Following up on my previous post about the Sumitomo's, I'm still trying to decide what is the best course to take to make sure I am mobile and safe when the storms come. I have R55 (2013) ClubmanS with original SSR's although only 7K miles on them, I have no confidence in grip during the winter. I also don't like the harsh ride and have been considering changing to non-runflats.

Was about to buy some Sumitomo HTR-P02's to replace, but the Tirerack guy talked me out of it claiming no real improvement in ride quality (these are W rated tires) and poor winter grip. He tried to upsell me to much more expensive all seasons. Being a front drive car with some power, my sense is that the MINI needs a lot of grip out of the tires in the winter to stay planted and all seasons probably will not help much. Ideally, I would like to buy a set of 16" steel wheels with dedicated snows, but by the time I add new pressure monitors to the package, its over $1,000.

I found some very reasonably priced new performance snows for a very good price on another site, but they are 225/45/17's so not sure if they would fit the MINI without rubbing issues. I do have an older Audi S4 AWD with that same size tire as standard with new Kuhmo Escta's on it, so that car will be decent already in the snow. If I buy the new snows in 225 width and they don't fit the MINI, I could put them on the Audi instead and just leave the MINI in the garage.

What would you guys do, put the HTR's onto the MINI and hope for the best or buy the snows and dedicate the Audi to winter use?

 

I've been plowing snow in my r53 with my sumitomos! We have about 6" right now.

 

OK, that's good news actually and your up near Buffalo so you know more about snow than I do these days. I put up another thread on the wheel & Tire forum asking about Nexen WinGuard Sports and Rvedestein Wintrac Xtreme tires, both are performance winter. Down here my problem is more packed snow and some ice vs plowing through the fresh stuff.

 

If I had an AWD Audi I could drive I would leave the MINI in the garage when it snows and drive the Audi until the snow melted, then bring the MINI back out. Where are you located? Here in VA the snow is usually gone in a few days. Seems like a lot of $$ to spend when you already have a car that will go in the snow.

 

I live in Chicago and drive a F56 S. I run Bridgestone Blizzak WS-80s in the winter. A solid, well-regarded winter tire that you can often find with a decent promotion. I run mine on the stock wheels.

I'll also agree with Tire Rack on the Sumitomos. I run those tires in spring/summer/fall and I had no desire to run them in the winter. I feel they are far too hard to inspire confidence in the cold & snow.

 

Yes, that is the zero cost option and pretty much what I did last year with my LR2, but my son took that down to college in VA with him this year. I'm in Eastern PA outside Philly and usually the snow doesn't last, but a couple of years ago the winter was very snowy and remained cold and we had packed snow on the streets that lingered for for the whole season.

Anyway, at this point i have procrastinated so long that if I buy snows now, I'll end up buying the non run flat summer or all seasons in just a few more months. Not really happy with these SSR tires in any weather.

 

Thanks for the feedback and you may have influenced me on these HTR's. My son is driving the LandRover LR2 with a version of the HTRs same tread pattern but lower speed rating and I have Blizzaks in the garage for him. Probably best for me to have those put on his LR2 over the holidays before I send him back to school on the HTRs in January.

I may buy the Nexen's now for the Clubby and decide in the spring about switching back to the SSR's or buying a set of the HTR's for the rest of the year. I used to swap tires on my S4 every year until my Alpine snows wore out. I had a separate set of 18" on that car for the summer but one of the rims cracked so I went back to all seasons on the Audi.

This whole process is a bit maddening unless you just accept the fact that the best way to go is with the right tires for the season if you live in these kind of areas.

 

If wheels and tires were free, we'd all be running winter tires. They just work too damn well. I've always rationalized the $$$ by figuring I get more life out of the 3-season tires...and there's always a few days each winter I'm zipping along while everyone else struggled. That joy is worth a few bucks.

 

I'm in NW Indiana dealing with several inches of snow and plenty of ice packed streets. I'm using the Michelin Xice Xi3 snow and ice tires on stock wheels. They perform flawlessly and keep the car very stable. The only reason I went with Michelin over the Bridgestone Blizzak's was the rebate.

 

My suggestion, having lived through winters in Buffalo and Syracuse, is to get a dedicated set of rims and winter tires. Get some cheap 16" rims off craigslist, and have some 205/55-16 General Altimax Artic tires mounted. With that combo, you will be able to run circles around any other car on the road.

 

I've been using the Generals too-they work great and are a very good value. I've driven in nasty conditions with them, when the storm comes I'm heading up the mountain to snowboard.