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Having never had a vehicle before that warranted ANY special tyres(!), how much of a difference in traction and/or performance is there really between dedicated Winter tyres and high-performance (or ultra HP) all season's?
Now, I do live in Minneapolis, so I will be dealing with extended driving in real winter conditions. However, I'm not exactly a newbie to winter as I've been here for 18 years now.
Currently, Alice has the OEM 16" run-flats. I am kind of vascillating between getting a dedicated set of Winter wheels/tyres, or replacing the RFs with all season tyres.
The 16" runflats will get you through winter believe me, great and bulletproof. If I can plow through 3 feet of snow in a mini with those on i know you can!
I made it through the first winter on my summer wheel set the first year I had the MINI. Not too bad - the DSC was on ALL the time. It went better than I thought, but then last year I got Blizzaks, balanced and mounted from the TireRack and WOW - what a difference. It's like having dedicated summer tires in the summer. The traction is THAT good. But the thing that really impressed me was the braking. There's so much traction to be had with winter tires under braking that's from a safety standpoint, it's just awesome.
I'd recommend the winter tires all the way. They're amazing. Besides, why would you want to "sacrifice" performance - either way, summer or winter, by going with an all-season? Get the winter shoes, you'll be happy you did.
I'm in the same boat as n0uk, but I think the deciding factor for me is the money. I'm gonna stick it out this year and possibly splurge for next year if I think I need 'em.
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Katie is a '05 MC LY/B, CVT, Premium, Cold, Xenons, Sport Seats, DSC
I drove with the all seasons last winter.They were good,only got stuck once.
Got the wheels spinning,got out and pushed it outMotored through many heavy snow storms on the hidgway with no problem.But the traction control light came on alot at launch,or hard upshifts.But you can control that by not being heavy on the throttle
I now have a new set of Pirelli snow controls on steelies.Now I'm waiting for it to snowThey did work well on some ice I hit going over a bridge last week,with an exit that is a tight turn.
snow tires are awesome, but I'm gonna suck it up on the OEM's this year, too. I'm hoping that I won't have to drive the Mini that much this winter.
However, the all season on Mini are siped and pretty squishy, just like a snow tire. I am curious to see how they do - not that I'm expecting snow tire goodness, but they look like they may do better than other all season tires.
Iam,with adam the all season are all right but the snow tyres are the way to
go . i have a cooper s with snows on it now I will not be caught dead with
out snows .Its night and day difference iam telling yall from 3 winters driving
on all different tyres . snow tyres all the way . ps . thoughs summer tyres
are sweet on the ice /ha ha .
Winter has arrived up here,and the new perrilli snowcontrols I got are great.
Can hardly wait for some deep snow.On the slush,ice and inch or two of snow on the ground now,they blow the doors off the all-seasons.ASC comes on way less,and the tires are good in dry conditions,and are not noisy at all
Then again, last winter was spent in a RWD Toyota Cressida with an automatic transmission. I have the feeling I could leave my Kuhmos on and still feel like I'm in heaven.
Motored through many heavy snow storms on the hidgway with no problem.But the traction control light came on alot at launch,or hard upshifts.But you can control that by not being heavy on the throttle
They did work well on some ice I hit going over a bridge last week,with an exit that is a tight turn.
ps . thoughs summer tyres 
