Hi Guys-

Dont worry, I did my due diligence and went through the Tire section in the main part of the forum, but truth be told, each cities winters vary and I'd rather find out what people from my neck of the woods have experienced w/ their winter tires.

I'm thinking of the Blizzak LM-25 (97V), but wanted to get other opinions before proceeding.

Thanks in advance.

 

i dont drive me evo through the winter but my buddy did for one winter and went with blizzak's and said they were the best snow tire he has ever owned. He actually has winter rims and blizzaks for sale. PM "thatsMR2U" about them if your interstead.

 

I put Blizzaks on my Ralli last winter and they were pretty good. I always felt confident driving through snowy and icey conditions.

This winter I am going to have Nokian Hakkapeliittas put on the Evo. My auto/rallycrossing tire mounter suggested them to me last winter. They are a company based in Finland and if anyone knows about winter driving it is them.

http://www.nokiantires.com/en

 

After reading up quite a bit myself and seeing what Neal has suggested, if you are driving city to suburb with snow to plowed streets then the LM 25's are a good bet. But if you're like me and live more in the woods and need to commute to the city before the plow guys can get it cleared then the WS50's are where it's at and exactly what I'll be putting on my second set of winter wheels. I won't buy Michelin, An autocross buddy of mine compared the Dunlop winter sports to the WS50's recently on his WRX wagon and came back giving the WS50's the nod for our application.

If you are in a super snow belt you should consider getting more narrow wheels and tires with the WS50's but in most cases that requires either swapping out the calipers for smaller rally units, or modding custom wheels which I also investigated.

As per wheels, I found a local guy selling a very clean set of OEM EVO 8 wheels for $450 and was sold. With the WS50's plus said wheels, I'll be $500 cheaper than with any Rotas or Kosei combo + snow tire combo .

 

i have ws50 and they are overkill for the suburbs and city imo. i didnt spend too much time in boston last winter (mostly philly). in the snow they cant be beat but in just typical cold winter days im sure the lm25 would have been a much better all around tire.

 

I have been rockin the WS-50's for 2 winters now on my car. Love them.

 

....btw, I have accounts through all major tire brands here at work. Before you decide on a set, pm me the price you were quoted, and if I can do better, I will sell to you. And because you are a fellow Evo owner, I can arrange the install for the price of a 12 pack of Guinesse

Let me know

 

Dunlop Wintersport M3's... best dry pavement snow tire I've ever had... of course this comes at a slight cost of all out grip.. but I was able to rip through everything with them on my last FWD... as someone else put it, with a lot of other snow tires I felt like I was driving on Marshmellows. Since probably 90% of your driving will be on dry pavement it's what I'll be using on the Evo this year.

 

i used yoko avid h4's. cheap, handle well in the dry, wet and snow. a good compromise all around.

 

I also just recently purchased an EVO. I was deciding between the blizzak 25s or 50s. I was just curious, how do these tires do on sand or gravel? I sometimes have to drive through minor unpaved roads with sand and gravel. Any ideas?

Also, what wheels should I get? I looked on tirerack and found cheap 239 dollar 8 inch wheels. Do you think I should just get the stock rims or go cheapo for the winter. I dont care what they look like. Thanks in advance.

 

Give the best price you can give me and a 24 case might be in order

 

I also was worried about Blizzaks being overkill in Boston, given that the roads are ploughed, etc. I dont doubt that they are great in the back woods in north east cities like boston where the winters are mostly dry and cold, or wet/icy conditions rather than lots of snow since the streets are ploughed.

I had Dunlop Winter Sports on and they were fine for the mix of conditions. To be honest though I really had wanted to get Nokians which are supposed to be great, so I would point you in that direction first.

 

I would get a set of used VIII (or IX) rims. You can usually get a set on EvoM for around 500 bucks.

 

what size are you looking for????

I run stock size for my winters' 235/45/17
I'll pm you a price later on this morning

 

Where do you work again? I know I asked this at the dinner meet, but lets just say I don't have the best memory.