Hello. Last year we picked up a JCW countryman up in Edmonton Alberta. Over the summer had a rear diff replaced and can now hear some 'mechanical noises' from the front - not enough for them to replace the front yet. We have the 17" Mini snow tire package. Just had our first snowfall of the year which left the highways pretty icy. Car drives normal on dry road but the second you hit ice or an icy patch, the car seems to dart or pitch quite violently to the left. Wife drove as well (her car) and was scared it was pitching so hard. Definitely didn't do this last winter - leads me to believe somethings going on with the diffs / all4 system. Anyone have any ideas or experiences similar to this? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Have you tried it with the traction control disabled? With a manual when you let up on the gas, the dynamics are backwards, so the wheel that is spinning is the wheel with traction and then they brake that wheel putting you into a spin. It made my Audi S4 undriveable in winter on performance tires.

I have not played with the mini on snow and ice, maybe tomorrow....

 

I haven't tried disabling traction control but will this evening - thanks for the tip. Last year this car was a rock on the ice - very stable. Think something strange is going on. Car is a manual.

 

Isn't traction control disabled on Minis as a default setting? When I read the manual it said to hit the dsc button to disengage the stability control which would then enable the traction control. Just curious as I have a new countryman and wondering how it will behave in the snow this year as it also is a manual transmission.

 

I believe tc is on by default all the time. The highway cleared up quite a bit so I wasn't able to fully test the handling on ice with stability disabled. Booked into dealer next week. Last year this car was a delight in the snow - better than anything I think I've driven in the winter. This year, a new rear diff and front end noise later...not so much!

 

Default condition is:
Traction control: Full on
Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) Full On

If you have All4, flipping the traction/DSC switch puts the car in "traction" mode which allows for some slip before the nannies engage. Intended for icy conditions. Hold down the traction/DSC switch until the car displays a "DSC OFF" warning message to fully defeat traction control and DSC.

That could help you determine whether it's a mechanical or electronic issue.

 

All they could find at the dealership was a bad front wheel bearing causing the noise. We'll see next week how it handles.