I know the 4th gen has a temporary spare, which means it will likely be a similar diameter, but narrower, than the other four wheels/tires, however, how far does the floor stick up, if at all, with the flat under the rear floor?

I looked for pictures, references, anything, and while I saw a 2010's pictured, that's as late as I found.

Personally, I really dislike not having a full-size fifth wheel & tire, and I will buy one as soon as I find one, however, if the rear floor doesn't remain flat, I may have to leave it at home most of the time.

Has anyone had a flat on their '16-'18 and can say, definitively, just how poorly the OEM wheel/tire fits? They should all be about the same outside diameter, but the 20" is likely wider. The car I go pick up on Tuesday has 20" wheels on it, so it will be the most restrictive of any possible option.

While I'm on the subject of 20" wheels...there are two styles. The one with curved spokes and the colored inset bit, and the others. My wife really wants the curved spoke ones, but the new-to-her car has the others on it. Were they called different names, or were the curved spoke wheels more common with a different option/package?

Thanks!

 

I don't think the temporary tire space is meant to accept the full size wheel.
With the temp. you are not even suppose to drive faster than 50mph.
It is there, so you can drive it to the tire shop or home until you get the replacement.

Why bother buying an extra 20" if you want to keep it at home?
If you are concerned about the tire availability, just buy the extra tire and keep it at home.
Then again, the rubber deteriorates, so you aren't even suppose to use the tire that is 5-6 years old.

 

It'd be pressed into a 5-tire rotation, and the temp would stay in the car around town with the proper wheel going in the back on trips.

It's just my wife and I, so if half the cargo area is spare tire, meh, there's still plenty of room.

 

Kelly, the spare tire is hidden under the cargo area and doesn't intrude into the space. I'm not sure if there's an option to add a full spare like in European 3RXs (pictures here). Then again, raising the floor might make accessing the cargo area trickier. It's already higher than the 3RX. That's in addition to the cost of the cargo area tray (if available), a full tire, TPMS sensor and programming. Those are a few things you might want to keep in mind.

I used the temporary spare once on my 3RXh with 19" wheels. Lookwise, it wasn't the prettiest thing in the world but it got me to the tire shop just fine.

The different wheel types are listed on page 43 of the 2017 Lexus RX brochure.

 

If that means moving tires across sides I don't think that is advised anymore.

 

Only cars with "directional" tires can't be cross rotated. Such tires would have an arrow on the sidewall pointing in the direction of rotation. All other tires can be cross rotated.

 

How many times do you get a flat for you to be such a show stopper?
I had a flat only once in my lifetime and the spare was good enough until I went to repair my flat.

 

I can't remember the last time I had a flat. Once or twice I happened to spot a nail or a screw in the tread of one of my tires. Next day or so I went to my local tire guy and he either pulled it out and repaired it, or it turned out to be just the head of a screw sticking into the tread.

 

Rare these days for sure but I had to replace a tire on the RX not that long ago after a nail punctured close to the sidewalk. The tire held enough air though so I never had to use the spare.

 

I've had one flat like this in the past ten years, when I was quite happy to have a full-size (and the same age as the other tires) spare. Week before last.

But, yes, they're not common. At the same time, given some of the areas in which we travel, 20" tires are going to be even less common, and I can see catching something not near the center 2/3 of the tread.

PeeVee, I have driven much more than most, and have had only a few. However, when they happen, every single time I'm happy I have a conventional spare.

 

The question of "20 wheel styling is that the curved insert wheel is part of the Luxury Package.
Beside the wheel appearance you get semi-aniline leather, driver's seat cushion extender, rear
door window shades, Gray Sapele Weood w/aluminum accents, ambient lighting and 4-way
driver's seat lumbar (adds up and down to the lumbar)

 

I have the 20" as part of the luxury package & I had a flat. It does not fit in the temp tire space. It sticks up by about 4-5 inches!!!

 

This is rapidly becoming a "not gonna happen" kind of thing.

The only solution I see, long-term, is to make the spare tire well deeper, and yeah, I'm not going to do any cutting/welding on this car.

 

We have 3 cars here in Florida. And we average a flat tire about 1 time a year. With about 50% of the time the tire needing to be replaced because the puncture is too close to the sidewall. I haven't actually had to use a spare tire in over a decade.. knock on wood.

 

That is statistically off the charts and surprising for FL where presumably potholes are rarely an issue so even less likely to damage a tire.