My Evo has been a garage queen from October to April for the past 2 years and this year i am contemplating on driving it a little here and there this winter. I have a mini battery that i know wont hold up this winter so i am thinking of getting a small honda battery and making that work and ill have to get some good snow tires for the winter but do you ever worry about all the snow packing into the intercooler? Also how well does the car do with the gsc s2's? Any troubles starting or idle issues? I have basic mods and a bigger turbo/cams.

 

You will be fine. When i go to Ohio i have no starting or driveability issues on my s2's back when i had my small battery. Also, when the intake is taking in 12 degree air, you dont really need to worry about snow packing the intercooler haha. Just remember, just because the evo is a tank in the snow, doesnt mean it stops fast.

 

Buddies e85 IX with mini battery ran 2 winters straight just fine with about the same mods as you but 30 psi stock turbo

 

Don't do it! Once you do, you can never go back. I made the mistake of driving mine in 2 winters and now I have to go thru the entire car to replace all the rusted hardware and strip all the corroded brackets etc and paint/powder coat everything. Winter driving the Evo is my biggest regret so far.

 

drive it and enjoy it, these cars are awd for a reason and its a very cool experince. if you thinking of keeping the same car until you are 60yrs then old then dont do it

 

they are SUPER fun in the snow with proper tires..... reallly stable amazing machines.

 

Mines been a year round DD since it rolled of the dealership. I'm the 3rd owner and still plan on driving it in the snow. it's got a little rust on the rear quarter I need to take care off but the under side looks clean as hell. Just make sure u do an underbody wash every couple of Weeks so the salt doesn't build up and u will be fine.

 

EVO is my DD in the winter. I keep snow tires on the stock rims and drive it all Winter long. Hell it's one of the reasons I bought the car 7yrs ago. Driven it every winter since

I prob drive it more in the Winter than summer. It makes multiple trips to VT to ski every winter and has been flawless.

And I still have not found issues getting anything to come apart really. Only thing I can think off the top off my head were the stupid hotside to O2 housing bolts back in the stock frame turbo days but many have had those be a PITA

 

It is a lot of fun to drive in the winter but you totally ruin the car long term wise. I bought mine in Atlanta GA, it was perfectly clean, drove it in two winters and now I have rust at the bottom of my spoiler, on the edges of the trunk and back panels along with every nut and bolt, sway bars, intake manifold has calcium build up. It sucks. So now I have to do a full restoration on it.

 

Had one in my DD hatchback and it never had a problem turning over my 1.8l.

 

With new proper WINTER (not all season) tires the car is a monster. It's as if summer with some sticky star specs. My car has seen 100+ in 3+ inches of snow. Just beware of ice. Snow is fun, ice is not. Never had a problem though. I can go anywhere I want whenever I want. On a side note my X G/F had a Wrx with all seasons and it didn't even get stuck with a 23" snowfall we had one year. It was the only car that got out of our road. We made several tracks down the street so the neighbors could get out

 

We have some extreme winters here, last year we had over 140" of snowfall and the temps in the winter are usually -15 to 10 degrees. Even if I leave it in the garage if I go to work then I will still have to start it in -10 weather. My mini battery dies after about 4 days of non-driving so I just assume the battery is on it's last leg. So I'll just get a new mini and run some blizzak winter tires.

 

Snow packed into the IC? Nahhh, no problemo!

 

It will be fine. Its what its built for.

 

mcm308, looks like a blast!