Hey there,

My wife and I are probably moving to upstate New York (Rochester area) in the coming year or two and I am interested as to how your Mini's perform in the snow and ice. We currently live in Seattle and do not have much in the way of either here. Plus we just got Nigel (07 pure silver MCS w/ black roof and stripes) a month ago and have not had a chance to see his performance. He does extremely well in the rain though!

Anything to worry about? Or that I have to know? I already am coming to the conclusion that my rear wheel drive MB CLK will not be able to survive in such conditions. Oh well, more time with Nigel!

Thanks,
Johnbo

 

<Sarcasim on>

Granted, Rochester gets a touch more snow than N.NJ

<Sarcasim off>

But, if your worried about snow performance, I'd get a spare set of Rims and mount dedicated snows on them for easy swapping...

Obviously, Nigel will not get through deep snow, (deep being more than 7" or so) without playing snow plow (and blocking your radiator up. possibly overheating the engine!)
BUT even with the stock allseason POS, my MCS had no issues on crusty hard-packed plowed-down snow...

(I have purchased a spare set of rims and snows for this year though.)

Generally, the thinner the tire x-section, the better the snow grip, but worse the dry performance... so its a trade off on how small to go... (I've kept the std. size as NJ just does not get that much white fluffly stuff.)

HTH

 

I live in the foothills of the Berkshires in Western MA. We do get fairly deep snow but, perhaps, not as much as you might encounter.

The MINI's traction (with AS tires or dedicated snows, and DSC off) is terrific...as long as the depth of the snow doesn't exceed 4.5 inches or so; that is a bit above the MINIs ground clearance. I have driven in a 7 inch unplowed snow and the MINI kinda tunneled through it.

So, as long as your roads are maintained to no more that 4 inches of accumulated snow and you have all-seasons or (better yet) dedicated snows, you should be alright.

Theo

 

I live in Rochester, if you get stuck I will pull you out with my FJ =)

problem solved

 

My father in law has a huge Dodge w/ a plow. I have made fun of it in the past, but have a sinking feeling I'll be needed it coming up here soon.

I have heard Bliztek (sp?) tires rock on the snow. Anyone roll them? And if so how are they?

SPDinNY: How is Rochester around the year? I have visited many times, but never spent more than a week there at a time.

 

In Rochester there is rarely more than 4 inches of snow on the road. Unless your house is in the country you'll be fine. If you're worried, the snow tires are a good investment to ease your mind. A RWD car is probably a bad choice. Especially if you care about a few dings in it.

 

Fall is the best time.....usually Winter starts for us around late November to early December and tapers off in late April. We dont get dumped on as much as Buffalo and we do get alot of nice days in winter. But there are years we get pounded. Let me know if you need help finding a house or rentals. We hardly get more than a foot of snow but it tends to stick around when it comes.


*edit*

also we dont have summer.. we have hot days with 100% humidity and days with slightly less humidity

 

Blizzak is the snow tire you were thinking of. It's the model made by Bridgestone.

I prefer Nokian Hakkapelitta if you can find them. http://www.nokiantires.com/

 

Thanks all!