Can't find this topic anywhere, so I figured I'd start here.

I had put Blizzaks on a PT Cruiser a few years back, and they were nothing short of amazing. When I bought them, the guy at the tire store said I needed 4 (didn't say I'd be better with 4, said I needed 4), because the front having so much more traction than the rear would make the car dangerous in braking and cornering on slippery surfaces. Not being in much of a mood for an argument at the time, I just bought 4 (it also gave me an excuse to put all new nice custom chrome 5-spoke wheels on it in the spring...).

Now with the MINI and 'spensive wheels and TPMS and what not, I want to put snows on the wife's Clubby, but I really don't want to go through the expense of all 4, not just with the initial purchase, but also changing them over twice a year. I don't have the luxury of buying an extra set of wheels and TPMS right now.

So from anybody with experience with snows on their MINI ... is 2 in the front sufficient, or will I need to break the bank?

TIA ....

 

You NEED 4. End of discussion.

 

Agreed.

 

one is looking to file an insurance claim for a not unlikely accident. Critical safety issue tends to be braking and spinning, not accelerating. Thus which wheels and how many propel a car may help in traction and not getting stuck, but that's quite different than accident safety in low traction and cold operating temp. situations.

 

Get 4...with only 2 you will likely spinout into a ditch when the rear unsticks....

 

Totally agree with other replies. For safety's sake, either run all 4 winters or NO winters at all. With different types of tires on front and rear axles, you're begging for a loss of control situation. If you must skimp on something, leave off the TPMS'......

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/...?techid=120#y4

 

OK ... well that's a rather resounding endorsement. Ya gotta bear with me here ... I'm not a complete motoring idiot. Last time I bought snows before the 4 on the PT was 2 on a mini van, and the time before that was umpteen years ago on a RWD, 'back in the day' when it was unheard of to put snows anywhere but on the drive wheels. So when a SALES guy at a tire place says I need 4, naturally I'm going to question how much of that is just to get me to spend more money there.

So I get it ... 4 snows it is. Thanks much for the info.

 

Yep, way back when, my dad used to put on "snow tires" on the drive axle of his big Ford sedan. Tire tech has jumped far forward since then. Today even my dad's 1974 Ford will require 4 winter tires. :-) If you must skimp on something, leave off the TPMS'......

Be safe...

 

Four. No question.

 

Read this-
http://www.snowtire.info/forum/kb.php?mode=article&k=13

For any replacement tire situation:

You want the front and rear tires to behave similarly with as much grip as you can on the drive wheels.

You don't want to mix different classes of tires on front vs rear axles such as All Season vs Summer tires or even different classes of snow tires. Doing so would allow different levels of traction under different conditions of driving.

E.g.
You have snow tires on the front of the MINI and ultra high performance All season tires on the rears. In the snow the fronts do ok while the rears slide a lot (oversteer). In the dry the snow tires don't have as much traction as the rears (understeer).

You also don't want to mix tire sizes for the same reason. If you drive really slow then you might be OK but unless you are on a closed track it might be difficult to predict how to control your MINI.

 

You need 4. Different traction levels front to rear will cause your traction control and ABS to do strange things to the handling of your car.

 

4.

 

This begs the question (my sidekick here just asked).

If you get chains (1) do you get 4 or 2?

(1) "chains" being what I call those cable things and /or those really
nice but expensive swiss made rubber things with the studs.

 

For chains, you use two. On the front wheels only, and only put them on when you absolutely need them. Then take them off once you get past the really icey parts of wherever you are. Do NOT drive around with your chains on , on bare asphalt. Not only do you risk damaging your front suspension/wheel alignment etc on your car, you help create potholes on the road.

Also, do not expect goKart handling if you have chains on.

 

On a front wheel drive car putting snow tires on the front only is an absolute blast!

If you want to learn how to drive a car on snow and ice go find a frozen lake or big empty parking lot and have at it.

Don't do it on real roads though.

My old Subaru had somewhat better tread on the fronts then the rear. The 4wd system starts transferring torque to the back as the fronts start to slip. Interesting dynamics.

 

My dad tried putting snow tires on just the front of his FWD car once. The first time he drove in the snow, he IMMEDIATELY redirected to the tire store for 2 more tires. It seems that the first time he stepped on the brakes, the back of the car passed him up!

 

To continue with this. The reson you are able to "get away with" just doing snows on the back of the rear wheel drive car is because it is going to be biased mightily towards understeer, which is pretty easy to manage.

 

Once again, thanks much for the great info and experiences from everybody.