I talked to a Mits guy who said that strongly suggested against any aftermarket larger wheels and such..
Something about how the car was "perfectly balanced" as it is..

Any thoughts on this and I am I in the wrong forum?

 

Maybe it is just me, but I wouldn't beleive much of the (where is the steaming pile of **** smiley) coming out of any dealers mouth regarding aftermarket parts.

 

The "perfectly balanced" thing is in the Mitsubishi info packet for salesmen/maintenence dudes.

It's not purely BS though - 18" wheels, unless they are extremely light, are not going to help performance any, and will definately abuse your butt more.

 

It's not BS... it's something direct from Mitsu about how the Evo was designed with the 17" wheels on it. It has a lot to do with the amount of unsprung weight and the tires that come with it. The tires have an extremely thick sidewall to enhance cornering and performance. Realistically, anything else other than what's on the car will hinder performance. There is also very little clearance in the rear wheel section of the car. 18's with the same series tire would basically rub the rear fender under a lot of spring load to the rear of the car.

 

18's would be fine for track use with a set of slicks

 

But man .......they look soooooo good....maxi's car looks awsome would you consider his wheels expensive?

 

Your dealer was absolutely correct. Mitsubishi is advising customers not to change to a larger wheel/tire package as the suspension tuning on the car was designed specifically for the wheel and tire that comes with the car.

You can do it but the performance of the vehicle may be degraded, not enhanced.

This is not unusual. During my days with the Miata club I drove a number of cars that handled worse after larger wheel/tire packages were added. That is a car that is very sensitive to such things.

But if you absolutely have to pimp your car, by all means go for whatever size wheel you want.

 

Actually, depending on hp and brakes, 17s would probably be better. An 18" slick is going to be really heavy and the added grip will probably be overkill unless you have massive hp and brakes to warrant it. I'd go with the stock 17s on the track and aftermarket 17s or 18s for the street.

Mark

 

But 16" wheels with slicks would be better.

Stick with the 17" wheels unless you are going solely for looks.

 

I say dont mess with perfection. Why would you want to have *bling bling* rims on a car that is fine tuned for performance. If you want to go and ruin an evo to just strut it for pictures, go by the lancer es and save yourself some money. Terrible, I know some idiots are going to get a hold of this gem and butcher the hell out of it. Oh well, I guess to each his own.

 

If there's some 16x8" wheels that clear the Brembos they might be, but the tire sizes might not be ideal in order to maintain the same overall gearing.

Mark

 

18 inch rims dont have to be bling bling. find a nice set of lightweight speedlines, volks, or advans and your lookin good. the difference in performance from a 17 to an 18 is not big enough to notice in day to day driving. i plan on having the stock rims with winter tires, another set of rims set up for solo(not sure what size), and 18's for the summer. i hope with 40 series tire rub shouldnt be a problem.

 

no they won't be......40 series will fit with no hassles....sounds like a good idea to keep winter tires on the stock rims....in fact if you think about it what wieghs more rim or tire? if you step up to an 18" rim you essentialy have more rim and less tire....Is it not true that tire weighs more than rim, with this senario you will have the same rolling diameter just less tire....what do you think?thus reducing the reciprocating mass...does the tire weigh more than the rim?

 

And I also think that suggested not lowering the car which would make sense because you would be altering camber, caster, and toe and fooling with the spring rates....I have not seen anywhere where they suggest not putting on 18" rims...surly if you put Enkei's on with a 18" 235/40 tire it would have little or none of an adverse effect on drivability