Do you all drive your minis in the winter, or do you just have a winter beater.

 

I split my time in winter between my MINI and an Audi A4. Before I had the Audi, I drove a Cooper all winter. Snow tires are a fabulous thing.

 

Are the run flats that come with the sport package an "All season tire"?

 

All-seasons or Summer runflats. It depends on what you/the dealer order.


I drive my MINI year round. It is my one and only car.

 

All year driving, if you live in the snowbelt, is best accomplished through two dedicated sets of wheels/tires. I use Pirelli 210 SnowSports on 16" rims for winter driving, and Goodyear GS-D3s on 17" rims for all other seasons. I'd caution against "all-season" tires as they are at best a compromise for "all" seasons.

 

I pimp the 16 inch bling bling in the winter.

 

Ive got a blazer i use on the really miserable days. From NY but now living in DE, lot of people cant drive in the snow, would rather them take out the blazer then the mini. usualy the roads are clear the next day and the mini is back out.

 

Year round MINI - just don't be the first car on an unplowed road, since the low front spoiler tries to do the plowing!
I drive on 16" non-runflat all-seasons and I feel safe through the winter.

 

Don't remind me of winter, please!

 

Mine's a year-round daily driver. I made it through two Michigan winters with the all-season runflats and I just had summer performance tires put on. I'll get a set of wheels and snows in the fall. Looking forward to that actually...I had Blizzaks for my 323 GTX and I LOVED the snow in that thing! Rev to 5000, drop the clutch, four roostertails and I'm gone!

 

Ditto....

 

I drive mine all winter (kind of avoidable in Wisconsin). The DSC is an absolute dream in the snow!

 

I only have the 1 car. I got Spike in November so Winter was my first season. He did sooo well on the roads...my Jetta used to fishtail a lot. Spike held the road really well...fun to watch the light for DSC flashing a lot!

Lynn

 

Year round. Dedicated winter tires make all the difference. The car chews through the snow like a dog with a new chew toy!

 

Year round here, too...although in Texas our "winter" is frequently a random ice storm and I don't drive anything in that. It's all melted in a day or so I just wait it out.

 

I'm planning on rocking 15" black steelies. Can't wait...

 

But I live in CA.

Matt

 

my car is my year 'round car as well. Steelies and Blizzaks are the way to go....

 

Watch the deep snow, and deep snow for a MINI is 4 inches or more!

Handling-wise, I do fine in the winter in Madison, Wisconsin -- but I agree with Ian: don't be the first car on an unplowed road.

Also, take care when parking in the snow: you can coast gently right over snow that's piled up at the curb and damage the power steering pump/fan assembly that's mounted on the bottom of the car between the front wheels.
Perhaps not a big deal under warranty, but it'd be an expensive mistake after 36,000 miles. I'm glad I learned at 25,000: they replaced my noisy pump without any squabble.

 

The advice here is right on.

DSC, snow tires on steel wheels, and don't be first. :D

If you live where it really snows, don't lower the car - at all. Last winter was my first one with the JCW suspension and slightly shorter snow tires (a totla drop of maybe 1/2") and even when I wasn't first I was still running into all kinds of stuff with those little hanging down thingies off the front bumper.

 

My wife and I drive our Mini year round. I swap on the stock all-season tires for winter duty. About the only time we don't drive it in the winter is when the snow is too deep (3-4") and then we take our Freestyle, which has 2x-3x more ground clearance

-Keith

 

I drive my MCS all year long. We get LOTS OF SNOW here, so I put a set of Bridgestone Blizzak tires on black 15" steelies each fall. They are amazing in snow and ice--unstoppable, but quite sloppy handlers on dry pavement. I recommend them for anyone who consistently drives in snow, slush and ice. There are probably better tire choices for your MINI if you only get a snow storm once or twice a month in the winter...

I got mine through the Tire Rack, and it was a really easy buying experience. The tires came pre-balanced, inflated and literally ready-to-install.

The one remaining issue to discuss with driving your MINI in the winter, is the low ground clearance. Any snow deeper than 4 inches is going to start being plowed by your front air dam. Worse, the large ice and slush chunks that fall off the fenders of cars ahead of you can be more problematic. But knock on wood, I've had no damage, despite hitting several each winter. The front air dam is apparently very well constructed!

That means that for me, no lowering springs, unfortunately. Sometimes I wish I did have a winter beater, but then again, I don't know if I could handle NOT driving my MINI!

Hope that helps!

 

i drive it as little as i can in the winter, but it is almost unavoidable.. overall, as long as you got good snow tires, and wash it as often as possible.. there's little winter can throw at you to damage the car

that said.. heated seats sounds mighty nice right about now! >.<

 

funnest snow car i have had, but it is no audi when it comes to easy snow driving.
i bought 15" steel rims with studded snows for $500 or so.

don't you guys love it when its snowing hard and you get a lot of moister on the inter cooler and it steams out of the scoop? makes the mini look like beast, haha. I need to get a picture of it sometime.

 

Swap the run flats for a set of decent snow tires and you have a very capable winter car. A few of us have motored quite easily to the Canadian hinterlands and back the last two winters...