improve it. From an engineering standpoint, I doubt very much whether I could improve on what the hundreds of engineers, and a billion dollars achieved. For example, wheel spacers? what would be the point?