OK, I've had my Evo8 for about 2 months now. I took to Northern Michigan to test it out on snow and stuff during Thanksgiving week. It did great! I've been doing all kinds of reading on the forums (and I hope I didn't miss this somewhere, buuuut...) is it necessary to block off anything on the hood or nose of the car during the winter months? My daughter and I are marshals at Sno*Drift and I'd hate to have something go wrong because I didn't prep properly!

 

After a 22 inch overnight snowfall here some years ago, entering unplowed streets required some plowing by my Evo. Afterwards, the screening in the front openings required minor repair. I don't know what could be done to avoid this short of installing a snow blade.

 

No it's not necessary mechanically, only benefit would be your coolant would heat up quicker and be hotter while driving making your heater warmer. We hit -40 up here and I run nothing now but I did cover the main vents for awhile because I had issues with water in my clutch line and I was waiting on some ate brake fluid to get shipped up. Only difference was my clutch wasn't getting stiff and the coolant was a little warmer (about summer operating temp). But now with proper bf in it and vent uncovered only downside is my coolant is just a little cooler which really isn't a downside. But as Barney said if your worried about cosmetics than possibly yes cover the grill.

 

when i drove in the snow, i had problems with it going thru the passenger side inlet and the snow went directly onto my serpentine belt and it squealed like a beezy for a while but nothing major...