Wheels

[Derek Kane]

Hi, just wondering if anyone has fitted wheels on their cars which sit out a little more than stock, say 5 or 8mm and what offsets achieve this. Thanks.

[Linas.P]

In front that would have have quite a few negative effects, not only rubbing, crabbing, ruining alignment, but as well all sort of undesirable steering geometries.

In the rear could be done, standard offset is ET45, so if you have ET35 (if not opposite... I always getting confused which way offset goes, but I think 35 will be "negative" and that means wheels will be out) then they will stand 10mm proud.

Again not recommended, but easiest way to achieve that would be to put the spaces. I mean I certainly do not recommend to drive on spaces, but could help to determine what offset you want.

[H3XME]

1 hour ago, Derek Kane said:

Hi, just wondering if anyone has fitted wheels on their cars which sit out a little more than stock, say 5 or 8mm and what offsets achieve this. Thanks.

I wouldn't worry about this 5-8mm at all. I have 18x9.5 wheels with ET38 front and ET16 rear on my 2008 IS250. The front wheels sit 26mm further out and the rears 38mm further out compared to factory 17x8 ET45 wheels. If you want your wheels to be 5mm more out, you need 8J ET40. Offset (ET) is measured in millimetres. So ET35 would be 10mm further out than ET45 on the same width rim.

 

[H3XME]

1 hour ago, Linas.P said:

In front that would have have quite a few negative effects, not only rubbing, crabbing, ruining alignment, but as well all sort of undesirable steering geometries.

In the rear could be done, standard offset is ET45, so if you have ET35 (if not opposite... I always getting confused which way offset goes, but I think 35 will be "negative" and that means wheels will be out) then they will stand 10mm proud.

Again not recommended, but easiest way to achieve that would be to put the spaces. I mean I certainly do not recommend to drive on spaces, but could help to determine what offset you want.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with CORRECT wheel spacers. You need hub-centric spacers that sit on the factory hub just like the wheel. If you get some sort of universal spacers that are not hubcentric, the weight of the wheel is purely on wheel studs - this is where it may cause issues on awful surfaces and hard driving. I've been using (driving and drifting on them) hub-centric wheel spacers for years and they are just as safe as not using them. 

And yes, negative offsets will make the wheel sit further out. The lower the ET the further out they sit. So a 10mm spacer will essentially lower the offset of standard wheels to ET35.

[Mr Vlad]

I'm intrigued Lucas how much further out than standard your wheels sit further out. Do your wheels/tyres actually stick out beyond the wings?

[Linas.P]

53 minutes ago, H3XME said:

The front wheels sit 26mm further out and the rears 38mm further out compared to factory 17x8 ET45 wheels. 

@Mr Vlad - Factory wheels are ~ 10mm in... maybe 15mm at very top... which makes Lucas wheels quite noticeably out. Not exactly "rocket bunny" style, but not something I would call "subtle"... but car mods are subjective thing.

I assume at very least rolled arches + bit of negative camber? 

[Derek Kane]

Thanks for all the input guys, lots to think about,style of wheels etc.

[H3XME]

18 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

I'm intrigued Lucas how much further out than standard your wheels sit further out. Do your wheels/tyres actually stick out beyond the wings?

My 18x9.5 ET38 wheels sit 26mm further out compared to factory 17x8 ET45 wheels. 9.5 ET38 is too much for the front on factory ride height. Rear ones are just about flush / in line with the top of the arch. 

However, I have lowered the car on coilovers by about 60mm (it's still very comfortable due to softer spring rates, so I didn't lose comfort even though it's lower)

By lowering the car, the suspension tweaks to a point where you gain natural negative camber. 

With the camber I gained just by lowering the car, the front wheels have tucked in by a lot. From a slight poke to being 10-13mm in the arch. I don't have a picture of that, but they are well within the arch.

The rear wheels went in so much due to camber that I ended up using 22mm wheel spacers (which makes them 48mm further out compared to stock wheels, but again, i only "needed" to use spacers because it's been lowered and camber tucked the wheel in too much for my liking). Pics below. The wheels have a slight, aggressive poke, nothing too excessive. I'm happy with the rear fitment with my slightly stretched 225/40 tyres on the 9.5J rims.

Fitment game is a difficult one to get it done right. Takes a lot of measuring and trying different things. It's safer to go for wheels that are within the arches and then tweak it with wheel spacers depending on how low you want the car to sit. 

IF you are NOT planning on lowering the car, your new wheels should be something like 8.5J ET35-45 for a fitment that will be 10-20mm further in the arch than my wheels on factory height. Hope that makes sense to all.

 

@Linas.P Yes, the negative camber plays its role, but I gained it just by lowering the car, I didn't need any camber arms or anything. Arches are slightly pinched/rolled on the front otherwise it would rub on full lock, but ONLY when i lowered the car. On factory height, I had no issues whatsoever, even with sh*t (pokey) fitment.

[Linas.P]

Yeah... that has some stance. 

No issues on inner edges of the tyres? How was it to get it aligned? 

[H3XME]

9 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Yeah... that has some stance. 

No issues on inner edges of the tyres? How was it to get it aligned? 

Well.. issues. There is camber wear, of course, but that's the price you pay for silly mods 😄  My tyres lasted 15k miles, but I am on TOYO Proxes TR1 that are quite soft and grippy, so a regular economy tyre would last longer because it would be a harder compound. Alignment was easy, because you can't adjust much on these cars at all. My toe is slightly in on the back, I need tie rods that allow adjustment (£150ish), front is fine. Camber and the rest was changed evenly after lowering the car, so it didn't cause any issues or had a negative impact on handling. If anything the handling improved by swapping for lighter alloys and narrower tyre. Car feels more alive than it did on stock wheels and budget 245/45 tyres that the previous owner fitted. Also, 2 degrees of negative camber on the front helps grip in turns, so the car feels a lot more stable at higher speeds and in turns. I know this is a big car and by no means anything sporty, but it feels a lot better.

[Linas.P]

About what I would expect... but at least you knew what it will cause and honest about it 👍

Again - I am not against modifying the cars, just never considered Lexus to be a make to do it with.

As for handling it would be interesting to know how much it was affected by simply throwing away budget tyres and replacing them with more decent rubber... As well - are you saying previous owner fitted all 4 tyres 245s? or just rears?

[Derek Kane]

Very interesting,  so am I best to go for wheels the same in every respect except for appearance of course and just work with hubcentric spacers from there.

[H3XME]

2 hours ago, Linas.P said:

About what I would expect... but at least you knew what it will cause and honest about it 👍

Again - I am not against modifying the cars, just never considered Lexus to be a make to do it with.

As for handling it would be interesting to know how much it was affected by simply throwing away budget tyres and replacing them with more decent rubber... As well - are you saying previous owner fitted all 4 tyres 245s? or just rears?

I'm not new to the game. I know what i can and can't do and how it's going to affect things. I think this is where experience comes to play as people who are new to modifying cars don't often do things properly (may not know how) and it's so so easy to ruin the car.

I agree, but this is why I wanted to do it to the Lexus. You don't see it very often. It's not bad to stand out.

HUGE difference. Handling feels more responsive and lighter, yet safer because of the grip from the tyres, so the tyres & wheels changed the car the most. Nevermind the suspension. Yes, 245s on all 4 corners. This car really doesn't have the power to justify 245s. It just kills the mpgs, handling and acceleration. I suppose most people are afraid of RWD cars and they try to over-compensate with big tyres to avoid skidding because they can't drive 😄

1 hour ago, Derek Kane said:

Very interesting,  so am I best to go for wheels the same in every respect except for appearance of course and just work with hubcentric spacers from there.

You can keep your factory wheels and simply put 10 and 15mm spacers on them to achieve a nice fitment, but if you want to change the wheels completely, look for something that's similar to factory size & offset. Width of the wheel doesn't determine how far out it will sit. It's down to the offset. Use this website: https://www.willtheyfit.com put your current setup in, so factory IS250 wheels are 17" x 8" ET45.. so for example if you found wheels you like that are 18x8.5 ET35 they would sit 16mm further out than factory wheels. And with the 16mm difference it you will achieve a very nice fitment on factory ride height / suspension.

[Mr Vlad]

Excellently put Lucas. There's nowt wrong with modding the gen 2 is as its a fabulous looking car in standard form but stunning in molded form. Your car as others I've seen online are a credit to you and their owners. 

Have you considered using a 225 on the front to see how it affects handling?

[H3XME]

1 minute ago, Mr Vlad said:

Excellently put Lucas. There's nowt wrong with modding the gen 2 is as its a fabulous looking car in standard form but stunning in molded form. Your car as others I've seen online are a credit to you and their owners. 

Have you considered using a 225 on the front to see how it affects handling?

Thanks Vlad. I have 225/40R18 all round. Like I said, i only have experience with the previous 245/45R17 on stock wheels from the previous owner.

That being said, my friend bought IS250 a few weeks ago, that had 225/45 (front) and 245/45 (rear) tyres, so I believe that's a factory specification. Again, that particular car didn't feel as bad as mine on 245s all round, but you could definitely feel the difference. Especially during cornering due to factory soft suspension and AWFUL body roll. Really didn't feel safe going through a bend at 60mph on a country lane lol

[Mr Vlad]

Ahhh I kinda missed that, must be my age lol. Yes 225/45 front and 245/45 rear at 17 is standard but some gen 2 have 16's but don't know sizes. Yes suspension plays a great part in handling. My car handles great ok I've had New shockers on the back but I certainly don't get awful body roll. Possibly tyre skip at speed, only to be expected on cheap rubber which my car has on each corner lol.

[Linas.P]

245 on front is just silly. I didn't know they even fit without rubbing.

Yes Standard fit is 225/245 on 17" and 225/255 on 18". When I got myself 18" wheel they came with 255s on the rear and that is massive overkill + having 225 on the front at the same time made the car balance very front biased, almost felt as FWD... as if you accelerate on corner the front would slip straight away and it was difficult to rotate car around the corner. 

When I changed tyres I fitted 225/245 on 18"s, but to be fair it could go further to 225/235 to actually make the car handle like proper RWD. The only problem that standard 18" wheels are staggered and 235 would look too much stretched for my liking. Obviously, they won't be as stretched as 225 on 9.5 rims, but still.

[H3XME]

19 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Ahhh I kinda missed that, must be my age lol. Yes 225/45 front and 245/45 rear at 17 is standard but some gen 2 have 16's but don't know sizes. Yes suspension plays a great part in handling. My car handles great ok I've had New shockers on the back but I certainly don't get awful body roll. Possibly tyre skip at speed, only to be expected on cheap rubber which my car has on each corner lol.

It depends how much you push it I suppose. My driving style was spoilt by the GT86, that was low and planted in corners with no body roll with a few mods. IS250 felt like a boat, which it is lol but with a new suspension and tyres it got a lot better and again, the driving style adjusted accordingly. So when I drove my friends stock IS250 it was a very different experience in the handling department.

19 hours ago, Linas.P said:

245 on front is just silly. I didn't know they even fit without rubbing.

Yes Standard fit is 225/245 on 17" and 225/255 on 18". When I got myself 18" wheel they came with 255s on the rear and that is massive overkill + having 225 on the front at the same time made the car balance very front biased, almost felt as FWD... as if you accelerate on corner the front would slip straight away and it was difficult to rotate car around the corner. 

When I changed tyres I fitted 225/245 on 18"s, but to be fair it could go further to 225/235 to actually make the car handle like proper RWD. The only problem that standard 18" wheels are staggered and 235 would look too much stretched for my liking. Obviously, they won't be as stretched as 225 on 9.5 rims, but still.

245s wouldn't rub as the factory 17" rims are only 8J and sucked in the arches too much.

Yea.. I don't like when people are putting staggered wheels on their cars. Of course some cars can benefit from it if we're talking big power outputs, but with 207bhp IS250, it just kills the joy. 225 & 235 is okay, not a big difference, but it's always better to have a square setup for balance if possible. 

[Linas.P]

4 hours ago, H3XME said:

 I don't like when people are putting staggered wheels on their cars. 

Lexus standard 18" wheels are staggered. 

[H3XME]

1 hour ago, Linas.P said:

Lexus standard 18" wheels are staggered. 

I know, but when you have the choice and it's better to have square setup, why go staggered. 

[Yorkie740]

My fitment is front 8.5j wheels 35et with 225/35/19 tyres and rear is 9.5j et35 with 255/35/19 tyres the front inner arches need heating and rolled out alittle but now no problems at all! 

Coilovers lowered to sit just lower them top of tyres no idea on how much it's lowered just its low lol 

[Mr Vlad]

Very much like the look and colour of those wheels. Really make the car look fab 👍

[Derek Kane]

How much have you lowered the car? Looks really good.

[Yorkie740]

I don't know quite a lot until the tyres sat in line with the arches! Lol

[Marleez]

I have 15mm spacers on the front of mine and 20mm spacers on the back. They fit directly on the hub and the wheels bolt on to the spacers. My front tyres are 18 225 40 and rear 18 235 40. That's because the front and rear wheels are the same size. If my rear wheels were staggered I would have got 255 40 18s. 

Got mine ordered and fitted by FAW in hampstead London