sambb

I have an AWD f Sport 2013. I like it, i am learning about it. I am wondering, what differences will I notice in handling if I move to a 17" wheel instead of 19s? i am concerned about our bad roads and all of the potholes we have

I previously had a BMW M car, and after paying for 2 new rims, I gave up and went to a smaller wheel with higher profile tires, and had no problems. The sweetspot for me is 17-18 " wheels, 19 is too prone to damage.

I hope someone can tell me about real world handling differences. I don't track the car.
Sincerely yours,
Samantha

harryra

Samantha, I just wrote you in your other post about returning the car and getting your BMW back. You should have three business days to cancel the transaction for a full refund. Why don't you exercise that option? You will probably be happier. In short if you are not happy with a new car the first few days of ownership I doubt you will ever be happy.

To answer your question the 19's might have a lower profile therefore a bit bumpier ride. I have a new 2014 GS350 Luxury edition with the upgraded 18 inch wheels and Dunlop tires and the ride is nice and smooth like a Lexus. If I want more sport I have the Sport + mode which changes the shocks and transmission.

sambb

I like the car, I have had to downgrade the wheels on more than one sports car because of potholes. I am just thinking of doing 17s instead of 18s, but i can't find anyone with the 17s on their GS.

Thanks for your concern, I am a big girl and I will be ok, i just am trying to put it all together.

harryra

I understand now....I read your posts and thought you had buyers remorse....I stand corrected. Back to the tires and wheels. My assistant has a 2008 GS350 and I believe it has 17" wheels with low profile tires. I do not care for the ride as I feel its very rough and bumpy. The 18" inch wheels I have on my new GS seem to hit a nice sweet spot and give a more "Lexus" style ride. you might want to look into those. Personally I'm more of german auto car ride sort of person. My daily car is a Mercedes S550 which has a lot of optional adjustments to the handling but still give you the feeling of attachment to the road, if that makes sense. Where in MO are you? I have a daughter at Mizzou.

mrpartsman

the F-Sport have the bigger rotors, so 17" is not ur option, and 18" is the best and you can go with ltl bit taller tires for to be softer ride, so forget about 17 and get 18" of another GS models, if u want to keep the stock look on it, and u have way more choices on tires,so go to the top menu if you want to buy it from the forum guys, hers is where you look. top of ur page
forums-vendor market place-club lexus member-wheels and tires
there u will find anything u like and u might find local stuff too, good luck

sambb

maybe im not understanding, but i thought the AWD f sport did not have the bigger rotors, unlike the RWD F sport? thanks - Samantha

Gordy35

You are correct the RWD F-Sport is the only one with the larger brakes. I believe the brakes are the same for the AWD and the regular GS

boxed

you won't feel much of a difference in handle (not like you're tracking with the gs) except for weight of the car...

why not get thicker tires for the 19s? 235/40front 265/35 rear is really thin for a car this size. now that i havent done my research on the offsets but they could use 245/45front 275/40 rear if the rear wheels are 9"+ width. ive had my 2014 f sport for 2 days...so far i like it alot more than my M3 for DD. plus i hate bmw service, ******!

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

sambbm

BMW rims are the lighest and weakest rims of the luxury car category. They are easily bended over potholes then any other brand I have owned. I have hit bigger ones with the GS and no bent rims after 2 years and 30k miles. No popped or damaged tires yet. The 19 inch rims are rarely strong and by far the best ones I have had compared to Audi, BMW, and Mercedes that we have in our 4 car garage. Going down to 17 not only makes the car mushier and sloppier in handling, it will look ridiculously ugly on such a great looking car. Don't worry too much or spend too much more then u need to until you drive this car more and get a feel for how it responds to the roads., If you get two more more bent rims or tires then decide to change to 17. I think it is more dependent on how good of a driver you are.

ItzFilyO

If u don't track the car u won't feel any difference when going form 19s to 18s. 17" will make ur car look bad, just go with 18" with 235/45/18 tires and u'll be happy with it. Mine came with it cause it's a non-fsport model and it still handles good and I can take on potholes like a champ. I drive aggressively by the way and the car had no problem giving what I want.

sambb

Why would 17s look ugly? They are the standard wheels on a lexus gs. Not the F sport, but whatever. Believe me, as a woman, I understand judging something based on looks.

AS far as "sloppy handling" what do you mean? Will I be unable to turn the car at standard US speeds? It seems odd that lexus would do sloppy for their standard wheel size.

I will consider 18s thanks to your comments but it doesn't ale objective sense

SW17LS

The car is designed for larger wheels. Its a big, tall, slab sided car and smaller wheels will look awkward. 17s are standard, but I personally have never even seen a GS with 17" wheels...they just don't ship them that way in the US, they all have 18s. The 17s are the "cheap, base model car" wheels.

You won't get anywhere with these guys getting them to agree that you should go down in wheel size. They all go up in size. While I personally like a smoother ride I too would not choose 19s over 18s, but I wouldn't reduce the size of wheels found on a high performance car. The whole point of the F Sport model is to emphasize sport and handling, reducing the wheel size on a car like this, or an M Sport or M BMW is akin to buying a $50 steak and slathering it with ketchup...it shows a lack of understanding or appreciation for what makes it such a great car...and to the enthusiasts on this board you may as well be saying you're going to shoot their dog.

THATS why people keep telling you to return the car, because what you're trying to do is remove what makes the GS a GS...you should have bought an ES or something instead, or certainly not the F Sport version of the GS.

Like I said before, I would adjust the air pressure on the 19s and keep them before I spent a bunch of money on another set of 18s. You don't want tot buy cheap, crappy wheels from TireRack and put them on such a nice car. They're going to be heavy, ugly, poorly made. Stick with OEM wheels.

Here are some pictures of the car with 17" wheels. Remember yours is an AWD, so it has more wheel gap. While it doesn't look terrible on 17" wheels, it does look like a Camry or something, which is a shame because its a beautiful car:

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

Then why did you buy this car? Not reasonable to spend money on something when you know that is not the right spec. ..

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

That's just awful....
Seems to cheapen and change the whole look of the GS.

sambb

as i have explained, i bought the car because i like it. Previous 19" wheels on my BMW were met with damage. This is why I wish to downgrade.

Thanks for your constructive commentary.