audvid

I decided to go with 20" tires. I think 22" would be too harsh. Are you in Milwaukee? I liked Foresthome tires. The owner seems to be a very decent guy with good knowledge. He helped me with the selection.

You and I seem to be on the same quest. I too am confused between 20" and 22". I am concerned about ride quality of the 22" I have the touring package with sport suspension. i tried to send you a forum message but it was disabled. If you would like to chat, email me audvid at ameritech.net

Spring oncoming and I am trying to find a good cost effective source.. I liked these wheels - price of $1600 is quite good. Has anyone done business with them? Any other sources in that price range? Also, anything specially different about the 460l Touring that usual 20X8.5, 40mm 5X120 bolt pattern wheels would not work? Thank you.

I sent an email to wheelplay and have not heard back. If you don't mind me asking, can you tell me what you paid for your wheels? They look quite nice. You can post or send me a private message if you prefer.

Just today, I too had the same problem. I was right in front of my destination but it was asking me to keep going in a new direction. Until today, I did not realize that this problem even existed. Also, another question: Lets say we picked a destination. It shows the exits to be taken. In the previous (98) version, I could tap ahead to see all the exits to be taken. But now, we cant fast forward. Besides, I can't tell whether they are exits which I need to take or just names of passing exits. It seems there are two options. I did not bother to look into it too much. Too many choices in this system! Certainly, its superior to the Idrive of bmw, audio and merc but they are making it too complicated. I find that the $300 Garmin is much more user friendly and simple to use!

I am writing my detailed experience so that you can appropriately weigh in my comments and put them in contex. I have owned 5 LS cars - 90, 95, 98, 2001, 2007. The 90 was in a league of its own - far ahead of its competition - I put 250,000 miles on it and kept it for 9 years or so. I did not like the 95 better (less solid than 90). Transmission was apparently made lighter. There was nothing wrong with a 95 but it was really the same (less?) car. The 98 was quite an improvement over the 95 - quicker too. My first Nav and it worked fine. The 2001 was really not a major improvement. At the same time period, I had owned a Merc s class AMG. The 430 was quicker in city and convenient to drive. the s class was felt a bit heavy in city driving but was simply superb on the highway. the ls 430 was simply not in the same league beyond 75 mph. But the merc engine and transmission felt a lot less refined than the lexus'. Recently, I test drove the S550. It felt more like my old ls 430 (quiet and a slightly floaty ride! - it almost felt that merc was following lexus!). I did test drive the standard 460L but I really don't remember how it felt. Mine is the touring/sport version - with 19" tires, bigger brakes, air suspension. My 95 had air suspension but I really did not find it to be superior. My 98 and 2001 did not have air suspension. But this 2007's air suspension is clearly superior to my 95's. I do agree with you that the steering feel is really not too different from previous cars (actually even the 90 felt pretty much the same). If you really want the best steering feel - you should drive Audi A8! Between LS 460, S550 and A8, The A8 has the best steering feel and fun factor of driving. I was less impressed with S500 - Obviously it too is quite good of course - I preferred my ls 460. Besides the steering feel, the 460L is, in my opinion, a clearly desirable car and the 430 should be a quick trade in. Considering your preference for steering feel, you should buy the sport/touring version (available by special order) and use it in sport setting. Granted, it would not drive like an A8 or a 750il. Assuming that monetary factor is not an issue, I would encourage you to trade in your 430 for a sport 460L. You will be quite pleased. Perhaps your local dealer has a sport version demo? They are not very common. In fact, my local dealer asked me to do him a favor and let one of his customers drive it (which I obliged and that person immediately ordered the sport package). There is one issue with the touring version you have to understand - its tires and brakes will have half the life of the normal car. I do not know whether it stops shorter or better but I am pleased. I really don't mind changing the tires/brakes. After all, lexus is low maintenance anyway!

I am told that LS 460L Touring version will not accept the standard OEM 18" Lexus Rims. The parts dept manager at my local lexus said he thought so but he is checking on it. Reason: The touring/sport version has different brake system and the 18" oem wheels might not fit. He is not completely sure either way. They sold only 2 or 3 of these touring version cars. It comes standard with 19" wheels and air suspension and different brakes. Personally, i have never been fond of the Lexus wheel styling (this is my 5th LS). These 19" wheels are not bad but they are not that hot either. Anyway, I am considering putting winter tires and will probably put the Michelin x-ice (rated high by consumer reports). I have had all blizzaks for past 10 years, which were ok. For next spring, I want to get 20" wheels. 21" wheels might be too rough? If any of you have experience with 21" wheels - even on a 430 but with air suspension, please post comments. Since my car has air suspension, I am hoping that the "comfort setting" will reduce the jarring of low profile 20" or 21" tires. I am looking for inexpensive wheel+rim options - Perhaps around $2000 (I saw a few sites which had packages in that price range). The real fancy sites seem to cost $5000+ for rims. Certainly, those are beautiful wheels but I don't want to spend that much. I think i saw 20" tires at tirerack for around $250 each. Hopefully, I can find rims at around $250 each? I really like tirerack but unfortunately, they don't seem to have any wheels for my car. They offer wheels upto 19" for the standard 460L but not the touring version. I guess the normal wheels won't fit my car? My car is white and I am considering wheels with mostly black wheels ( to hide brake dust). Besides, the black wheels seem much less expensive than Chrome wheels. My car has horrible brake dust problem - which I expected because I was told at the time of ordering the touring package that the brakes and tires will last only 15,000 miles. This is not a complaint against lexus. I ordered it with full knowledge.