EVO X & 9th gen Lancer wheel fitment guide
Apr 15th 2024
A lot of the EVO/Lancer forums just aren’t as active as they once were. There’s a lot of good info, but it’s starting to get dated. Sure, the fitment specs haven’t changed, but the wheels have. There are new wheels on the market, a lot of them look pretty baller on the EVO X and Lancer. We’ll highlight some of these new designs along with classics that have looked dope from day one.
Over the years, EVO owners have gotten most of the love while the others get the short end of the stick. We wanna change that - Lancers are cool too! Today, we’ll cover the Evolution 10, but also equivalent non-EVO Lancers, such as the Ralliart, GTS, SE, etc. Regardless of what model you own, you’re probably aware that the EVO’s fitment is pretty distinct from the Lancer’s, so before we start recommending specs, we’ll compare the two platforms.
Quick links
EVO vs Ralliart/DE/ES/GTS
What do they have in common? - basic fitment info
- Bolt pattern: 5x114.3
- Bolt thread: M12 x 1.5
- Center bore: 67.1 mm
- Lug torque: 80 ft lbs
The bolt pattern, thread pitch, and center bore are all shared across the 9th gen Lancer platform. Generally, designs that look good on the EVO also look good on the others, and vice versa. This is where the similarities end.
Stock Lancer/Evo fitment specs
The EVO, with its factory widebody kit, runs about 1 ¼ ” wider (30mm) than the others. So this means you can just add or subtract 30mm to convert one to the other, right? In general, you’ll want to achieve the correct fitment by changing the width AND offset to suit your application - this is how the factory does it:
- DE/ES/GTS - 16x6.5 +46 205/60R16
- RA - 18x7 +46 215/45R18
- EVO - 18x8.5 +38 245/40R18 (Enkei & BBS)
“But those specs are weak.” Yeah, we agree. Regardless of what model you have, the factory specs are far too tucked for our liking. As far as tires go, if you wanna make 1000+ HP, as a lot of EVO owners do (who cares about turbo lag anyway, right?), you’ll want to scale up the tires to match your wheels.
Evolution X Brembos
The smallest wheels that will fit the factory Brembos on an EVO is 18” - factory size. Non-EVO cars have the option to run a 17”, although 18’s are preferred on every trim.
Just because you order 18’s, or larger, doesn't mean they’ll clear the face of your favorite wheel. The calipers poke out on these cars and you can see why by looking at the rotors. The friction ring is nearly in line with the mounting flange, or in other words, the rotor has a higher offset compared to most.
If your favorite wheel is known to not clear, one solution is running slip-on or hubcentric spacers.
Rolling fenders on the Lancer/EVO
This is a pretty standard procedure. The metal fender tabs can be folded in to give more clearance, just like most cars. In the rear, there’s a bumper mounting point inside the fender that can be replaced with a zip tie. The bumper needs to be trimmed, the tab folded back, and a hole drilled to give the zip tie somewhere to grab. We’ll look at setups that need this treatment, as well as some that don’t.
Ralliart/DE/ES/GTS
Recommendations wheels & tires specs
First, we’ll start with the non-EVO models. Conveniently, the fitment is consistent across all of these. Here’s a quick start guide for flush fitment:
18” is universally considered the go-to size for this chassis. 17’s weren’t an option from the factory, but can look good with the right wheel/tire combo. As far as width and offset, anything from 8.0 to 9.0” with a +30-45 offset will land somewhere around flush fitment without major work, possibly a light fender roll. Going for a 9.5” wheel or larger is when you will almost certainly need to roll the fenders, if not play with camber, stretched tires, etc.
- Wheels: 17-18” diameter, 8.0 to 9.0” width, +30-45 offset
For tires, the RA comes with a 215/45. For a daily driver, 225/40 will give a healthy increase in performance while being straightforward to fit. If your car is making decent power over stock - go to 235/40. Going wider than 235, say 245, is when you will have to consider rolling fenders or living with a slight rub, that’s why we recommend a 225 or 235 for most builds.
Examples of Lancer fitment
| Fitment Facts | ||
| Front | Rear | |
| Wheels | 9Six9 Six-1 18x8.5 +35 | 9Six9 Six-1 18x8.5 +35 |
| Tires | Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S 225/40R18 | Pirelli Cinturato P7 A/S 225/40R18 |
| Notes | Eibach lowering springs. No rubbing | |
Here is a perfect setup for a daily driver. These specs are almost identical to factory EVO wheels, give or take a few mm. Factory EVO wheels, with factory-sized 245/40 tires, tend to cause rubbing unless the fenders are rolled. The same wheels with a 235/40 would fit no problem.
| Fitment Facts | ||
| Front | Rear | |
| Wheels | Enkei Raijin 18x8.5 +38 | Enkei Raijin 18x8.5 +38 |
| Tires | Firestone Firehawk AS 255/35R18 | Firestone Firehawk AS 255/35R18 |
| Notes | Ralliart Rear Megan control arms Rear Megan toe arms Whiteline sway bar and links No rubbing, rolled fenders. Ksport Kontrol Pro Coilovers | |
This 2009 Ralliart is sporting very similar spec’d wheels to the last, but it’s lowered on coils and has much more aggressive tires - 255/35. This is as wide as we’d recommend on stock fenders, expect to roll and even slightly pull to prevent rubbing.
If you have a Ralliart making decent power, this is the size of tire you’ll want to run. 245/35 will be a bit easier to fit, but isn’t as widely supported.
| Fitment Facts | ||
| Front | Rear | |
| Wheels | Rota G-force 18x9 +30 | Rota G-force 18x9 +30 |
| Tires | BF Goodrich 245/40R18 | BF Goodrich 245/40R18 |
| Notes | BC Racing BR coils. Fender rolled and pulled in all 4 corners. | |
Opting for more aggressive specs will absolutely require the fender to be rolled and pulled. This 2010 Ralliart is running 18x9” with a lower offset than the previous. The rear looks to be perfectly flush while the front has the slightest amount of poke. Another degree or two of camber would bring the front flush.
This car is on BC Racing coils running a 245/40 tire. This combo makes for an awesome weekend warrior track car.
| Fitment Facts | ||
| Front | Rear | |
| Wheels | Gram Lights 57DR 18x10.5 +12 | Gram Lights 57DR 18x10.5 +12 |
| Tires | Kumho PA51 215/40R18 | Kumho PA51 215/40R18 |
| Notes | Airtekk Air Suspension. Lots of camber. Rolled fenders. No rubbing when aired up. | |
We had to include one for the stance enthusiasts. This 2008 Lancer GTS is lowered on Airtekk Air Suspension. These wheel specs are similar to what you’ll find on an EVO with aggressive fitment. How did he make it work on a Lancer? Lots of camber and very very stretched tires. Obviously, the fenders needed to be rolled, pulled, and trimmed to the max in order to make these 57DRs fit.
This look isn’t for everyone; the thin tires and alignment will make this car less than ideal for sport driving. We don’t know the exact camber figures (maybe the owner doesn’t either), but a calibrated eyeball lands it around -5° front and -8° rear.
Evolution X
Recommendations wheels & tires specs
Because of the brakes, downsizing to a 17” wheel is out of the question, so, like the Ralliart, staying at the stock size of 18” is probably the best play. If you’re feeling frisky, 19’s are possible - we’ll look at one setup. Again, these cars have sunken fitment regardless of the model, so we’ll fix that with proper widths and offsets.
The best width of wheels on an EVO X ranges from 9.5 to 10.5”. Yes, the factory fenders can handle some wide ass wheels. Offsets range from 15-40.
- Wheels: 18-19 diameter, 9.5 to 10.5” width,+15-40 offset
You get pretty decently sized 245/40 tires with your EVO, still, most like to go a bit wider. 255/35 or 265/35 will fit without too much hassle, as long as you opt for a 35 aspect ratio. Wider tires will almost always require more work to fit.
Examples of EVO fitment
| Fitment Facts | ||
| Front | Rear | |
| Wheels | Rays CE28SL 18x9.5 +22 (effective +19) | Rays CE28SL 18x9.5 +22 (effective +19) |
| Tires | Nitto NT05 275/35R18 | Nitto NT05 275/35R18 |
| Notes | **A 3mm spacer is needed for adequate brake clearance. Eibach Pro-Kit lowering springs Fb. Eibach Pro-Kit lowering springs evo | |
If you’re like most EVO owners, you’ll want wider tires for performance reasons. This 2012 MR is running some pretty wide 275/35's . The 9.5” wide wheels will stick out an additional ½” over stock, but still won’t quite give you flush fitment, still a noticeable improvement compared to stock. With this car lowered on springs, it needed the rear fenders rolled. A thinner tire or stock ride height would likely clear with no extra work.
Again, not super aggressive, but this setup would make an excellent multi-use, weekend-warrior vehicle.
| Fitment Facts | ||
| Front | Rear | |
| Wheels | Work Meister S1R 19x10 +15 | Work Meister S1R 19x10 +15 |
| Tires | Falken Azenis 225/35R19 | Falken Azenis 225/35R19 |
| Notes | R-disk:87mm front lip / O-disk: 114mm rear lip. Fender rolled, no rubbing. Lowered on coilovers | |
What about 19-inch wheels on an EVO X? Although far less popular than 18’s, 19-inch wheels will absolutely fit. This car is running a very thin 225/35 tire. We believe there’s room to fit at least a 245, if not more.
This is the only multi-piece dished wheel on our list. These tend to have less clearance than monoblock wheels. Most name brand wheels come with multiple disk types, giving the option for more brake clearance at the cost of less lip.
In the case of Meisters, an R-disk is needed in the front. The car pictured has R-disk front and O-disk rear. The different disk sizes give this car a sudo-staggered setup - it looks staggered, but the specs are identical front to rear.
| Fitment Facts | ||
| Front | Rear | |
| Wheels | Work ZR10 18x10.5 +12 | Work ZR10 2P 18x10.5 +12 |
| Tires | Continental ContiSportContact 245/35R18 | Continental ContiSportContact 245/35R18 |
| Notes | Silvers Coils, rolled fenders, fenders rub when turning & on bumps. | |
If you wanna push the boundaries, go for a 10.5” wheel. This is as wide as we recommend on stock metal fenders. The owner of this car chose an aggressive +12 offset; if you wanna run 10.5” wide wheels, you could always pick a higher offset, maybe +15-30. Either way, expect to roll the fenders on all 4 corners (and possibly slightly pulled).
We promise to share some newer designs, and how good do these ZR10s look? These are a relatively new installment to WORK’s famous Emotion lineup.
This 2014 EVO X GSR is stanced on Silvers Coilovers. As we can see, they can go pretty low. Of course, if you don’t want to scrape everywhere you could raise them up and enjoy functional fitment - that's the great thing about coils.
| Fitment Facts | ||
| Front | Rear | |
| Wheels | Heritage Ebisu 18x11 +2 | Heritage Ebisu 18x11 +2 |
| Tires | Nitto Neo Gen 235/40R18 | Nitto Neo Gen 235/40R18 |
| Notes | Airlift Performance Struts w/ 3p management. Rolled/pulled fenders. | |
If you wanna break all the rules, you could fit 11” wide wheels on your EVO, but it’s not going to be easy. Be warned: this fitment, along with the last, is for advanced users that know the ins and outs of stancing a car. This car is on bags and there’s no doubt the fenders needed to be rolled and pulled to the max.
This is another example of a fairly recent wheel. It’s also available in a Monoblock version, the Ebisu MonoC. In fact, you can get them in nearly identical specs to what you see here. Or, maybe you don’t want hellaflush fitment, they’re also available in less aggressive sizes.
Wrap up
Regardless of what model you have, now you know what fits. Whether you like the choice of wheels in this list or not, you can take the fitment you like and copy it using your favorite wheels. We have hundreds of thousands of wheel options in our shop - every design you can think of in every spec. Head over to the ‘New Wheels’ section to pick out your dream wheels.