[antonio]

For months, I have eagerly awated the introduction of the 2002 IS300 5-speed. While I was excited about the manual tranny, I was even more excited about the standard 18" rims that were supposed to be standard on the 5-speed.

I talked to Longo Lexus today, and they said that Lexus decided not to offer the 18's. Hense, the 2002 5-speed has the same tired 17" 5-spoke wheels as the 2001 auto.

What gives? I know somebody is going to tell me to just get aftermarket 18's. But standard 18's would have been much more economical. Not to mention that fact that if you lease, mods are almost impossible. That is why I wanted the 18's standard as promised by Lexus.

Does anybody know why this didn't get done?

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[IS300GTE]

promised?......um no. i told everyone in april that the 18's wouldn't be offered, but most were optomistic and didn't want to believe.
anyways, if you want the 18's you could either try and find look alikes, or if you are told they have them in other markets, import them. other than that, you have no options. as for leasing and putting on 18's, it would be ridiculous to not put 18's on just because you are leasing, i know plenty of people that have done more than that to a leased car without issues, just make sure you keep all the stock parts.

Originally posted by oscal74:
For months, I have eagerly awated the introduction of the 2002 IS300 5-speed. While I was excited about the manual tranny, I was even more excited about the standard 18" rims that were supposed to be standard on the 5-speed.

I talked to Longo Lexus today, and they said that Lexus decided not to offer the 18's. Hense, the 2002 5-speed has the same tired 17" 5-spoke wheels as the 2001 auto.

What gives? I know somebody is going to tell me to just get aftermarket 18's. But standard 18's would have been much more economical. Not to mention that fact that if you lease, mods are almost impossible. That is why I wanted the 18's standard as promised by Lexus.

Does anybody know why this didn't get done?

null

 

[G-dog]

The 17's are better looking anyways...

 

[marke1]

I think one possible reason that Lexus chose not to go with the 18's was all the problems reported with bubbling tires. Anytime you hit a pothole you have the chance of pinching the sidewalls and creating a bubble. The 18's would have made this problem worse and I suspect that Lexus didn't want to deal with it.

I also agree with G-dog that the 17's looked better than the 18's anyway.