So I just got my car on Monday, and it snowed like crazy Monday night. I woke up Tuesday morning, and looked outside to see white everywhere. (I did get about 300 km on it Monday before I put it in the garage for the night.)

I started driving and wow, this car has crappy grip! So I drove it all day and was not happy with it's performance in the snow. It was twitching like crazy and slow off the line and everything. I thought to myself, front wheel drive sucks but I don't remember it being this bad on my other cars.

Then last night I had an empty parking lot around my house so I thought it would be a good time to see how the car acts; really. It sucked! I pulled the e-brake and the car shuddered to a halt. Then I thought, turn off DSC and see how it acts.

Like night and day, the car then behaved how a car should on snow. I know DSC is supposed to limit wheelspin and all, but to suck all the power from the engine, that's not cool. Without DSC I can feel when the grip goes away so then I let up on the gas pedal. I drove to work today without DSC on and I am much happier with the performance of the car.

I learned a valuable lesson in this; when the snow comes down, the DSC goes off.

 

Get real snow tires leave the DSC on and you will be in snow heaven

 

True, but you'd think that the DSC should be preconfigured to work well with the tires that came with the car?

 

Granted the DSC is a bit more intrusive than others, but besides the offensive traction control, it will perform amazingly.

Try this test.........next time it is icy or snowy go to your parking lot and get the car to understeer with the DSC off. Now compare the same thing with the DSC on. You can get the car back under control much sooner and easier than w/o.

When the DSC is on, it negates using the parking brake as a "turning helper".....lol. It won't allow you to lockup the rears.

 

They do work well for tires that come with the car. If the tires are summer tires they work well with those. Summer tires are not made for the snow. There is nothing better than dedicated snow tires for the snow.

 

You sure it isn't the AST that is causing the problem? AST (All Season Traction) is in all MINIs. It cuts the engine and applies front brakes to prevent wheel spin on acceleration.

DSC only comes into play when the car is going a different direction than its wheels are pointed -- drifting.

When you turn DSC off, you also turn AST off.

Did you get LSD? It should help get power to the ground -- reducing intervention from AST.

The stock runflat tires are notorious for being bad on snow.

 

OK fine, could be the AST, because with it on I can barely climb a hill with snow on the ground. Without, I can do it just fine. I have stock all season runflats.

 

Correct.......the traction control will make it difficult to get up a hill. Even the owners manual states that to get best results on snow to turn off the DSC. But this is only a very small portion of the DSC system. Leave it on for the rest of the time.

 

The reason the AST/DSC distinction is important here is that everyone is stuck with AST, but DSC is an option. People reading this thread might decide not to order DSC (which is a very valuable safety option) thinking they would avoid the problems you are having.

Get yourself a nice set of light-weight wheels for summer and have real snow tires put on your stock wheels. You can get a set of 14 lb. 16x7 wheels for $575 shipped, or 16 lb. 17x7 for about $750.

 

I tried to switch the name of the thread but it wouldn't let me. If it's the AST that's the problem, then that's what it is. It's switched off now anyways.

 

Yes the dreaded traction control...........to bad we can't just turn it off.

 

I think I've locked the rear wheels with DSC on. At least it seemed like it as the car 180'ed.

 

When the DSC is on, it negates using the parking brake as a "turning helper".....lol. It won't allow you to lockup the rears.

Not true. DSC has no effect on manual brake.

 

Pulling parking brake will take the traction away from the back tires. DSC will be alarmed and prevent the car from spinning out even if it means shuddering like crazy.

 

Thanks for all the advice on the DSC...will be buying my wife's MINI next fall sometime and was on the fence about whether DSC was a good option for her to include.

A little Off-Thread...but you mentioned that ALL MINIs come with AST. I have a 2006 Cooper, and when I was talking with a dealer about installing some foglights, he asked if I had AST or DSC. I told him I thought AST was standard, and he stated he did not think either were...

Can anyone answer this for sure? :impatient

 

It's standard in the 07 models, know as "Automatic Stability Control". I find it interesting that the owner's manual says turn it off in snow. You'd think you'd be more likely to skid in snow than anywhere else. I'm sort of confused by when you want it and when you don't. I also have never completely understood what the DSC adds that the AST doesn't have. I thought DSC added braking and AST just deals with engine power to the 2 front wheels. I have LSD/AST and I don't get what the difference between them is either. We need a car geek to jump into this thread!

 

AST is a standard feature - your car has it.

I'm curious how you turn off the AST if you didn't get the DSC option. Is there an "AST off" button, or are you stuck with it on all the time?

 

Thanks for confirmation!

I agree...if we don't want to use it in the snow...then how do I turn it off? It's bound to snow sometime soon

 

There's a turnoff button next to the sport button.

 

Isn't AST the standard traction control you see on so many cars? The way that works is that it transfers power away from the front wheel that is spinning to the one that is not. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

you are describing LSD - an option on stick shift Cooper S models.

 

As I understand it (and you can find brief descriptions on miniusa.com)

AST: This has to do with getting power to the ground without spinning wheels. It just affects the drive wheels. When a drive wheel starts to spin, the computer applies the brake to that wheel and/or cuts engine power.

DSC: This is to control the car as it starts to drift. It has nothing to do with getting power to the ground. There are yaw sensors and some sort of directional inertia sensor. When the car is moving in a direction other than where the wheels are pointed, DSC comes into play. It will brake individual wheels to try and get the car going in the direction of the wheels. This is a safety feature that helps you maintain control of the car through a high speed maneuver such as avoiding a deer, pedestrian, Big Foot, or other car. No driver can match exactly what DSC does because we don't have the ability to brake individual wheels, and we don't have the reaction time of computers.

 

The difference between LSD and AST is that LSD actually transfers power to the non-spinning wheel. AST slows the spinning wheel. AST will slow you down. LSD (in theory) allows you to accelerate more efficiently.

 

Any tool used improperly will net less than desirable results. If you know how to use the tool, it's a great asset.

 

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