I love how great my Mini is in the snow. I feel like I can get anywhere with it, no matter how crappy the roads are! We keep getting a lot of snowstorms that keep burying other cars. I just brush it off and go. Take a look at the last storm and my Mini

 

Neato pictures - burrrrrrrrr......

I guess I should feel guilty that it was 77 degrees here today....

Donna

 

You should totally feel bad..lol It hasn't been 77 here since like September! We're lucky if it gets to 40. Tonight its supposed to get down to 5 at the highest!

 

Well if it makes you feel any better, we spent many years on the East Coast. The company I used to work for took me to New Hampshire many many times. So I've done my share of shoveling and scraping - LOL!!!!

Donna

 

Ooh Okay, well I guess I can forgive you and your great weather!

 

My MINI looked at your MINI...and simply said "Brrrrrrrr........"

 

Yea, mine says Brr a lot lately. We've got about 3 1/2 feet just in December alone. This December broke the record for amount of snow since 1876!!

 

What snow tires are you using?

 

I'm not using snow tires. Just the all season ones that were on it when I bought it.

 

got to 70 degrees today went to beach

 

If you REALLY want to plow some snow, grab a set of real snow tires. Until it gets too deep, this car is AWESOME in snow.

 

">

Here's my MINI in Idaho last week. We got 18 inches in a day and then it kept snowing. The MINI did great, even with it being her first time seeing snow! The only car that did better was my daughter's new Rabbit. But then again, it's been living in snow for a few months!

 

lightweight and having the a lot of weight over the power wheels does have it advantages.

My first car was a Renault R5(aka- LeCar) that had the wheels at the corners and light weight like a MINI (but that was all it had in common)and it was incredible in the snow-with the slick conditions and lack of anyone else on the road I could drive it "rallye stlye" and drift the curves, etc. In eastern NC we get a good snow every decade or so and usually come from a Canadian clipper front from the northwest (the cold air) and a Nor'easter soming on shore from the east bring the moisture. It will dump a foot or so and close everything for a day or two. We just enjoy it and stay home. If it happens anytime soon I will out in the MCS for sure.

 

Haha..too funny! I love my car!

 

I have snow tires, but I'm doing fine with the ones on it. This morning when I went into work, the lot wasn't plowed and no cars in it, so I had some fun and did some donuts. It was great!

 

Yep! Until you've done donuts in the snow, you haven't lived! There is no better way to have fun in the snow! I smile just thinking about it.

 

I honestly don't mind driving in the snow......most of the time. I live at the bottom of a rather long, steep hill - a true WV hollow. My MINI was going to live in the garage for the winter however, both our 4 wheel drive vehicles are now out of commission. (Mits. Raider is getting an engine transplant - can we say NIGHTMARE! and a Rodeo with a failing transmission.) So that leaves us with my precious MCS to try to get to work this morning in the snow storm...up the hill. Thank goodness for my new winter tires! We get halfway up the hill perfect and then we literally inched up the rest of it spinning insanly. I really did not think we would make it. Once on level ground, the MINI goes like a champ in the snow. I think the spinning up the hill freaked out the computer though. Before we got into town, the brake light, the ABS light, and the tire light were all on AND my speedometer stopped working. When we brought it home, everything was fine again. Still completely stressed me out to think something was going wrong with it. Both because it's my baby and because it's currently our last standing mode of transportation.

 

MINIWC: Turn off the DSC/ASC before "spinning and slipping like crazy" - if you did, great, If you didn't, you may have stressed out the computer and braking system trying to rein in that spinning.

Also, try reversing up a hill in a pinch - it puts the drive wheels and weight in back, which helps.

that, or have a run at it. Plow a path ahead, reverse, and get a run at it... FWD cars don't climb well, but other than that are a BALL in the slick stuff.

 

I've wondered about Minis in the snow. In a former life in Colorado, the only trouble I got into with snow was when it was too deep, and my little old mazda 626 would get stuck with too much compressed snow under the belly. Then the fun would begin in earnest! I do miss the scenic beauty of a fresh blanket of snow covering ugly development, but I sure don't miss driving in it or scraping the windshield!

 

The snow wasn't really deep yet, just had a nice layer of ice under it. I know that I remembered to turn off the DSC at some point on our way to work, but we started with it on. My husband didn't know to turn it off and I had just recently leaned that from reading NAM. He was driving. I think the MINI does well enough for a FWD. I had just been a bit spoiled. My last car was a Subaru Impreza. Not high class but it would climb a tree! I rarely slide at all and managed to make it in weather where other cars were lining the ditches. I thought nothing of climbing the hill in the worst of winter weather. AWD is a wonderful thing. Although, the only time I miss my Impreza is when it snows.... I liked the Impreza, I LOVE my MINI!

 

I don't really think the Mini is that great in the snow. I don't have snow tires, just all seasons, but the car feels rather unstable when driving over thick snow and slushy ruts. It just wants to get pulled around to where the snow makes it go. The back feels squirmy even in straight line (almost like it hydro planes on top of the snow). Its a light car...

 

+1. With Blizzak's the MINI performs amazingly in the snow. Until it starts plowing it...

+68238237593037593

 

My last car was so crappy in the snow, I had a Nissan Sentra SER Spec-V. Lovely car. Very fast car. When I test drove my Mini I fell in love. Its not as fast (yet) but the handling was amazing. I took an on-ramp to the highway at 50, and my car hugged the road. No better feeling than that!

 

Don't forget, narrower is better, for snow tires. On my MCS I run 185/65-15 tires mounted on a set of take off MC 7-hole wheels. With the slightly taller, narrower, tire I have fantastic traction. The tires transform my baby into a little tractor in the snow. I can just get in, point the wheels in the direction I want to go and step on the gas. Brilliant!!!!

There is absolutely no comparison between between the traction available with dedicated snow tires and even the best all seasons. And High performance tires were never meant for snow and are frightening with how little traction they have when it is cold, much less in the snow.

So, if you absolutely have to travel in the snow, do yourself a favor and buy the best snow tires you can afford, mounted on their own set of narrower rims. You will ba amazed.

 

Ah winter, I remember it well, but don't really miss the cold.








Mark