Hi guys,

I live in New England and got my Countryman All4 at the end of last winter. While my All Season run flats did OK on the snow, I definitely need to pick up a set of winter tires/wheels.

Any suggestions on what tires I should look at? Also, any thoughts on 16" versus 17" wheel in terms of performance in snow?

Thanks!

 

This one has been discussed a number of times in this forum. The Search function is your friend here...

 

Thanks mikey_t. I did a good bit of searching before and after posting, but all the threads I found were at least two years old or not exactly relevant. If you happen to see one you think would be helpful, I'd really appreciate you passing it along.

In the meantime, I looked around a few other forums and Tire Rack. It sounds like 16" wheels are the way to go as the 17" and 18" tend not to do as well in heavier snow.

Looking at 205/60-16s on Tire Rack, these are their top suggestions:

• Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice WRT
• Michelin X-Ice Xi3
• Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D
• Pirelli Winter Sottozero Serie II

I'm leaning toward the Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice WRTs. If anyone has experience with these tires, I'm very interested in any insights.

 

I have the Michelin's on 17" wheels and really like them. If you really want traction though i would consider the Nokian Hakkapelitta R2's. I've installed them on my son's Subie AWD and they are outstanding winter tires.

 

Pirelli Winter Sottozero Serie II is what I bought due to a good deal on them. We don't get a lot of snow here in Portland so I wasn't concerned with having the absolute highest rated tire at the moment which is usually based on non scientific n=1 experiments. My one day of snowy icy roads left me on the road securely while other cars slid around.

 

Thanks guys. I hadn't even looked at the Nokians, but they seem to get a lot of good reviews. And the Pirelli Winter Sottozero Serie II seem like they're a solid mix of dry performance with good snow traction.

 

We went with Pirelli Winter Sottozero II RFT tires in 205/55R16 for my Wife's ALL4. They're a fair bit shorter than the stock 225/45R18s (.8" to be exact), but the price was head and shoulders below any other remotely close size RFT setup I could find. Just have to remember to correct for speedo error, they're fine otherwise

--Matt

 

I'm from Buffalo, NY I went with the Goodyear Ultra Grip WRT on my All4 6sp. Slapped these bad boys on just before we got hammered by that freak snow storm that dumped 9 feet south of where I live. We received 8-10 inches...with 1,500 miles on them already here's my experience. I didn't get a chance to get images, but couple of weeks ago we received 6-8 inches.

6 to 8 inches: Excellent traction. No slipping, spinning or fishtailing. Even on hills with blacktop ice. Head it's line and plowed right through. The fact it didn't slip with moderate acceleration was very impressive.

Freezing Rain and Ice: Fast acceleration lead to some slipping, but it still head its line. There was no fishtailing. Slow to moderate acceleration provided very good traction with no slipping. Hard braking had some slippage, but I had complete control with the combination of ABS and the Ultra Grips. Slow to moderate acceleration provided excellent traction for ice with no slippage, spinning or fishtailing.

Daily Driving: Tight corners, no problem. Spirited driving the ride is very smooth and they absorb pot holes well. There is minimal highway noise.

Pouring Rain: Excellent traction. No hydroplaning at 60mph with the low puddles and no hydroplaning in deep puddles at 40mph. Again, very impressive.

At $150 a piece from Tire Rack they are worth every penny. I would buy them again without hesitation.

 

Ditto - The Pirelli Scottozero II RFT is very nice and not as noisy as other winter tires I have had.

 

I've used the Dunlop winter sport in the past. They are definetly more of a performance snow tire. And as such do sacrifice some snow traction for dry road performance. That being said I never got stuck with them on a fwd car. Also wound up having to run them year round due to money issues and they performed great even in the summer.

 

Word. They pretty much drive like all season tires too. Not so wayward as any of the other winter tires I've ever used. I cannot get over how much lighter per corner the 16" Sport Edition wheels and these tires are compared to the 18" Turbo Fans and Pirellis that came on it, nor how rubbish said Pirelli "All-Season" tires are in the snow. Downright dangerous in my opinion.

--Matt

 

Good point - i swapped my run flat turbo fans out for the MINI winter steel wheel/Blizzaks option (Europe accessory) - each wheel/tire is 17lbs lighter than the summer set - thats ca 70lbs less rotating mass total

 

DUNLOP WINTER MAXX on oem steelies here, ice grip is good, snow grip is great, it has the perfect balance of grip\wear imho, plus they aren't that expensive to boot!

 

i am on my third winter using a set of 205/70R16 dunlop grandtrek sj6 studless ice and snow AT truck winter tires on mini oem 16x6.5 et 46 alloys

ecstuning sells the wheels and they accept the TPMS sensors ... from what i have heard, steelies do not

the dunlops are fantastic tires ... over 10,000 miles and only 2/32 wear, they only cost $83 ea from tirerack.com and the performance is great

last winter i came upon a winter drag race group in an unplowed parking lot ... asked if i could play ... ended up beating everyone ... including blizzacks, x-ice 3s and pirelli winters ... cars included subarus, jeeps, audis ... the closest race was me and an audi a8 on winters (i think he had x-ice 3s)

edit ... on cold dry roads they perform very well for a winter tire, not as well as my summer michelin pss, but i can still take a marked 25 mph offramp at 45+ mph without sliding, higher if i drift a little