How well are our All Season Tires doing in Snow?
 

My first Clubman, the ‘12 S, had Continental Run Flats that weren’t too bad in snow when the Tires were new and had good tread depth. Now I’ve got Pirelli RFs on my new 2017 F54 All4 S, any thoughts so far on how they’ve handling Winter Driving for the most part?
If I need Snow Tires, now’s the time I would get them....:popcorn:

Indeed. I’m also on the Pirellis and it’ll start snowing around here any day now!

Winter is.... well, you know.

If there is ANY question about how the tire will do in the snow, get snow tires. Even if you don’t drive in the snow, snow tires will do better in the colder temperatures.

Lived around Syracuse New York for years. In the winter you put "snow" tires on unless you had a 4 wheel drive. If state allow, would go with studs as well.

In winter did not care about handling but rather just getting to home or work.

There is no question that dedicated snow tires will improve traction in the snow. However, I've never used them, and I love driving in the snow. Last winter when we got 30", I took the F54 out as soon as the roads were plowed (just to play - all businesses were shut). It was still snowing like crazy and there was 3" - 4" on the roads. There isn't much I like better than driving on snow covered roads when no one else is on them. :-) I went into empty parking lots and did donuts, then went home and got my wife so she could share the fun. As were were power sliding around the neighborhood she laughed and said, "I really should be yelling at you for doing this, but this is fun." I personally think that dedicated snows would give me too much traction and ruin the fun.

I understand this, not exactly what I was asking though since I stated my previous Clubman which was just FWD did ‘okay’ with the past mild Winters we’ve had in Chicago. And that was on the RF All Seasons.
I didn’t run Snow Tires on my two previous SUVs that I had before getting into Minis, but ran all my BMWs through the years with Blizzaks or similar.
Now that I have another All Wheel Drive vehicle again, I’m wanting to hear real world experiences with the Pirellis on my Clubman.
Additionally, we may trade my Wife’s Countryman in on yet another new car since she’s jealous of all my new car features.......:grin:
So I’m trying to economize a bit where I can since I’m sure her car will cost more than my Clubman did.......:razz:

So, assuming one has the All Season variant of Pirelli run flats, they are supposed to perform fairly well in light snow/ice.

I have run my Clubman All4 in very slick wet weather and the grip is fantastic and the car feels like it knows just where to direct the torque. Very smart system.

HOWEVER, I dumped the run flats early on and am running all season high performance Vogues, which are longer-lasting, much better riding, and hug like crazy.

Also, here in Southern California we've seen photographs of snow on the internet, but we aren't really sure what it is, exactly. Sunny and 80 degrees today. Smoke and ash in the air from fires, but no sign of snow.

Drive safely, because the tires, all season or winter or summer, are never any smarter than the driver.

I love the car in rain so far( not that many miles on it yet....:lol:)
I expect that the All Wheel Drive system would be the latest version of the Haldex Coupler system? Yes, no?
I’ll have to look into those Vogue Tires. I read your thread about getting them installed on your car. Interesting...:thumbsup:

Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like I will have no real issues unless we get hit with deep snow or sub zero temps...:wink:

Do you have roads that require approved snows or chains? We don't get a lot of snow in Portland area but to get downtown from where I live you need the right tires or chains. Wife insisted on having dedicated snows, bought a used set of wheels from a fellow NAM'er and everyone won on that deal.

Light snow with ALL4 Countryman and All Seasons Pirellis are ok, just wouldn't handle the hills or being at fault on an accident.

Thankfully Chicago doesn’t require Snow Tires or Chains, they would however tow you in a second if you’re parked in a Snow Route......:razz:
I’ll wait and see what happens with my Tires, but continue researching rims and tires in the meantime for my Clubman..... and research new body Countryman tires and rims too, just in case my Wife takes the plunge on one.....:lol:

Here's a good description of the All4 drive from Evo, January 2016:
"A bevel gear directs power through a propeller shaft to the rear differential, where a clutch feeds power to the rear wheels whenever it’s required.

Mini’s stability control system decides when power is required at the rear, based on acceleration forces as well as speed, accelerator position, engine torque and steering angle."

And here's much more technical detail. It's not a Haldex.

http://www.motoringfile.com/2011/08/...stem-in-depth/

It seems like the overall consensus is the stock run flats will do fine. I did 1 winter with them on my 2017 All4. I'd say it handled about as well as my previous 2013 Clubman S with Blizzaks. I think the only thing that will stop these cars is trying to drive through snow that is deeper than its ride height.

that’s reassuring, thanks...

If it makes you feel better, I did have dedicated snows (Blizzaks) for my former 2015 hardtop but have no plans to get snows for my 2017 ALL4. They do such a good job of clearing roads in my immediate area (Lake Co.) that I'm quite sure we'll be fine. I have driven my 2007 convertible around in snow on all-seasons and, aside from ground clearance, it did just fine.

Besides, it's not like you can't get some later if you find the stock tires aren't getting it done.

Oh true, totally true. It's just that we went ahead and bought a 2017 F60 Countryman All4S this weekend to add to the new '17 Clubman, so money became a bit more of an issue after Saturday....:lol::lol::lol:
With both being All4s, and my wife having even more ground clearance in her Chili Red Countryman, we should be decent for most snowfall that doesn't get so deep that it pushes the cars up and high centers them.
That deeper, unplowed snow was always my worry with my previous 2012 Clubman, and I never had snow tires on it, but made it through basically okay with a few winters under the cars belt....:razz:

I've always found that my real concern in winter is never the snow. It's the other drivers out there which really worry me.

That's a fact jack.....the other driver! As long as you anticipate conditions, what other idiots (drivers) might do, and drive sensibly, the ALL4 with all seasons will be fine.

Over the years, I've driven rear drives with snows, front drives with snows, front drives with performance all seasons, all on lowered cars. Never had any problem in Northern Virginia with one exception. That was with my rear drive 78 Toyota Corolla with dedicated snows....you can't fight 12" of un-plowed snow when the car was lowered to about 5" ride height. The snow just build up under the car and lifted it up.....LOL. Had to have a 4x4 drag my ass back to the house.

I believe you will be fine. While All Seasons are usually nicknamed no seasons :) they typically do fine in light snow. I used to drive an AMG C63 which mostly had summer tires on them, and I ran one winter (DC area) with the summer tires still on because I was lazy and cheap to get all season (I usually get the Conti DWS all seasons) or snow tires. Had no real issue other than being careful and waiting for the tires to warm up.... but donuts in parking lots where a lot of fun.. snow or no snow :)

We got our All4 F54 about a year ago, and drove all winter (upstate NY) on the OEM runflats, including fully loaded trips up a steep dirt road to a ski cabin in the Adirondacks, with no trouble.

BUT... A tire issue this spring, and an attempt to get it replaced under warranty, revealed the extremely fast wear rate of the Pirelli run-flats. The tires had gone through 40% of their tread in around 6k miles. If there's one thing I know about snow tires, it's that tread depth matters a LOT.

Thus, we replaced them with regular tires (same ones as 2017All4 - Vogues from Discount Tire Direct w. their $100 Labor day rebate sale). If you're gonna stay with the Pirelli's, I wouldn't recommend anything more than a single winter season. We've had times where even dedicated snow tires will get us stuck, when the tread depth starts to go.

So, Virgilstar, how are you enjoying the Vogues? I've got over 5,000 miles on mine with no signs of wear and they are still running smooth, quiet, and gripping well -- of course, where I live, we read about snow but never have seen it.

I went ahead and ordered a Mini Snow Tire package from my dealer for the Clubman. After hearing Pirelli tire wear stories on these 3rd Gen Minis in more than one place, I can at least put the All Seasons to bed until April and save tread life.
Turns out the previous Countryman’s snow tires still are a good size for the new 2017 my wife just got last week, so we can reuse her set even if the rims off the now gone R60 don’t work for a F60 model. So that’s a LITTLE money saved....:lol::lol:

had a little of snow in Toronto last night/today. The tires seem to be alright on the ice and snow. Had the car for about 4 months with 10,000km on it. Not sure how it will handle with more snow but will be changing to winter tires next week. got the Pirelli Winter Ice Zero fr.

We got SNOW today here in Chicago- Lake Affect snow, not a true Winter Storm, but about an 1".... The factory Snow Dunlops took it in stride. Glad I spent the money for the Wheel and Snow Tire Package. :thumbsup:

Working great so far. Couple of snow falls alredy and they handle well.