Hi guys I have 2 mini cooper's non s ones a 09 and the other is a 06.. I'm currently living in germany and gonna move to hartford ct in June and was a tad worried about how the minis are in snow? I am originally from ca and only lived in germany for 3 years where it snowed only about 6-8 inches at most.. and the snow tires on the car have about 4 seasons on them so I'm getting new tires this winter ..either Nokians or blizztacs (misspelled) but just wanted to know if my minis with new snow tires will be able to take on the CT winters or should I just get a AWD car? I will only be living in CT for about 4 years .

 

I can't speak for Ct winters as I'm in the midwest. But we do get some snow here too. With a winter set of wheel and tires, I've never been stuck and have been able to navigate without worry. Now if you attempt to run with runfats at all, forget it. those things suck in the cold or snow.

 

I have one word... FUN

Motor on!

 

Haha ok so as long as I have snow tires for winter only I should be fine ? I just don't wanna get stuck on a hill or something ..

 

I have Pirellis RunFlats, winter tires and they are fine in the snow.

 

Lived about 20 years in ct...one town south of Hartford...
Aggressive all seasons are fine... Too much traffic to get enough speed in the snow there..
2 sets of rims would be a nice luxury...
Grippy summers and a set of aggressive all seasons...could get a set of highway winters, but you loose so much in the dry, might be too much of a hit performance wise to gain a bit of traction in the FEW storms they get...
I consider southern NH, northern mass to be the line where snows really make sense ..
But I grew up driving in the snow...so managing traction and controlled skids are kinda normal...

 

I live close to baltimore....and home is west virginia. My mini has always been great in the snow. Of course the driver makes a difference too. If you are good with snow your car will be

 

Thanks for the reply, I already have a nice set of summer tires and rims and I also have winter rims as well just was curious if the minis could handle snow driving and hills with a good set of snow tires .. also in snow I drive very cautious and slow lol since it's still very new to me and my wife

 

Looks like you also have AWD

 

I at first had RF's but they sucked in the snow. Blizzak snow tires and you'll have to try to get stuck!

 

Great I'm feeling much better now about taking both minis to ct .. I really appreciate all the help guys .. any more winter advice for my cars?

 

havent had too much snow here in the midwest, but really happy with my conti purecontact's in the snow so far. impressed with grip - otherwise the mini does pretty well. the light weight really helps

 

Mini's actually do good in the snow....since the roads are fairly well plowed in CT, you should not have to worry about the death of the snow...
I have had 4x4 SUVs end up in the ditch behind me on highway ramps... Know they had to have bee on all seasons....a set of 4 snow tires on a front wheel drive car will go and stop better than a 4x with all seasons....
And hills in CT...lol...maybe cause I spent 5 years in Colorado and live in NH, but the rolling hills in most of CT are pretty mild...sure , a few bigger ones on a few roads (Avon mountain), but no worries.
Potholes are more of a concern IMO...so don't worry about the snow!!

 

Blizzak's come in runflats as well.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

 

Put real on winter tires and the only thing that will stop you
is unplowed snow higher than your ground clearance. But
that's true of any vehicle.

 

--

 

I have a couple more questions sorry if they are dumb questions. . First what size of winter is best for a 15in rim? and second would any suspension mods like sway bars help handling in the snow??

 

OEM works well (175/65?), they're quite narrow from the factory as it is anyway. I think suspension mods, particularly sway bars, will probably make it handle worse in the snow lol - sorry, no excuse to buy parts for this one though if the car's set up to be very understeery i guess it wouldnt hurt per se, but you do lose wheel independence with stiffer bars

 

Hi. I live in CT and run 17s in the summer and 15" General Altimax Arctics in the winter and am yet to hit snow I could not get through. I like them better than the Blizzaks I had previously.

Welcome to Connecticut.

Dean.

 

That is a fact. I still think the tires are good. Noisy on the highway but for snow & slush I'm happy. Wife wanted AWD, but doesn't like driving it.

 

Surprisingly good. My R56 MCS is lowered 1.5" but with snow tires I can plow through just about anything. My front spoiler is literally one inch off the ground but I can plow(literally ) through deep, unplowed snow like a boss. With a huge blizzard in the forecast I purchased these just 2 days ago . I was driving on Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's but there isn't a chance in hell I'd even get out of my driveway, never mind commute 20 miles to work today. I was the only "car" on the road today, I only saw 4WD pick-ups , city plows and State Police. That's it. My entire commute was through loose, 3"-8" inch snow (we got about 22" here in RI). The MINI didn't hiccup even once . Who say's you need AWD or an SUV?

Oh tires are Bridgestone WS80's, 205/50HR17 (they don't make 45's, with 37et wheels the tire is really close to fender... but no issues).

It's funny because I took this video just today:

 

Im surprised nobody mentioned...look into getting an ALL4 Countryman! Mine is fantastic in snow and ice.

 

In heavy snow, marginal with all-season (most-season) tires. Great with snow tires.

 

MINIs are great in the snow. The trick is to use the right tires.

I commuted around 50 miles a day round trip all last winter in a RWD Jaguar. In North Jersey, during biblical snow. Never had a problem because I ran the right tires.

Meanwhile my neighbor with his summer tires on his X5 4.6is can't move 10 feet and curses his "POS BMW because it sucks in the snow"

 

I've got michelin snows in factory 16" size on a second set of wheels. The car is awesome in the snow. MINI's are fairly heavy for their size. If you have added a RSB, most of them are adjustable. You could soften the bar to reduce the roll stiffness, but I haven't done that (still run mine on middle setting).

My car is a pretty effective snow plow, I go into work early and it is common for the streets not to be plowed well.

Good tires plus cautious driver = no problems in the snow.

Have fun,
Mike