Winter wheels

[Coryl]

Anyone in Canada driving their EVO's in winter? I'm looking for winter tires and rims for the salty Ottawa winter streets. Anyone have any info on winter-approved rims and where I can get them at a decent price?

[SicLanEvo]

what do you mean by winter approved rims???? I would just get someones stock wheels cheap and throw some good winter tires on there. I just sold a set of evo 8 wheels for $200 i have seen a full set for $150. look around.

[Coryl]

Everywhere I call they tell me that they have only a few options that are approved for winter...they say that the rest are destroyed by the heavy salting and winter road conditions here. I'm not sure if there are a lot of Evo's in Ottawa, Canada (I haven't seen one), and it may be difficult to find stock wheels. Will a stock Lancer's 18 inch rims go over the Brembo brakes in the EVO?

[SicLanEvo]

i doubt it. so you have a 08 evo? because my understanding is that this was the first year evos were allowed in canada? check out tirerack.com they do winter wheel and tire specials and may have something that works. i know over in japan for the evo 8 and 9 they have steelies they can run but we dont have any that i have seen that fit over the brembos

[Coryl]

Just bought it brand new off the dealers lot 3 weeks ago (phantom black, MR)...it had been there since last year (2008) so they gave me a deal I couldn't resist. Told me that the people who want this car cannot aford it, and the ones who can afford it aren't buying it (probably has something to do with the current gas prices). The dealer mentioned that he believed that there were only 8 EVO MR's in the entire province of Ontario, so that makes it hard to get stock rims.
Anyways, I cannot believe the cost people are quoting me for winter tires and also because it is so rare here, no one seems to know the sizes I need. Some say I can go with 18in-7.5, some say 18in-8's, others say 18-8.5's and some question if I can even go to 17 inch to save money...that's why I'm afraid to order on-line for fear I'll get expensive tires/rims that don't fit. No one even knows if I can install the sensors into the tires for the EVO...some will install them but no one knows if they would work. Can't get any straight answers. Last quote I got was for $3846.87 for tires and rims. Dealers price is about $3500 without sensors. I did contact tirerack and they told me that the 18-8's will fit...then Fastwheels told me that the 18-8's don't go over the brakes...and so on it goes.

[EVO_MERLE]

My recomendation from friends that live in the north in america.
Bridgestone Blizzak WS 60 with Uni-T
Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-03

[Coryl]

Thank you both for your assistance, I really appreciate it. Today I decided that I will keep my old beater for another year and park the EVO for the winter. It will give me a year to perhaps find stock tires/add the Blizzaks you two recommended. I have had someone hit my beater-car every second year, and I think I'd breakdown if my new EVO got hit the first year I owned it. I will be able to reduce my insurance costs and not have to deal with costly tires/rims this year if I store it. I'm not the typical EVO owner...I'm female and a registered nurse...I know little about the EVO other than knowing I love it as it puts such a smile on my face driving it. Do you know what I will need to do to store it for the next 4 months in my cold garage?

[Jayposer2000]

I know your pain Coryl. I am having trouble finding winter wheels that will fit over the brembos on my older Evo VIII. Everyone tells me to find the a set of stock evo 8 wheels to put on for the winter, but finding stock evo wheels in Canada is next to impossible.

[SicLanEvo]

^^ there are plenty of people here in the usa that sell them cheap i have gotten rid of 3 sets all for $200 for all 4