I have a 09 MCS and live on a hill in Northern CT, so I need snows instead of the all seasons. I know that previous years have had threads about snows but there are some new tires, etc. so I thought I'd ask again.

I am concerned about using the existing wheels and putting tires off and on but between new wheels with TPM the cost of getting a set goes up considerably. Has anyone had trouble with using the stock wheels with snows?

Any thoughts would help.

Thanks,

 

I just ordered some studded Federal ice tires and konig feather 16" wheels n black. Should be here later this week. Really looking forward to the mini in the snow.

 

I just ordered a set of Kosei K1-TS wrapped in Dunlop SP Wintersport M3s from Tirerack. Wheels are 17x7 and tires are 215-45-17. Slightly wider than the stock 205s on my JCW but I've had great luck with this tire on an RX-8 in the past and they don't come in 205. The Kosei wheels are also pretty lightweight and made in Japan so quality is better than most Chinese wheels. Had the same wheels on the RX-8 also... Too bad I sold them when I got rid of the car, but the tires would have been too big anyway.

 

I ordered the Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 ZP today in OEM 16" size off tirerack. I'm going to mount them on the stock wheels and then get 17" wheels for summer.

An extra set of wheels will ussually pay for itself if you are handy with a jack and tire iron.

 

getting some stock 16's and putting the smallest tires i can put on them.

 

I have some OEM 15's from a regular Cooper and will be mounting 185/65/15 General Altimax Arctic (not studded) on them. Good tire for those on a budget. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Altimax+Arctic

 

Check the fit first... I have read that 15's won't fit on the "S" because the brake calipers rub.

I used a set of 15" steelies with 195/65/15 Goodyear snows on my (non-S) '08 Cooper last winter. Great setup for our Canadian snow-and-slush-covered winter roads. All the electronic traction gadgets are a great help in foul weather driving too; those and the snow tires make the MINI into winter driving machine.

You won't regret the extra expense of separate wheels and tires for winter, worth every penny to me. Saves wear and tear on your "summer" wheels & tires, too.



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There are 15"s that fit the Cooper S, you just need to find one with proper spoke clearance. Rota slipstreams will fit, as will the Kosei's.

 

I've got a 2004 MCS (first gen), and the 15" clear the stock brakes just fine. But you are correct for those that have a second gen S and needing to find the right 15" to clear the brakes. I've been running an OEM 15" for the past two winters, but using stock all season Continentals that came with the regular Cooper. Now that those are worn out, I'm making the switch to a winter tire. Pic of my car wearing the 15" Mini wheels that I custom painted:

 

I am running the General Altimax Arctic in 205 55 16 on Sport Edition F7 wheels. Will wait another 3 weeks before I put them on the car.

 

Tirerack has some winter tire/wheel specials for under 900 (before shipping). It's a sticky in the wheel/tire section. Also, I went ahead and got a 2nd set of tpms sensors to keep permanent in both sets of wheel/tires and those are under 200 (before shipping). It is expensive and we are not made of money, but my wife and I discussed it and both feel it should pay for itself over the several years they should last.
I didn't get the tirerack deal because I saw it too late after I ordered some BMW/MINI steelies and blizzacks from another company, but did get the tpms from TireRack. Alex was great to work with!

Just found out that the tpms does NOT fit in these wheels....have to wait till Monday to find out what can be done.

 

What solution for winter wheels/tires on the 2009 JCW? I had four snows on my 2006 MCS, but I don't think that those will fit over the big Brembo brakes.

Thanks!

 

I'm considering Pirelli Winter 190 Snowcontrol Serie II's for my car, I'm going to be mounting them on the OEM 15's. Any thoughts on them? It's between those and the Continental ExtremeWinterContact's.

Also can I run the tires without tire pressure sensors or will it throw a code on my dash? I don't want to put up with a low tire light all winter and I don't really want to shell out hundreds of bucks on new sensors.

 

Hello, those who found steelies, where did you get them from? These are for our 09' non-S Clubman.

 

03 coop S. Just bought a seperate set of 15" steelies and Nitto Winter SN2 Tires, we will se how they go. This will be my first driving in the winter in the mini. Just installed lowering kit a couple months back too... so we will have to see.

 

This will be my first winter with the Mini. NJ gets the full spectrum of winter conditions, Snow, slush, ice, rain, and pot holes. I just got, from Tire Rack, 195/55-16 Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3 ZP run flats ($99) with MSW Type 15 rims ($94). for all the corners. $850 for everything mounted balanced and delivered. My OEM 17's are getting thin and I wanted a narrower foot print with taller side walls. If I do munch a rim in a killer pothole it's only $94 to replace it. Now if only I can figure out how to mount skis on the cabio I'll be set. My next job is to stack the summer 2 wheel toys, mowers, etc. and find room for the Mini in the garage.

 

Had Discount Tire install 185/55/15 Hankook Winter iPike W409's tonight. They are pretty aggressive but based on all the reviews I've read they are pretty awesome tires. They are typically compared to the Hakkapeliitta's, or at least as far as I can tell.

So far they ride nicely and aren't overly loud, although they do start to sing at about 50mph. Tread squirm isn't that bad either, which surprised me. I guess I was expecting the worse. The only thing I have against them is that the look like truck tires, but kind of cool truck tires never the less. Oh well, now I wait for it to snow.

 

15" steel wheels for an '03 Honda Civic fit my '08 Cooper (non-S) just fine. You can get them almost anywhere - I bought mine @ Canadian Tire. They're just generic steel rims, anywhere that sells wheels should be able to get them. They are inexpensive, too. Paired with a set of 195-65-15 Goodyear winter tires, they're perfect for our foul Canadian winter weather.



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You can also try the classified here for some OEM 15" MINI wheels. A little nicer looking than steel, and typically about the same price (sometimes even with some fair tires).

 

This is actually a pretty big issue. Wheels smaller than 17" won't clear the rotors, and you need wheels with lots of offset to clear the calipers. So you can't use steelies, and you're looking at a $400+ purchase if you buy new.

Then there's the issue of the TPMS - since a donut spare won't fit on the front wheels, you kinda need runflats unless you want to risk being stuck somewhere waiting for a tow truck if you get a flat tire. And if you don't want to be checking your tire pressure manually twice a day to make sure you don't have a flat, add another $200 for the TPMS.

So, unless you find a good used set of wheels that'll fit, you're looking at $600 PLUS the cost of tires.

 

MOMO makes a set of winter wheels which are fairly inexpensive, about $110 a wheel. If that's too expensive Discount Tire sells MB wheels in 17" size for about $87 a rim. If you get a package they will typically knock some off the price. I think that's the cheapest you are going to find new.

I have MB Mesh X's for my summer rims and they are great rims, I wouldn't worry about quality for something that cheap either. The standard TPMS fit in the MB wheels too, I just had mine swapped out when I got my tires on last night.

 

I'm very happy with the 17x7 Borbet LV4 Anthracite wheels with 205/45R-17 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 RFT Runflat's that I put on my 2009 JCW clubman. Added the TPMS for an extra $164 as well. Alex and the Tirerack were great as always.

 

I'm going with 15" snows. Owner's manual shows 15' wheel with 175/65 tires. Alex's (Tire Rack) post of sample sets lists 185/65. We would drive our 09' Clubman (non-S) mostly locally but with a few ski trips (3-4 hrs. drive). What do you think about the trade-off from gaining a little bit of ground clearance but filling up the wheel well? I think the ground clearance is more important but thought I'd throw the question out there.

Arthur

 

Recently had a set of Hankook Icebear W300 mounted to the OEM S-Winders. Stock size 195/55R16, non-runflats.
So far I like, reasonably quiet on the highway (quieter than RE-01R in summer) and they got me home from work last night after 8" of snow...

 

Nothing wrong with 185/65/15 snows. That is what I run, but at the time I bought them that was the narrowest tire I could find. All things being equal that 175 might be marginally better, but I seriously doubt I could tell the difference between the two sizes.