So with todays snow, I was wondering is now a good time to put on the snow tires? never had snow tires so I have no idea when is good.

 

A good time is when temps start dipping under 40. Even if you don't have snow, performance summer tires start to loose their grip very quickly with sub-40 temps as the soft compound hardens.

 

for the last 25 or so years I make it a habit of putting them on the week after Thanksgiving.
I have to say with the snow today I was almost ready to put them on tonight, but it is going to warm up later in the week, so i will hold off on them for another 3 weeks

 

thanks, i will wait a few weeks as well. the weather is supposed to get better by the end of the week, i freaked out yesterday when i opened the door and saw a blizzard.

 

Just wondering, since this will be the first winter I go through with my Mini.....are snow tires imperative? How terrible does the car handle in snow?

 

anybody have any recommendations for winter tires?

 

I used my 07 MCc most of the winter, handles better than my truck, and used the tires that came with it, all season, and didn't have any trouble.

 

General Altimax Arctic are excellent and a decent price. Look on Tirerack for them. I pickd up a full set of 4 with some nice wheels over the summer so i am ready to go.

www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Altimax+Arcti c

 

this is my first winter in the mini as well, and first time i ever bought winter tires for a car. from what i hear on this forum, its not necessary but it really does help. i bought my set from the marketplace here. used rims and bridgestone blizzaks for 400. i hear the blizzaks are really good. they are not cheap though. also check out discounttiredirect.com prices are good and free shipping. i use them now instead of tirerack. w free shipping it usually comes out cheaper.

 

in the jersey area, unless your area/route is not frequently cleared/salted/sanded, the studless ice/snow may be too soft for the normal slush we get. there is a blizzak variant for the slush and higher speed rating.

this week may be a good time to get them snow tires on.

 

like i said, i have no experience with snow tires. so let me ask what you think? The goal is to not drive the car much in the snow/slush/ice. only drive when have to and when i get to my car after work and all of a sudden theres 3 inches of snow on the ground. In my area, around new brunswick, it usually takes a while to plow the side streets and 287 is always a nightmare. not that im plannin on buying another set, but just wanted to know for future ref. also, plannin on puttin them on friday after thanksgiving,

 

I'm a noob here and I'm also a noob to giving a toss about any car.

So I do not understand why anyone would want anything but all season tires. What is the point of going back to old school 1970s automobile technology and having seperate tires for summer and winter.

Obviously there is a very good reason why ppl still want to do this, I just do not understand the purpose. I'm thinking there must be an advantage to having two sets of tires instead of all seasons otherwise no one would put up with the extra cost and labor involved with buying extra tires and having them switched every season.

 

I live in the Chicago area, and mounted my snow tires on Saturday (11/22). Temperatures are falling. It's now consistently at or below freezing, and we've had some light flurries (though nothing has stuck so far). Traditionally, I've mouted snows at Thanksgiving so I'm a week or so early this year, I guess.

Waiting for serious snow to fall to mount them is a bad idea for 3 reasons: you then can't drive until they're mounted (especially if you run performance summer rubber like me - Michelin Pilot PE2's), it's as cold and miserable as can be making mounting a bigger hassle, and sometimes you discover flats, etc further delaying driving and making mounting even more trouble.

As for a recommendation, I bought a set of four Blizzak LM-25 snows when I got the 07 Mini S last year so I've been through a winter with them. They are the best winter tires I've ever had (and I've had many sets). They have excellent snow and dry handling. They are also not noisy.

You should mount your winter tires on dedicated wheels rather than remounting sets of summer and winter tires every year which gets expensive quickly. I mounted my snows on my Mini's 17" factory wheels, and bought aftermarket 16" wheels I like better for my PE2's.

Snows cost very little when you remember that you are not runnning your summer tires which extends their lives mile-for-mile. Also, snows make the car much more fun to drive, and also much safer.

I also suggest that you take the opportunity to ditch the run-flats (really awful tires!!), and consider 16" wheels at least for your 3 season tires. I did both, love the ride, and still love the handling.

Hope this helps.

 

All season tires are a compromise. They are adequate for summer use and adequate for winter use, but not the best for either. If you want the best performance in summer (i.e. highest level of grip) you need dedicated ultra performance summer tires. However, they have tread patterns and compound that do not work for winter. They don't grip at all in snow, and when the compound reaches freezing temps it gets too hard and looses grip very quickly, even without snow.

Those who want the best performance out of the car keep dedicated sets of winter and summer tires. Tires can make all the difference.

 

[I'm a noob here and I'm also a noob to giving a toss about any car.

So I do not understand why anyone would want anything but all season tires. What is the point of going back to old school 1970s automobile technology and having seperate tires for summer and winter.

Obviously there is a very good reason why ppl still want to do this, I just do not understand the purpose. I'm thinking there must be an advantage to having two sets of tires instead of all seasons otherwise no one would put up with the extra cost and labor involved with buying extra tires and having them switched every season.[/quote]


There are many reason why people use snow tires, most are already listed here. Alot also has to do with were you live, how much you drive and when you drive.
As it has ben stated here, all season tires are nothing but a compromise, if you get caught in some light snow, or travel roads that are plowed in a timely manor,(NOT NY OR NJ ) then maybe you will do fine with all seasons.
For me, I wont take the risk, all my cars have 4 snows, each car also being different has a different brand on it as they all handle different and are used for different reasons. My Mini gets me back and forth to work almost a 100 miles a day, as I said earlier I report to work most days at 230 AM, and if it snows the roads are not always plowed at that hour, worse is my house is 1000 feet above sea level, with a steep climb into the driveway. So for me there is No choice, I have to get to work ad have to get home, so the cars are set up for whatever mother nature throws at me. I am not one who likes the snow or ice, having worked in Alasaka I have seen more then enough of it. But at least I feel if we get it, I am ready for it.
If you watch some of the tirerack videos you will see the difference from a snow tire to an all season, you save 1 accident or 1 tow and the tires have paid for themselves.

 

I want to thank everyone for their imput on this subject. I am going to buy a MCS in the first week of december and my main concern has been will the mini handle winter and what will help it serve me and I serve it better. I truely appreicate all the imput and suggestions.

 

Thanks JRoca and Racetripper.

Some more questions:
How do you deal with the extra set of tires when they are not in use? Do you have the tire change done at a mini dealer or do you do it yourself with jacks?

 

the blizzak lm-25's are more than up to the task. and so are the ws's, esp for ski country.

Like anything else, you'll have to store them. large garbage bags work well. I just stack 'em in the corner. The tire swap can even be done with the scissor jack, with a jack stand helping, one side at a time. One important thing to get is a torque wrench (rated 10 to 160 ft-lbs or so) for final tightening at 88 ft-lbs (higher for the r56). Tirerack and harbor freight have inexpensive ones that are just fine for wheel mounting. Plus you can get a big breaker bar from them as well. and a 17mm deep socket.

Your Mini dealership may offer the bennie of free mounting each season if you buy the winter tires through them. Mo'town MINI was doing this a few years back.

 

For now I'm just running all-seasons. I will probably get another set of wheels later for track use.

I had separate summer/winter tires on my M3, but I had dedicated rims for each. The ones not in current use were stored stacked up in my basement. I have a Sears floor jack that I use for exchanging wheels. I'll use that now to rotate my tires.

 

Not for my Mini but I have something similar to these for storing my wheels/tires.

http://www.tirerack.com/accessories/detail.jsp?ID=62

 

All my tires are mounted on there own rims, so I can do my own tire changes , the Mini only takes about 30 Minutes in the garage to change the wheels. It is well worth the extra money up front to have the wheels mounted, you save it in the long run, and also save your good wheels for the nicer weather. As far as storage, I keep all my tires either in the Garage or in the basement, it is cool, dry and little sunlight. I think I have about 20 tires right now, they do tend to take up room, but that is not really an issue for me right.

 

Just wanted to update. I switched out my rims and tires this saturday. Put the winter tires on right on time too. Put them on Saturday afternoon and it started snowing saturday night!!! It was much easier than I expected.

I noticed some white grease on the the ring in the middle. I think its called a centering ring? There was still some on their, I didnt put anymore on. Does anyone know if its an issue?

Also, I bought the rims and tires used from someone, should I have rebalanced the tires and what about an alignment?

Thanks

 

You do not need to realign the car because you change wheels/tires.

Balancing is a function of the wheel and tire, not the car. If they aren't correct for you, they weren't correct before either. If you feel vibrations while driving that could be a clue that the wheel balancing is not ideal.

 

thanks race tripper.