oh and how about them
Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50

• Size: 195/55QR16
• Blackwall

not really sure why the numbers are a bit different

 

Tire Rack

 

Living in phoenix my response is, snow? what's that?

 

It's what you wish you had in August.

 

It's also what i wish i had now, winterizing my car includes, well, nothing. It's dec 1st and 65f outside.

 

Oh just put another couple of coats of carnuba on there. My car won't see any more wax until April.

 

I'll take my regular trip to FL for Christmas again this year. I take along the detailing essentials and give baby its winter wax. April is just too far away.

We have that winter weather advisory now. I just came home in rain, sleet, and snow. Its getting real icy now. My flat tire and DSC lights were on letting me know it was icy. With or without snow tires, take care.

 

Yes as I sit here & bang away at the keyboard I can hear ice hitting the windows. It's good night to stay in the warm house.

 

Hey All,

I'm a prospective '07 MCS daily-driver owner in the Northeast hopefully overthinking my Mini. Concerned about the setup for snow. Went w/ 16s/all-seasons (not RF's) and would have no problem going w/ snow tires in the future. What about LSD? (I'll have DSC.) Is it req'd for snow/ice in your experience? I'm a Buffalo/Syracuse driver from way back and can handle some white stuff. But I live on a short but very steep hill and driveway. Started up the drive last night in the ice from dead stop in my Avalanche (trading for MCS). Traction control, etc. kicked on and I slid till I put it in AWD. Got me wondering. I know that's RWD and the '07 MCS will never be a AWD/4WD, but what's the group's thoughts? Who's got LSD of the group here?

I can't tell you how much I will appreciate your snow-experienced answers!

TK

 

I believe the LSD helps me in those traction limited starts. I believe the biggest help is from the snow tires I run in winter. I hate the traction control, but I've used it a time or two & it helped get me going up an icy hill. It's really not one thing, but all of them together.

 

TK,

Just some observations based on my experience with my my used 2003 MCS which I've owned for 2.5 weeks. First thing I did was buy a set Michelin Latitude X-Ice tires for the car since I live in Maine. Got them on last week and we got the snow to test them today. In one location I start from a stop sign and climb about a half mile long hill on highly crowned road. About half way up I caught up to a Jeep Wagoneer that was struggling in 4 wheel drive to hold a straight line because of the road crown while I had no trouble at all. I would have passed the Jeep except there was no way to safely see far enough ahead.

I went around and climbed several steep hills without a problem. I'm pretty happy with Mini in the snow.

 

TK...try this link:

http://www.mini.ca/en/More_MINI/Wint...g/default.aspx

Granted snow tires are clearly better than stock allseasons, but I'm in Minnesota and am on my 3rd winter with my second pair of stock all season Conti's on 15 inch holies.

My MINI is my daily driver and we log just under 50 miles round trip to work every day. Good mix of neighborhood roads, highway, & freeway.

Never got stuck, and never lost control. (The key may be to have control of your speed.) Passed many a SUV, 4 X 4, Crossover, or whatever else they decide to name a vehicle these days, in the ditch. DSC is my friend. (LSD wasn't available or I would have gotten it.)

Steep hills with ice kinda suck, 'cos you have to turn off the DSC or risk stalling. Then it is up to you, your tires, and the clutch-but it can be done.

You will love your MINI in the snow. They are amazing!

 

Ya' go FrankJ! Hehehehe

 

ANY tire is a tradeoff. Judge what you're going to be willing to drive with, and decide from there.

I've gone through hell and back with 195/55/16 Dunlop M3 snow tires, which are great in snow, decent on ice, and darned quiet on everything else. They give up a little ultimate snow grip to be sooo good at everything else, but run rings around all-seasons in the snow.

Read the reports on Tirerack.com. What it basically comes down to are just a few axioms:

- Speed rated winter tires give up a little snow performance to gain wet/dry cold road performance and speed rating, but remain leagues better than any all-seasons in snow.

- The narrower the tire the better - in deeper snow! This prevents floating. OTHERWISE, however, you drive in ice, slush, or cold wet, narrow isn't as much a help. IN that case, 195/55/16 is great. 205/45/17 is getting a little wide and flat to be great in slush/rain/snow though. 18's are insane.

- Among non-speed rated tires, Blizzaks tend to be squirmier but great in icy/snow conditions, Michelin X-ices give up a little ultimate ice performance to be a little more stable and good in rain/dry, both are a little noisier than the M3 (personal experience on all above tires)

Winter tires are not only treaded differently from all-seasons or summer tires, they're also made of a softer tread compound that remains pliable (and gives traction) when cold. Summer tires get rather hard and give up a ton of traction (even dry traction!) below about 45 degrees.

Best bet if you're getting winter tires, get separate rims and leave 'em mounted. It's easier, and the tires don't get worn out from mounting/dismounting. Winter rims get pretty beat, but get something you can live with since they'll be on your car for months.

Minis are GREAT winter cars, especially with LSD.

 

Hey all,

Thanks to Crashton, Jimmy, Frank, Mark and Dixon. The Maine testimony and Raccoon comments are confidence-inspiring, to say the least.

The Canadian Mini link is incredible. Thank you for that. It shows exactly what ATSC, CBC, EBD and DSC can do. Wow!

Thank you also for the info on tires. I am saving a link to this thread for outfitting my car for the winter.

Still stuck on the LSD question as it regards hill-climbing in teh winter. No doubt winter tires, as recommended here, make a huge difference. But it also seems like its better to have LSD, if available, than not when on a snow-covered or icy hill.

Cheers,

TK

 

If I could get LSD without spending a bunch I'd have it just to have it.

 

Well, here we are - December 5th. It did indeed snow today. We got a little over five inches, and I took my MINI out for a bit of shopping. Please keep in mind that the previous car I drove in snow was a heavy rear-wheel drive vehicle, so anything is improvement, but:

I loved it. My Cooper S with the stock 16" all-season runflats performed very well. I was straight as an arrow all over town, through slush, snow, puddles and whatever else the roads threw at me. In just under an hour of driving, I had two issues; once where traction control kicked in while going up a snow-covered curved slope (and it worked well), and the other where the Anti-Lock brakes briefly engaged while cornering at a stoplight.

I’ve heard mostly good things about the Cooper’s snow handling, but a few bad things too. I wasn’t expecting the driving to be as easy as it was.

Conditions were hardly optimal. It was snowing the entire time, and visibility was within 1/8 of a mile at a few points. I saw six or so sedans off the road with hazard lights going, one van in a ditch and one point where a utility truck was flipped over onto its roof on the side of the road.

My MINI performed admirably.

Finally: Since you get a lot of snow in the Chicago area, you'd probably want to pick up a set of dedicated snow tires; but I advise people not to discount the all-seasons. I was quite pleased with them, as you can probably tell.

 

LSD is great for snowy weather. When it is really icy and I pull out onto a hill with DSC engaged, it takes forever to get going. If I turn the DSC off the limited slip immediately accelerates the car. Of course this can just get you in the ditch sooner...

 

DSC acts sort of like an LSD in low speed start-up situations, in that it brakes the spinning wheel so the other can gain traction BUT... it also cuts engine power at the same time.

Having an LSD and turning DSC/traction control OFF can result in useful wheelspin if you know what you're doing - limited spinning can move you forward when it's not possible to do so otherwise. It's also possible to "burn through" to a higher traction surface, but this needs to be done with extreme care to avoid breaking something, overheating tires, over-revving the engine, and generally causing a bunch of havoc.

If you're ordering the car, the LSD option is worth it. If you're buying a used car, it'd be nice but may not be worth the time/aggravation of finding a car with it. If you're thinking of upgrading to an LSD, consider if ~ $2,000+ is worth it.

Driving in snow: There are whole threads on this (do a search), but the best advice, consolidated, is this:

1. Drive like there's a raw egg between you and all control surfaces: be appropriately gentle.

2. Don't do anything you're going to have to un-do (accelerate hard toward a stoplight, etc.), and it's related corollary:

3. Momentum is a best friend and mortal enemy. Know when each applies (using current momentum to get up a hill, or scrubbing momentum early to avoid sliding through an intersection)

4. Be especially observant: When tread noise goes away (snow buildup on roads), or pavement changes "gloss" (maybe ice!), or sidestreets are "in play" - recognize that and act appropriately - and early.

5. if you cant get out of the driveway - DON'T! There are definitely times when the appropriate driving decision is "not to drive".

6. 4wd can get you going when you shouldn't be going. 4wd, FWD, and RWD cars all have the same number of tires steering and braking, but 4wd adds mass (and adds momentum, see number 3). What, you're going to accelerate to avoid a collision? Yes it does happen, just not the majority of the time.

Drive safe!

 

Dixon,

Thanks for the excellent summary. It resonates w/ my experiences (some good/some not so good) in the snow. You have captured and distilled some great techniques and safety advice for reveryone.

Your analysis of LSD is extremely helpful and answers my question.

TK