this winter. I’ve only had my Mini since March so I haven’t played with her in the winter yet. My last car was actually a Grand Cherokee that I had for 7 years. I had ATs on that so the winters were never a problem, but now I have runflat summer tires. I’m thinking that I need to either get a winter tire or a all weather tire. So I’m looking for all your opinions on this, and my even tire recommendations, so I can get the Mini’s feet good and ready for the winter.

Bernie

 

Bernie,

You will get MANY recommendations... but the most important thing you need to ask is... do you want to maintain 2 sets of tires on your car... or do you want an "all-around" one set?

If you don't mind maintaining 2 sets, then yes, I would buy winter tires, and plan on putting the summer tires back on in the spring. Ideally you'll want a second set of wheels for this purpose, to simplify the process a bit. This way, you get the best performance for each season.

However, if you really don't want to maintain two sets of tires (and wheels!), then buying good quality all-seasons is obviously the "all-around", jack of all trades, master of none solution.

Personally, I like to have the best tires possible for conditions. If we got a LOT of snow in the DC area, then the best tires would almost certainly be the Bridgestone Blizzaks - they are top performers. The downside to those tires though, is that they are horrible on dry pavement, and they also wear out very fast in the dry. Since we don't get a whole lot of snow in the DC area, I recommend the Pirelli Winter 240 SnowSport (if you want 17" tires), Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero (if you want 16") or Pirelli Winter 190 Snowcontrol (if you want 15").

The 17" 240 model is available both in standard and runflat models. I have the runflat version - and they performed extremely well for me last Winter, both in the snow and on dry pavement... better than any snow tire should! I just put them on a set of S-Lites, which are the heaviest OEM wheels made, and quite easy to get ahold of (since many people want to get rid of them). I figure that a heavy wheel is good for the winter, when dealing with potholes, etc.

I also have 18" JCW wheels, which come with peformance summer tires... and I store them for the winter.

 

I think we've had this winter tire discussion recently.
We run Vredsteins on 15" wheels. Actually handles better than the Goodyear runcraps. Thank goodness those tires are going by by next Spring. I think we'll be getting a set of Toyo Proxi 4s.

 

I've had good experience with Blizzaks on cheap 15" steelies....but then again, our garage looks like a tire warehouse.

 

there's a multitude of Winter Tire discussions on NAM, but.. one more won't hurt

Anyway, The Pirelli Winter 190 Snowcontrol on 15" wheels (most likely steel) were my original choice. But, then I considered that these aren't available in a Runflat - as a matter of fact, I haven't found any 15" Winter tires available as Runflat. So, I started looking at the 16" Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero Runflat. However, Consumer Reports recently rated the 16" Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 Runflat far better in Icy conditions that the Sottozero.

I'd be interested in reading some real world opinions on these tires. I need to make a decision soon. I made it through last winter on my performance tires but it wasn't that fun.

 

After searching this forum late last year, I decided on the Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero Runflats myself, partly from this thread. I didn't like the OEM tire performance even on the dry and sunny, so I didn't want to chance them on any winter weather.

After Sunday's snow and me driving around in it, my verdict:
Pirelli = Awesome tires.

My performance was notably better than quite a lot of people's, including $50k+ BMWs getting no traction and 4-WD SUVs with all 4 wheels slipping. Some poor lady in an SUV was clearly crying into her phone while making absolutely zero headway with her front tires spinning uselessly. She wasn't offroad or stuck in a ditch or anything, she was just right there, smack in the right hand lane, had obviously stopped for traffic and now couldn't get any traction to start moving again.

Traction control, anti-lock brakes, 4-WD, these things are cute and handy but they don't mean jack if your tires have no grip.

The Pirelli's were a lot cheaper than the Blizzaks, too. The tire place I went to didn't carry them and had to order them from some other supplier but I'm quite happy with them.

 

I use Ultra High Performance, All Season Tires. Mine are Toyo Proxes 4, but I hear the Falken 512's are good UHPAS's too.

I get good grip in the summer, spring, and even in the winter on ice. And I'm not talking about the all-season runcraps.

 

Glad you like them! I'm probably one of the ones who suggested the Pirelli's. I really feel they are the best overall winter tires for the DC area, because their dry pavement performance really isn't too bad considering they are winter tires, and the rubber is much more durable than the Blizzaks, which wear out super quick on dry pavement.

I actually went with the Pirelli Winter 240 SnowSports, in large part because they were available in the OEM size of 205/45/17, also as runflats. I wanted to use them with a set of heavy (duty) S-Lites, which is what I have done. I'm sure that they use the same rubber as the Sottozero's (or close to it).