IronCobra

Agree!, Great advice! This is the exact type of advice I like to see from CL members.

I know how members here are though. If I went with a 20" wheel setup and posted pictures everyone would have said "drop it low". I didn't want to spend more than $2500 or so on everything (including installation) and the peer pressure can sometimes cause people to go well over their budgets. After everything is said and done, the need to appeal to everyone’s opinion can cause someone to spend well over $8000 when they were looking to only spend a few thousand on something that would have looked great to them. Though I love the look of many of the members rides with 20s and dropped to the fender (of further), I feel that it is fairly impractical and leads to many other potential problems. Of course having to have a mini stroke every time you go over a pot hole, hit a speed bump, pull up to a curb too far, and pulling into some peoples driveways is something I would like to avoid.

Here is what I'm looking for.
I am looking for an aggressive stance (staggered wheels), no clearance problems (or very very very minimal in the worse of conditions), no major chance of tire rub (hence the +44 offset in the rear), oversized look (19s), stock appeal (1" drop), lower tire cost (about $100 less per tire that the 20s) and conservative aftermarket look (the type of wheels I purchased).

I think the combination of all of these leads to a 19" wheels for my car.

This is the typical advice from other members.

1. You buy 20" wheels and tires with no springs or coilovers ($2500-on the low end)
Advice: Looks like a 4x4, drop it.

2. You buy Tein or Eibach springs to drop the car 1" or so ($250+600 to install, unless you are a wiz at installing them)
Advice: Not low enough, you need coilovers

3. You buy Coilovers to drop the car as far as you want ($2000+750 to install)

If you stop there, you are already looking at spending:
Before Advice: $2500
After Advice: $6100

You can of course keep going from there:
Brake kit: $3200
Exhaust: $1000
Body Kit: $900

Not even including installation.


I just think sometimes we need to be careful what kind of advice we give people. I know that many of us ask for it, but we only ask for it in the terms of how someone feels about the decision we made. We aren’t exactly asking for a shopping list of the things we need to purchase.

There are probably dozens of CL members who have gone in serious debt; both credit card and auto debt, trying to follow the advice of other members who peered them into making purchases they shouldn't have made.

I'm sorry for ranting on here, but I just see too many people fold to pressure and end up getting things that cost much much more than what the person’s budget originally entailed.

Sorry again.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

lol, gosh i am laughing so bad here, you put it so well

that's exactly why i try not to talk much about my car here, it doesn't help coz' i end up spending more i only talk to maybe 2-3 people about what to be done and what not, but then i figured all of them are true ballers.... so ok, it's worse

i will sincerely say, do what you think fit and feel comfortable with. never push yourself. modding cars should be habit, fun. it's not about pressure and stress. if anyone mod their cars coz' people around them are doing it and they are spending 10k while you just want to spend 5k, just spend 5k and be happy. as long as it's what you choose AFTER thinking carefully, it's good mods

by my book, just a few things. don't do it coz' of others, do it coz' of yourself. and don't touch knock offs, never

ok, boring enough, hehe

Mesca

iTrader: (28)

Puhaha I can see what you mean IronCobra. I was going to buy some 20" NAD4 wheels with maybe NF210's but then after reading so many things on Clublexus, looks like the majority of what people say are, "I should've just done it right the first time!" Just like rominl's signature. Haha I was gonna spend $2400 for wheels and tires and all but now I'm pushing 4k just wheels and tires alone. Of course I don't agree with wheels that are 2k each, but there's gotta be a standard I guess. Just don't buy wheels to have wheels, make sure without a doubt in your mind you'll be satisfied with whatever you've done!

Taiwaneezy

quick question, why not get knock offs? when you say knock offs, are you referring to cheap no name china brands that cost $99 for a 20" wheel and no reputation, or do you also consider more reputable brands, say Motegi or Rota, that have similar styles to say WORK or Asanti knock offs?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

it's about passion and doing the right thing. a true car enthusiast would go with the root and support the original company. knock offs are only for people who are there to cut corners (cost or quality) and don't care about copyright issues and illegal steal designs from others.

so it's not just those crappy 99 bucks garbage that breaks after 2 days. it's about all companies who go out and steal other designers, knock them off, and sell them at a discount

and of course, not to mention a lot of times, knock off means bad quality. wheels that are weaker, body kits that don't fit well, poor customer support (if one exists), etc... i am not saying all of them are, but still i will not touch knock offs with a 10ft pole

way OT here i guess

Taiwaneezy

i agree about the poor quality...all the way. but check this out. here are two sets of wheels from different companies. which set of wheels are from a high end, very very well known wheel company and cost over $600/wheel new? set1 or set2?

SET1



SET2

Mesca

iTrader: (28)

First one are the legit ones?

Teflon Don

couldnt tell but generally cheaper rims dont go as wide as pic 1. Id say pic 2 is the cheapies.

I8ABMR

enjoy the wheels man. 19 dont look as good and I have to agree its all about offset and tire size. Dont do the VIP offsets. go with normal offsets for the car and stick with 245/30/20 and 275/30 and you will have noissues with 20's. I am not keen on the idea of having to roll my fenders. I would if I had to, but Im not ordering "vip" ( aggressive offsets) style wheels and running juicy 245/35 out of spec tires. You can do 20's safely. But to each his own

I8ABMR

I see your point. I dont think that people go with " knock offs" should be shot in a public square. Everyone buys what they can afford and what makes sense to them. We all like to mod our cars. Do it how you prefer, but as most of us know beware of cheap parts, wheels, etc. But that doesnt mean you cant match the stlye you like from another manufacturer. Example you can go with the fancy Asanti af128 ot auto couture lative for BIG $$$$$ or save some cash and do the vossen 082. Very similar design, but to the trained eye they are different. 99.8988888% of people have no clue.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

if you are a true enthusiasts, you care less about that 99.999% of people who don't care, because the fact is, you should, otherwise you don't deserve to be one.

me personally, i don't care if people use knock offs or not for any reason, you do what you see fit. but doing that on a car enthusiast site, that comes quite ironic. it's like i go to watch enthusiast sites talking about all the expensive rolex, etc... and i ask where i can get a fake one

IronCobra

This is assuming we are talking about knock offs of more expensive rims. What about lower price rims, that are not knock offs, exceeds OEM specs (though maybe not ultra high end rims), and look great? There are plenty of lower price rims made by companies that focus on quality and price.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

low price doesn't mean "cheap" to me. if a company is making original products, good quality, and affordable price, i am totally cool

Taiwaneezy

i thought someone would have recognized those rims. you might want to sit for this one.

SET1:
SSR Vienna Dish or Dish2. heres a link: http://www.more-japan.com/VIE_dish2.php
SSR is also the makers of the very popular SSR Professors

SET2 (the set that most felt were the "knock offs" (youll reallly want to sit for this one!):
WORK Euroline DH. heres a link: http://workwheelsusa.com/product.php...ry=25&wheel=63
you all know WORK right? they also make the very popular and very similar in looks to the SSR Professors, WORK Meisters.

so my point here is then, which wheel here is the "original"? which wheel do i buy if were the true enthusiast? they are both from a very reputable and popular company and both made of the highest quality, but how do i choose the wheel to go and "support the root company"? would you bash SSR or WORK (depending who came out with the design first) for making a similar wheel, or is it OK since both wheels are top end wheels? if a company like Motegi came out with a wheel similar to those two sets and are made to exceed OEM spec but cost 1/3 or 1/4 less, are they and the buyers fair game to be bashed on enthusiast sites?

i see your point about the watch thing, but we arent here saying "wow, nice lexus, i drive a Kia with lexus badges". we still drive a lexus, but decided to go on the more economical side and buy similar style products to mod our cars. were still very enthusiastic about our cars, but feel that just the look will suffice and have no need for the brand name...or were just not ballin' out of control like others.

just because someone buys a "knock off" for their car doesnt make them any less of an enthusiast. sorry if im ranting on, but it just bugs me when people bash others for buying anything less than top of the line stuff, which usually translates to anyone buying stuff that didnt cost a kidney. im not saying you bashed anyone, but its just kind of contradicting when you say say stuff like, "do what you feel fit to your car, it should be fun. dont do what others say" and then say stuff like "if you buy knock offs or cant tell the difference, you dont deserve to be an entusiast".

if there were ever (and there probably is) a LuxaryCarEnthusiastForum.com, none of the people here on CL should join right? because all the "enthusiast" driving their Bentlys will be like 'OMG, a Lexus, what a knock off...*barf, Security!"

im sorry, im prob going to get super flamed for this. i dont mean to offend anyone and i sorry if i did. if youre into "real stuff", shinny. just know the rest of us are enthusiast too. honestly, i dont even drive a lexus. i have a 240sx. im only here to try and find out what offsets and sizes you guys are running because my friend is looking for wheels for his gs350. looks like 20x8.5 +33 w/A-disc in the front and 20x10 +40 0-disc in the back will be just dandy. those SSR rims, SET1, those are my wheels. yeah, i went with the "real deal", but none of the other more economical brands have the offsets and back spacing i wanted. my first choice, SportMax has a wheel with offsets i liked but then i came across these used SSRs for $1000 w/tires and better specs that i liked. the Sportmaxs would have been just over $1000 with tires OTD. i went this route because i had no other choice with the style and specs i wanted...well, i could have gone WORK, but then i would have paid $2000+ w/o tires.

anyways, have fun and be safe out there. let me know if you want the 5 mins of your life back for reading this.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i can see how you think it could be contradicting, but i don't see it. you do what you want, no one is going to stop you. and if you have enough self esteem others won't affect you a bit. but that doesn't make me look better on those who use knock offs. same goes both ways, i am just doing and saying what i want. i try my best to educate and influence people. everyone is learning all the time. it's up to someone to listen to others, digest the content, and figure out what he/she thinks is true, appropriate, justified, and right. i never said one should listen to others blindly.

it's a totally wrong assumption to say or think that good quality top brand cost a lot. prime example? work varianza. among top quality wheels, these wheels are always too good of a bargain, but they are legit, they are good stuff, they look nice, and i'd rock them any day. putting 7k HRE on your car doesn't make it smell better. and if today someone go out and take his time to make a fully custom body kits, looks good, nice, original, but only cost him 2000 bucks total? you bet i will be praising him

i didn't even bother to guess which wheels are "original", that's not the point at all. you can make someone look identical for all i care. just like i have seen rolex counterfeit that looks so identical to originals down to the markings. what does that mean? nothing. counterfeits are counterfeits, knock offs are knock offs.

a lot of original creators/companies, they spend thousands of hours and money to come up with new products and designs. they deserve to get paid for their effort. but just like almost everywhere out there, there are always companies who just copy everything and sell them for less. sorry but i don't see any difference from that being stealing.

my principle don't change (and not conflicting). people who agree would agree, those don't, they never will. over the years i have learned how to think myself and decide what's right and wrong, and i just keep on telling myself it's up to others to realize