I can't believe that there aren't more people with 19 inch wheels on their Evolutions. Why isn't anyone upgrading to a bigger wheel which makes the lancer look 100x better. As soon as I get mine that's the first thing I want. Any pics or links to pics of a evolution8 with 19s would be nice. Lates Kyle G.

 

Probably because the stock rim/tire size is optimal for the evo, for the lancer.. bigger is better, for something as high performance as the evo, thats not always the case.. too big and you throw off its nimbleness on the road.. not a good thing!

 

How much could wheel size really hurt. Why does Ferrari use 19 inch wheels on their new Enzo? Would 17 inch wheels provide better performance on a ferrari? Either way a 19 inch wheel is not going to hurt any times and will enhance the look by 10 fold. Not to mention the sidewall of a 19 inch tire is much smaller and harder than that of a 17 inch wheels so streetable performance should actually increase...not decrease.

 

Well, Feraris got bigger fenders than regular 4-cylinder cars.... And if you really look into Japanese racing, the maximum size for rims on skylines, supras, evos and etc.. Is somethin like 18's... You dont want your tires rubbing on your fender when makin fast sharp turns too.. So yeah.. But 19s are good for carshow purposes.. But not for everyday use and racing use..

 

if you are going to run 19's with a stiff suspension you better make friends with some chiropractors.

 

Not mention the difference in weight from an 18" to 19", also there is a better chance of finding an 18" lightweight rim than 19". I think a lot of the EVO owners are performance oriented and won't sacrifice looks for the weight of a rim. You talking about people who didn't want a sunroof due to weight and chassis regidity.

 

just because you want the bling-bling doesn't mean that we all should...

19's should be reserved for luxury cars, not hi-po cars, unless it's an exotic and has GOBS of power to spare...

 

Adding just another inch to the wheel adds considerable rolling resistance. An air filled tire, even with taller sidewall, will always weigh less than the wheel its streched onto.

Adding a larger wheel will cause your car to run a slower 1/4 mile, this has been proven is several magazines, including road and track, car and driver and Import Tuner.

Generally, you won't see more than a .10 of a second difference between sizes, but jumping from 17's to 19's might make a difference.

Plus, the stiff suspension of the Evo causes plenty of road impact stess to focus on the wheels. Without a squishy suspension to absorb impact, the wheel must take a larger amount of the blow. This is how people manage to bend wheels.

Bending a 19" wheel is probably not cheap. Hell, I can't even afford ONE 19", let alone the price of any I need to replace because a rock or pothole knocked it out of shape.

18s look good. And I wouldn't go any bigger than that. It's just not practical on this car.

 

17" wheels are optimal because they provide the best balance of lighter weight combined with a lower stiffer tire profile for most cars. For instance a 17" SSR comp weighs in at 12.75 lbs ea and the 18" version at around 16.5 lbs ea(if my memory serves me on the 18"?). This isn't a huge delta, but we're also talking comparing SSR comps. Most 19" wheels weigh closer to the 25-29lb range for ea wheel depending on manfacturer.

So going to an 18" or 19" wheel/tire package results in a heavier wheel/tire combo, more rotational mass to spin-up, and more risk of tire/rim damage due to poor raod conditions.

The absolute per-wheel weight differential isn't the only factor though, as a bigger circumference wheel carries it rotational mass differently than a smaller diameter wheel.

An example of this concept is the difference between a motocross bike using a small diameter lightweight flywheel that spins-up quickly creating more responsiveness and quicker accelation vs a larger diameter heavier flywheel which is more sluggish to spin-up but provides more tractor-like bottom end power.

Other than needing big wheels to clear big brakes(a lot of this is rim profile and not necessarily diameter), the biggest plus to running 18" or 19" wheels is simply for the look and nothing else.

For some people this is a priority and makes sense. Other people that tend to be biased towards the hard-core performance side ( see most EVO owners )of things are not willing to give up the performance edge for the look. Sort of similar to adding all kinds of stereo equipment weight. Most EVO owners would like there cars lighter and quicker, not heavier and more sluggish.

I do think that some EVO owners may end-up upgrading to a lightweight 18" forged wheel that may be a good compromise of look and performance.

Again, its just my opinion, but I think 19" wheels are best kept for show only.

BTW- Many auto-cross folks actually prefer a 16" wheel option over 17". Again the big issue is brake clearances.

My .02

N10S

 

I guess there are two possible objectives here...

If you're doing it for looks I'm sure if you can find a 19 that fits and you're willing to pay the $$ and don't care how it affects handling then do it.

If you're doing it for handling then be very careful. Keep in mind the EVO suspension and handling was designed form the ground up with the 17's and tested with the 17's. From my days of autocrossing I can promise you that bigges is usually NOT better when it comes to wheels. It certainly can help on some cars and it certainly WILL hurt on others. On a lesser car almost anything will help. My feeling on the EVO without actually testing is that it is a car designed for performance from the start so the more add-ons we do the more we may actually be making the car worse. Suspension/wheels/tires is a trick combination to get right. I'm sur ethey have some compromise built in to allow the car to live no the street but probably not much. I'd love to see someone push an EVO on the track or autocross with 17's 18's and maybe even 19's on equal tires. I'd bet the 17's would win.

Personally I'll stick with the 17's. I know it's a solid design and geometry, I know it already handles great. I know nothing I'm doing with this car on the street will be any different on 18's and the 17's are much cheaper wheels and tires. I do like the look of 18's (at least deisels) but I like the price of 17's and I don't plan on lowering my car to make the 18's or 19's look "right."

 

dude youre hilarious,
bling bling
not everybody here is a fan of the bigfoot look
personally I think it looks plain stupid, small cars with 18's and 19's. If you bought your evo for performance reasons, stick with 17", if you wanna look stupid get 24", yeah they make then now in 24's

 

The Enzo has 19's because it has 14in ceramic/carbon rotors and calipers with more pistons than a 18wheeler...

If you do decide to put 14in rotors on your evo...then yes, 19in's would look awesome!

 

What he said. Why would you want 19" rims? Even most hardcore race cars run brakes that fit within 18" wheels. So when would you ever want 19" wheels except to blow that rubber band tire running over a pothole?

 

nothing small about the EVO... it's not a small car... looking at it parked next to most cars, it looks a hell of a lot wider than most... and it's not really that short either...

18's look like the "fit"... 19's...? not really...

 

I'm just saying that for a guy that drives an EVO on the street and isn't worried about modifying the car for autocrossing and has to worry about a warranty and stuff, that putting 19inch wheels would be bad *** and wouldn't hurt the streetability or straight line performance, while still not messing with the engine, exhaust, suspension, etc.... Bottom line: 19s look the best, 18s are a compromise, and 17s.. well..ugly