I know not everyone here's going to have experience with the DC area's "winter", but generally it's pretty mild with mostly rain, sometimes light snow and occasionally something resembling normal winter weather for where I grew up (NW PA).

That being said, I have a tentative plan to get my Mini in a couple months (spring-ish) with the stock 16" and All Weather tires. Those would then come off in favor of some summer tires and 17" wheels.

The question I have, and hopefully someone can weigh in on, is would the stock All Weather's be sufficient winter tires? Obviously not critical this winter, but I've taken to planning to fill out the time between now and when I order

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!

 

they're fine as long as the temperature stays in the mid to high 40s.

in canada, they recommend going to a winter compound at ~ 7C (45F)
and have started calling all-season tires , three season tires.

 

45F? Well that sucks; is that the experience with all "All Weather" or specific brands/models?

I couldn't find much about low temperatures for most of the tires over at Tire Rack (you prompted me to figure out the Tire Rack site, sizing info, etc. - slow day at work, heh ). The chart for the stock Mini S tires seems to indicate excellent light snow traction (the light green color), but I don't know how that translates for real-world driving experience.

 

from the reading i've done while researching new winter tires,
in the mid 40's, the tire compound for all seasons gets harder
and gives up a significant amount of grip.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/winter...-x-ice-xi2.php

me, personally, i put them on since the alternate routes out of my neighborhood turn into hilly skating rinks whenever it snows.

the house at the bottom of my hill always has a few vehicles
end up in its yard since the vehicles w/ poor tires slide right
through the stop sign, across the street, and stop on the grass.

 

I've had 3 cars since moving to Nebraska. All had all-season tires. One was an awd, one a fwd and my current rwd. All 3 had 18" tires. Currently I'm running all-season Michelins on my Lexus IS350. I have driven when the temperature is -9 with light snow on the ground. While I have been OK I do have an SUV for really bad days with deep snow or ice.

I agree with those that have gone to winter tires. They do make a difference and improve handling and braking. With that said I do think you will be OK even on really cold days unless you have ice or heavy snow fall.

Obvioulsy there is no substitution for winter tires. What do others you know at work with fwd do in the winter? Talk to them. I suspect many don't have dedicated winter tires.

 

that's why dc becomes paralyzed at the hint of snow.
lots of transients who never learned to drive in winter conditions
and who aren't prepared w/ the right gear.

 

I suspect you're right, but more because they don't even know what tires are on their car let alone whether they are summer, all season or winter

I agree with lcubed that a lot of the winter driving problems in and around DC are due to lack of knowledge (coupled with lack of road clearing/conditioning capacity by the gov't). I was hoping (am hoping? heh) to find some AS tires that are competent in DC winters without being full-on winter tires. It just seems like driving around on winter tires through Nov - Feb/Mar would be little benefit for lots of wear on the tire.

In any case, I'd rather protect myself and my car so it seems like next fall I'll be looking for a compromise winter tire.

 

The only all seasons I would put on my car for winter driving are Nokian Wr's or the newer WRg2's. I run WR's on my MINI in size 225/45/17 which are way to wide to as well as dedicated snow tires would in the snow, however the rubber compound in them is excellent in low temperatures, they feel just as good in the teens as the do in the 60's. I know Nabeshin can weigh in on the WRg2's.

So, if you were to size them sanely (say 205/45/17) you probably do well. We usually leave our SUV's in 2wd, and both our old GMC suburban and jeep liberty do wonderfully with them.

 

45F! That's a pretty warm winter! We even get below that here on the temperate coast of CA.

 

Yeah, I was pretty surprised but then ended up finding another site citing what were probably the same Canadian tests.

I mean, I think I'd be fine with some traction loss from 45 to 30 if I could see how much loss there would be. Quebec mandated winter tires, but then again, Quebec has real winters so that could just be to get the people who were trying to use AS tires in deep snow.

 

Cool, I will definitely take a look at the Nokian's next winter (I've heard that brand name bounced around a lot here). It looks like they've got the WGR2 in 205/40R16 which appears to fit the stock wheel and is only off by ~1.5% for the speedometer/odometer.

 

that size doesn't look right.

i just replaced both my summer and winter tires in the last few weeks
and both sets were 205/50R16.

don't forget if you're driving at night, it's likely to be colder than
the daytime high of 40F

 

Yeah, mis-type - meant 205/50R16 (stupid 4 and 5 being so close together! heheh)

 

You should be fine with the stock all seasons. I live in Southeastern PA and we get a moderate amount of snow and ice. My back end slid a teeny bit turning once.....and that was it. With a DC winter, they should be perfectly fine!

 

Love Nokians. Had WRs on my Audi TT FWD years ago and had no trouble. Ran them all year. Think they are the only all season with winter symbol. Just put the new WRG2s on our Lexus RX. Looking forward to driving them in the snow. Get that chance Wednesday morning.

 

I've been in NoVa for 20 years now after moving from NH and run all seasons. Never had a problem and I have a 45 mile drive from west of Warenton to Reston snow or not.

 

I'm also in DC area and run Michelin Pilot Exalto's in 205 55 16 year round. I bought a set of Conti winter tires for an extra set of 15" wheels and never put them on. The Michelins look great, handle wet and light snowy roads great (our main winter issue) and with the 55 sidewall height are better riding. Every time I buy a cheaper tire I'm disappointed and always go back to Michelins. Check out Costco.

 

I'm in Toronto and use a set of the stock all seasons for my winter tires. They are ok on wet roads. Not so good in the snow , but thats why we have snow plows

 

Thanks for the impressions of the stock all seasons Seems like I'll have a bunch of choices when winter rolls around next year.

 

I've had my MINI for 3 winters now in Minnesota and have used stock Conti All Season's year round. Forget about that 40 degree nonsense, they will do fine even in real winter cold (see attached tach temp reading pic)! [Browse my Gallery to see the All Season's in action]

That said, I just got a set of Blizzak WS-60's. Mind you they were back-ordered since September 1st, but I hung in there and they were mounted several hours ago as the first significant dumping of snow greeted our rush hour traffic.

Got to tell you it handled like a cat with sneakers! My MINI always handled well in snow, but this was an amazing ride home! Snow, sleet, ice, and wind-you name it. There was a sense of confidence that the MINI would plow through and maintain traction like nobody's business.

Now I keep a separate set of All Season Conti's on white 15" holies for milder weather, and my new set of Blizzak's for the fun months (on matching white holies, of course).

Now if we get dealt 8 inches or more, all bets are off, 'cos no MINI is going out there until the plows have gotten the main roads. But now the real fun is getting to the main roads! Motor on.

 

You'll be fine. I used many an all season tire through NY winters including drives up to VT to go snow boarding.