Well, Marshmallows First winter is coming up!

I have little experience and would love soem suggestions as to what brnad/type of winter tires would be best for winter weather in ALBERTA!

Seems liek 15" steel rims would make sense. but as for tires i have no clue.
i also have no idea where to go about finding steel rims or tires for my mini.

 

I'm interested too!

I think there are many suggestions for 15" and 16" options in the Tire and Wheel forum.

At the risk of hijacking, I'm planning on putting on 17" winter rubber on my "Pace" wheels. If I stick with the stock size and run flats (so I don't have to mess with frozen lugs in the middle of January), my choices are limited to two tires:

The Pirelli Winter SnowSport 240 and Bridgstone Blizzak LM-25.

I'm curious if we have some usage comparisons out there from Canadian owners...

 

Now that there appears to be an "official" MINI Club in Calgary, hopefully, they can hook up with a tire dealer as a sponsor. Here in Vancouver, one of our sponsors offers aluminum wheels for not much different a price than steelies. I have 15" wheels with Nexen snowtires (read inexpensive, but works great). Total cost for tires and wheels all around was under $500. Also, if you must get runflats from your local MINI dealer, you might be able to talk them into a club discount for winter snow packages.

A picture of my car with snowtires on is here.

Good luck...

 

I'm looking at getting some winter tires and wheels as well for the Mini. I've decided I will go with 15" tires/wheels but I'm not sure as to the exact size of the tires. The Blizzaks are on the top my list. Can anyone suggest either the 195/60/15 or 185/65/15 size? I'm located in Edmonton so we usually have more icy roads than a lot of snow.

I think I'll get the Borbet LS wheels too. Here's a pic of what the wheels look like on the car.

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/MiniW...dClar=&sw=1280

 

For snow and ice, the narrower the better. But the difference between 195 and 185 isn't really all that much. For most barely above average drivers, we probably won't notice the difference.

 

I am too in the market for winter wheels and tires. I went to my "tire guy" yesterday. I have 17 in the summer (205-45R17 run flats). He doesn't recommend going down to 15s. And if you have a S, you can't go to 15s, because of the size of the brake calipers. He can't find any 16 in wheels to use with this car. Only alu wheels (from Mini...). As for RF tires, there is Nokian HK5 @ 250$. (195-55R16) And maybe some more.

So I went to my Mini dealer. They have 2 packages.

1. 15 in Pirelli, steel wheels and hubcaps for 880$ (plus taxes - not run flats)

2. 16 in Dunlops, R90 alu wheels for 2028$ (run flats + taxes)

He also says that 16 in steel wheels are not available from Mini and he couldn't find any anywhere else.

Thats a LOT of money for winter tires...

 

Check out this thread.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=151265

 

I've been talking with Alex from Tire Rack and he says that 15" are fine on a Cooper S. Tire Rack has a lot of selection for wheels in the 15" and 16" sizes. Now I'm nervous about ordering 15" wheels if your tire guy is right. I'll double check with Tire Rack to confirm.

 

If you have an R56 MCS, then you may have to stick with 16" wheels unless you can find a 15" wheel with the proper offset to fit around your brake calipers. That was not a problem with R53 MCS's.

Going to your MINI dealer is going to be pricey. Check out some of tire shops where you are. OK Tires sometimes has special pricing for members of clubs. A couple of years ago, I picked up 15" alloys and offbrand snowtires, which were explained to me as OEM Michelins for $600 all around balanced and installed. The alloys themselves were priced at less than the price of steelies from the dealer. So it is not necessary to get tires from your MINI dealer. If you buy 4 tires and wheels, some discounting also can take place. Negotiate a bit.

Also, I need to chime in some kudos to Alex at TireRack. He's been a great resource of information.


BTW, come spring, going from snowtires back to summer high performance tires is going to be a bit of a shock. The snowtires ride a lot smoother and quieter at the expense of warm dry weather cornering ability.

 

I believe the OP's Cooper is an R56, therefore 15" are fine to use with stock brakes.
Best bet is either the dealer's 15" steel wheel & tire package, which is not badly priced (especially compared to the 16" alloy set), or buy nearly new 15" Rotator or Spooler wheels from a fellow NAMer, and fit them with locally purchased winter tires.
If locally sourced winter tires, the OEM 175/65R15 is as scarce as hen's teeth, as the saying goes. I had better luck with a 185/60R15 from Toyo a few years back and they are good, and not quite as tall as a 185/65R15.

 

I am also sourcing some winter tires for my 2008 Cooper S and I got a quote from Fastech Tires. They are quoting 205/45-17 Blizaaks for $259 and +/- $150 for alloy rims. Tires will be mounted and balanced.

They were not sure about the tire pressure monitoring system and how to set that up for the vehicle. What are you guys/ladies doing if you purchase from an independent tire dealer?

 

Hey drtdvl - I got my LM-25s from TireRack for much less. I already have winter rims though. Might still be worth checking out. Ask around for Alex - he's a great help!!

Nothing to worry about with TPMS - in Canada (I assume you're from Canada if you're in this forum?) we have a passive system that does not have a sensor within the wheel itself. So change away...!

 

Ordered tires from Alex at Tire Rack. Went with 16" Dunlop Wintersports and rims. Apparently, I needed tire pressure sensors for my car.

Everything is backordered and likely will not receive anything until end of October or early November.

 

Got Micheline 205/45/17 for 985$ all included.

I will use the mini's original white rims for the winter and buy myself some brand new rims next summer

 

so tirerack was looking like a good idea, but ordering them ther and havign them shiped would have cost as much as a tire package from mini/bmw so i just went with the relatively More local soloution....

UNTIL the clowns in Edmonton LOST THEM!!!

they call me " your tires are in come get em installed"

drive half way acros the province to have them tell me they cant find them.
5 weeks later they still cant get me the tires i paid for over a 2 months ago.
they refuse any replacment,but a $100 discount on what they have in stock. Same tires same rims, only 16's instead of 15's and they are $800 more. $700 more after the 100 off cause they are dumb.

I'v given up on winter tires. i have not had a problem driving safely thus far. maybee next year....

Mini Edmonton has lost a customer.
Ill enjoy the drive to calgary, or thru the mountains to somewhere in BC if i have to...

Heck if all car dealerships are like mini/bmw edmonton, i will never buy a car again in my life.
Ever.

 

Oh, that really sucks. I bet they sold your tires to somebody else (probably for more money). MINI dealers are also expensive. You should just go to an aftermarket tire dealer. They're about half the price...and for alloy wheels instead of steelies too. My entire set of wheels and tires was under $700 (including taxes, mounting & balancing etc). Just remember if you get aftermarket wheels, you need to get hubrings.

As for my own experience, all seasons will probably get you by, but your handling and stopping is compromised in cold weather. My snowtires have paid for themselves in saving me from a number of possible accidents from the other guys out there. There was one incident where I could have been involved in a headon from a car that had locked all 4 wheels sliding downhill towards me. I was able to stop, reverse out of its way, then continue on uphill after the other car had slid past the front of my car. I highly doubt all seasons would have allowed me to stop and reverse and then continue on uphill in the time and distance required for such a manuever.

 

Maybe try a nearly new set of wheels on the NAM marketplace, and then take the wheels to a good tire shop for winters.
Bad news about the Edmonton MINI dealership fiasco... tell me I'm not crazy for planning to order a new R56 from them in January...

 

If the Edmonton dealer isn't giving you any satisfaction it's a short drive down south to Calgary and you can come to one of our runs this summer while your down.

 

I've had really poor service from Edmonton BMW as well. I'm in the process of drafting a letter to the general manager, service manager and to BMW Canada outlining my experience so I'd suggest staying away from them for anything.

For tires, I got mine from tirerack.com back when the Canadian $ was a lot stronger. It's definitely not as attractive to order from the US anymore. But for a more local source, check out Urban Expressions in Calgary. I got a set of winter tires and wheels for my girlfriend's Impreza. Bob at Urban Expressions gave me a very competitive price and provided great service. Here's the phone number and e-mail:

[SIZE=2]Bob@urbanexp.ca

403.769.1771

I was in Calgary this past week and couldn't believe how much snow there is there compared to Edmonton. Have any of you had difficulty drivng your Mini in the deep snow?
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Hi,

I had a package deal all setup to buy the dealership in Calgary, but by the time I actually said yes install them, someone else scooped me. Oh well, my fault for taking so long to make up my mind. In the end I bought them from tirerack.com, and even with our poor exchange rate and shipping charges, it was $500 less then the dealership. Granted the rims are not quite as nice, but I actually quite like them.

There is a ton of snow in Calgary this year, and with the winter tires, I have had no issue getting around. Before winter tires, yes I had lots of trouble...

Before this year, I had been a 'all seasons are good enough' sort of guy, but not this year. The all seasons just wouldn't cut it at all.

BTW I got a set of Dunlop Winter Sport 3D ROF on a set of 16" rims, and so far so good.

 

I have the same Dunlop 3D on 16'' rims. Not very impressed. I have been using Nokian tyres for over 10 years. These Dunlops are a step down. Oh well, you learn :-)