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Not every car with an all wheel drive system are good in snow and ice conditions. I wondered about how my Countryman S All4 would do and this week finally got my chance.
A once a generation snow storm here in the PNW has dropped a ton of snow with more on the way. The hills along with the uniquely wet snow create havoc for drivers, especially given that most people who live here never drive in snow
My Mini has done great! It has handled ice, snow, slush and everything in between. I've been driving all over to take kids to sledding hills, running needed errands and doing favors for friends who are snowbound. What a blast. At times the lack of clearance has been a bit of an issue, but more of an annoyance than an impediment.
Glad you are enjoying. Only issue is the "other guy" who doesn't have the traction and doesn't know snow. I of course got tapped by one, but fortunately is was a low impact bumper to bumper. When it snows I don't go, usually. We lucked out with less than an inch in my part of Portland while everyone was freaking out buying shovels and three weeks of food.
It snowed last night and put a foot on the ground in Vancouver. Yes in Vancouver Canada. The daffodils will have to wait a few more days. A few months ago my R53 was totaled by a person turning left in front of me. So I went and got an R60. It is quite the contrast. Bigger, and AWD. The bigger bit is so we can haul grandkids mostly. I miss the R53, but not that much.
In the dry I was impressed with the ALL4 as the familiar FWD under steer was gone. It drove much more neutral. It still felt like a MINI and I thought maybe I should get back into autocross.
I was waiting for some snow. I hope to find a nice parking lot to abuse, but the streets were quite interesting anyway. Driving normally it was almost like "what snow". No wheel spin. The traction control never cut in while in my old MINI it would be scrabbling for grip like a dog on a tile floor. I like this.
When I got to work the parking area was not plowed and fairly deep. Again "what snow".
Actually last night was the most interesting. There was about half a foot of snow in my daughters driveway which is on a slope. It looks about 20%. When we were ready to head home I swept the snow off the car parked on the street then backed up the driveway to pick up my wife. No wheel spin. No traction control. What snow.
Now I gotta get my list of mods started. The R53 had a few.
Thanks for sharing! That's good to know. We have a new to us 2015 CMS All4 and so far it has sat under a car cover outside. I depend on my 246,000 mile Jeep Grand Cherokee when it snows, but it's great to know that the Countryman will do the job!
Last edited by 02fanatic; Feb 18, 2019 at 05:58 AM.
5 hours ago I swapped from an R56 to the R60. One of the reasons was the lack luster ability of the R56 over the last couple weeks here in the PNW. Love reading the stories.
5 hours ago I swapped from an R56 to the R60. One of the reasons was the lack luster ability of the R56 over the last couple weeks here in the PNW. Love reading the stories.
Yeah, and if you put snow tires on it is totally mind blowing...like a 100% increase over the 100% increase you already got over the R56. We take our R60 in the worst weather over my lifted FJ Cruiser. No substitute for AWD on-road.
