Are these tyres too big?

[Lex_utor]

I want to buy some new wheels and winter tyres. My current winter tyres need replacement and are 17". I would like to get some 18". Would  225/50/18 front and 245/45/18 rear fit in your opinion? Or are they too large? The profile seems slightly taller than recommended, as my document says 225/40/18 and 255/40/18.  I currently have 225/35/19 front and 245/35/19 rear for summer and they are fine. What do you think ?

[Lex_utor]

Sorry, posted the above in a hurry and forgot to mention the wheel dimensions. 

18x8 +43 front and 18x9 +15 rear

 

Thanks a lot as usual :)

[Linas.P]

Yeah 225/50/18 would be too big for the front. I had 225/50/17. They would be alright for the back thought. All in all with winter tyres you should aim to have as narrow tyres as possible - wide tyres are only good for dry grip. So I would look at square set-up, perhaps 225. 

[Lex_utor]

Thanks. This is what I was thinking. I just found a cracking deal on the wheels already with these tyres.  Guy won't sell the wheels alone. Both are new. 

[J Henderson]

That rear wheel offset is likely too aggressive. Would probably poke outside the wheel well.

[H3XME]

On 8/29/2022 at 7:18 PM, J Henderson said:

That rear wheel offset is likely too aggressive. Would probably poke outside the wheel well.

+1

@Lex_utor

9J ET15 is too low of an offset, unless you're lowered by quite a bit.

on factory suspension, 9.5J ET38 slightly pokes out of the arches (and looks bad) - 9J ET15 will sit 16.7mm further out so it will look horrendous and be illegal. You would need to lower the car by 40-50mm to make it fit properly. 

I'm on 9.5J ET16 on the rear, which would poke out only 5mm more than 9J ET15 but I am ~60mm lowered. 

in simple words, 9J ET15 will "fit", but it will look stupid and it will poke out a lot on factory ride height.

As for tyres, I agree with Lines. Square setup is the way to go. 225/40 is a happy size on the 250. 

[Lex_utor]

Thanks everybody. This is very useful to know and interesting. They are wheels made for the Nissan 370Z. I have seen people who put 370Z wheels on the IS second generation. But then based on what you are saying, they are probably lowered or have different ET.

How many fingers are there supposed to be between tyre and body on stock ride height? Or if you know in cm. :) 

Sometimes I think my car might be slightly lowered. I already bought it with 19" wheels and they don't rub or stick out.  Looking them up online, they show as 19 inches - 8.5 J, ET 40.0

[H3XME]

3 minutes ago, Lex_utor said:

.How many fingers are there supposed to be between tyre and body on stock ride height? Or if you know in cm. 🙂

No idea exactly. At least 4.. That's with standard 17s.. 19s will fill the arch more so it will look lowered in terms of arch gap but because they're 19" they will also increase the ground clearance. So arch gap is smaller but gap under your car is bigger

[Lex_utor]

52 minutes ago, H3XME said:

No idea exactly. At least 4.. That's with standard 17s.. 19s will fill the arch more so it will look lowered in terms of arch gap but because they're 19" they will also increase the ground clearance. So arch gap is smaller but gap under your car is bigger

Thanks. Is the ground clearance with 17s the official ground clearance? Is it listed anywhere?

I definitely can't get 4 fingers in. More like 2 at the front and less than 2 at the rear.

Funny thing is, I went to a website which sells my wheels and it says the car would need modification to fits this wheel. But my wheels came with a certificate they fit. And they definitely don't rub.

Maybe the previous owner rolled the fenders out or something...Do the dimensions above look like they fit ok? 

[Lex_utor]

I remember the prior owner said the car wasn't lowered and the suspension was fully stock. But he could have lied thinking mentioning any alterations would negatively affect the sale. 

[H3XME]

27 minutes ago, Lex_utor said:

I remember the prior owner said the car wasn't lowered and the suspension was fully stock. But he could have lied thinking mentioning any alterations would negatively affect the sale. 

To be honest, springs and shocks get tired over the years / miles.. Even if yours was stock, if it's on original suspension it would be lower than brand new car. It just sags over time

[Lex_utor]

Yeah, that's true. But if the suspension is still the original, wow. The car handles very nice, soaks up pavement imperfections and handles great on curves. If original, I'm impressed. Not tired yet it seems. :) 

But what sparked my curiosity though was the wheel website saying my wheel size would not fit straight up. I chose my wheel model and size (19) and I got this warning: 

ATTENTION: BODY WORK

Body work necessary - increased costs

Approved for your Lexus IS

Our tip: If possible, choose a different size

 

But on my car, it doesn't stick out and it doesn't rub. Which prompted me to think maybe he rolled the wheel arches out a bit to have them not stick out. Or something. 

[H3XME]

57 minutes ago, Lex_utor said:

But on my car, it doesn't stick out and it doesn't rub. Which prompted me to think maybe he rolled the wheel arches out a bit to have them not stick out. Or something. 

Rolling the arches won't make the wheels stick out less. You only roll them to stop the wheels from rubbing on the arch. 

What specs are these wheels? 

It can also just be the fact that they're  different sizes to what the manufacturer puts on the car therefore it automatically says it needs modifications. Could be like an automated thing. If you put my specs in it would say it needs modifications too but it doesn't.. Depends how much you lower the car. 

[Lex_utor]

28 minutes ago, H3XME said:

Rolling the arches won't make the wheels stick out less. You only roll them to stop the wheels from rubbing on the arch. 

What specs are these wheels? 

It can also just be the fact that they're  different sizes to what the manufacturer puts on the car therefore it automatically says it needs modifications. Could be like an automated thing. If you put my specs in it would say it needs modifications too but it doesn't.. Depends how much you lower the car. 

The wheels are 19 inches - 8.5 J, ET 40.0 all around. Tyres are 225/35 front and 255/35 rear. Looks problematic? 

Yeah, it makes sense that it could be an automated warning thing. 

[H3XME]

11 minutes ago, Lex_utor said:

The wheels are 19 inches - 8.5 J, ET 40.0 all around. Tyres are 225/35 front and 255/35 rear. Looks problematic? 

That's absolutely fine. It's quite a good spec for cars on stock suspension to be honest. It's close to factory specs too, so it's definitely just an automated message - maybe because they're 19s but I wouldn't have any worries about this. It's a good size. 

Rear tyres are too wide for my liking, but in terms of fitment, it's a 0 issue setup.

[Lex_utor]

7 minutes ago, H3XME said:

That's absolutely fine. It's quite a good spec for cars on stock suspension to be honest. It's close to factory specs too, so it's definitely just an automated message - maybe because they're 19s but I wouldn't have any worries about this. It's a good size. 

Rear tyres are too wide for my liking, but in terms of fitment, it's a 0 issue setup.

That's great to hear.

I guess I need to find other winter wheels though, as the ones from the 370Z I found will be too big. I would like 18" for my winter wheels. And since I have multi-spoke 19" for summer, I would like 5-spoke 18" for winter. But the original Lexus 5-spoke which look good and are 18" are difficult to come by around here. 

[H3XME]

34 minutes ago, Lex_utor said:

That's great to hear.

I guess I need to find other winter wheels though, as the ones from the 370Z I found will be too big. I would like 18" for my winter wheels. And since I have multi-spoke 19" for summer, I would like 5-spoke 18" for winter. But the original Lexus 5-spoke which look good and are 18" are difficult to come by around here. 

You can get RX8 wheels if you want 5 spoke. They are pretty much the same specs as 18" IS250 wheels. 18x8 ET50 - https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1095421717760405 Those are very cheap in the UK - Maybe worth paying the shipping to get them if you can't get them cheap by you.

[Lex_utor]

17 minutes ago, H3XME said:

You can get RX8 wheels if you want 5 spoke. They are pretty much the same specs as 18" IS250 wheels. 18x8 ET50 - https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1095421717760405 Those are very cheap in the UK - Maybe worth paying the shipping to get them if you can't get them cheap by you.

Good suggestion. They are pretty cheap here too. Is there anything RX8 which is not cheap, apart from an engine rebuild? 😄

But they are a pretty simplistic design and probably look better on an older car, such a IS200? Somehow not sophisticated looking enough for a IS250. Maybe this is why I can't find photos of them on IS250, but find dozens on IS200. Have you seen? They look nice?

Even RX8 people replace them with 350/370Z wheels. :)  

[H3XME]

11 minutes ago, Lex_utor said:

Good suggestion. They are pretty cheap here too. Is there anything RX8 which is not cheap, apart from an engine rebuild? 😄

But they are a pretty simplistic design and probably look better on an older car, such a IS200? Somehow not sophisticated looking enough for a IS250. Maybe this is why I can't find photos of them on IS250, but find dozens on IS200. Have you seen? They look nice?

Even RX8 people replace them with 350/370Z wheels. 🙂 

Even the rebuild is cheap to be honest! ~£1000 rebuild is still a lot cheaper than a regular 4 cylinder.

I had RX8 wheels on my Soarer... they were okay but nothing amazing. I wouldn't really care if it's only your winter wheels.. 350Z wheels are not 5 spoke so.. Try something aftermarket? Whatever is cheap.. 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/378543990906320

These Mazda wheels are quite nice looking - very Lexus style.. but not 5 spoke > https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/399250551972234

[Lex_utor]

54 minutes ago, H3XME said:

Even the rebuild is cheap to be honest! ~£1000 rebuild is still a lot cheaper than a regular 4 cylinder.

I had RX8 wheels on my Soarer... they were okay but nothing amazing. I wouldn't really care if it's only your winter wheels.. 350Z wheels are not 5 spoke so.. Try something aftermarket? Whatever is cheap.. 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/378543990906320

These Mazda wheels are quite nice looking - very Lexus style.. but not 5 spoke > https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/399250551972234

Only 1000 GBP there? Here I heard 3000-5000 Euros for a RX8 rebuild. Reason I sold mine before it needed one. 😄

The above Mazda wheels don't look very different from my 19". One of the reasons I would like 5 spoke.

I know what you mean about them being winter wheels. But they spend 4 months on the car, so not bad if the also look good. :) 

350Z did come with 5-spoke. At least 2 different styles:

 

But I think the Nismo also had another 5-spoke design.

 

350z wheels is quite a quite common "upgrade" on RX8s:

 

But 350Z and even 370Z wheels are not uncommon on IS250, which is what gave me the idea:

The above wheels are 18x8(offset32) in front 18x9(offset35) rear.  Person said they fit and front rubs just a little bit. But front tyres are 245/40, so this may be reason. Maybe with 225/40 they would be ok?

But rear doesn't seem to really stick out:

[Lex_utor]

They even put Z wheels on the small Mazdas: 

 

But I can't any photos of IS250s with 18" RX8 5-spoke wheels. It would be interesting to see how they look. 

[H3XME]

3 hours ago, Lex_utor said:

Only 1000 GBP there? Here I heard 3000-5000 Euros for a RX8 rebuild. Reason I sold mine before it needed one. 😄

Used to be a few years ago but I just checked. It's £2000 for a full rebuild with a 20,000 mile / 1 year warranty 🙂 

As far as I know, we never got the 5 spoke 350z wheels here in the UK. I always see them in America.. must've been a different option/spec. 

 

[Lex_utor]

I just wanted to update this thread.

I have finally found a winter set up I like. 5 double spoke rims in a nice design.

The tyres are 225/40 R18 all around. Staggering is supposedly best avoided for winter tyres. The size is the recommend so should be fine.

The rims are 8J ET40. Seems fine as well asit's similar to stock. 

I just hope it will clear GS front calipers and discs, as this is my next intended upgrade. 

[J Henderson]

Staggering winter tyres is fine. But, in theory, skinny tyres cope better in snow.

6 hours ago, Lex_utor said:

I just hope it will clear GS front calipers and discs, as this is my next intended upgrade. 

Could be tight. Will depend on your wheel design. OEM 18" wheels (with et45 offset) only have a few mm of clearance.

[Lex_utor]

5 hours ago, J Henderson said:

Staggering winter tyres is fine. But, in theory, skinny tyres cope better in snow.

Could be tight. Will depend on your wheel design. OEM 18" wheels (with et45 offset) only have a few mm of clearance.

Thanks. Yes and since staggering here would mean 245 or 255 at the rear, probably too thick for winter. Unless I wanted to go with 225 rear and thin bicycle 195 tyres at the front. 🙂  As you say, thinner is better, so 225 all aound is of a good size I guess.

Does the offset play a big role in the brakes fitting? I noticed the ISF is the only one with ET40 at the front and that is for 19". The 18" front wheels are ET45 on the 2nd gen IS.

Is there a way to confirm before I buy the rims? I have only picked the tyres up so far. I was going to pick up the rims on Monday.