I bought my first mini less than a week ago, love driving it. Finding tons of info here on the forum, but thought I'd ask this question.

How many of you have a wheel/tire set up for Nov-Feb and then a set for March-October, where you have 4 seasons. I live in the midwest, nothing consistent in the weather during the winter.

This is a daily driver, all weather car.

 

I took my stock rims and set them up with Blizzaks. Great excuse to use with my wife to get the summer set up I really wanted. Not to mention the MCS is a tank with a dedicated winter set up.

 

Thanks for the info gblazei. That is what I have been thinking about doing with my stock rims. The car came from Connecticut and has Dunlap SP Winter Sport 3D Run Flats on the stock rims.

Great justification on buying a new set of wheels AND tires.

 

In SoCal??

Winter = sunroof closed or maybe in vent mode
Summer = sunroof open all the time

Tires / Wheels? Summer performance all year round

Sorry.....had to do it.

 

That is what I miss the most about living in Carlsbad Ca....weather, the beaches....how I ever ended up back in the Midwest is beyond me

 

We both have winter and summer wheels and tires. I use the DWS Conti all seasons in the winter and the Conti summer tires in the summer.

My wife uses the stock Mini wheels in winter and then has a set of Motegi wheels for summer. I use the stock wheels on my Coupe in the summer and a set of Motegi wheels for winter wear.

It makes it a lot easier. Rather then swap tires on to wheels it's easier to just swap the wheels at home and it saves wear and tear on the tire bead.

 

I live in the mountains of WV, and my MCS is my only vehicle...so it HAS to go in all kinds of weather.

Summer: Optional 17" black web spokes (now with original RFL's, but have a set of Falken Azenis ready to mount as replacements)

Winter: 15" Motegi alloys with Pirelli Winter Carving studded tires

My '10 was ordered with one of the last factory LSD setups.

 

Live up in Massachusetts and have Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3's (16" run flats) on some cheap ($70) rims. Pot holes up here are notorious for bending rims so I kept the R98 Webspokes for the summer rims and run Yokohama S-Drives in 17" for the summer.

 

My car is a first gen, but the concept is the same: Most OE wheels are so cheap, it's hard to argue against getting them. Yes tires are pricey, but the months spent on winter rubber will add to the life of the summer tires, so it kind of evens out. I planned on using 17" wheels on my car when I first bought it, and actually got a set of 2nd gen Crown Spokes in decent shape for $260, with plans to mount snows on my 16." That's not a lot to spend for the convenience of being able to swap back and forth. And extra wheels and tires gives you leverage against a bargaining buyer when it comes time to sell. He/she makes a fair but lower offer, you say yes, but I'm keeping the snows. They either buck up, or you keep them and sell them for the difference.

 

Hello from a fellow rust belt native!

I ran my MINI in two nasty Michigan winters. I miss the driving fun in the winter, but have a different daily driver now. I had Blizzaks on my stock MINI web spoke wheels, and put Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs on my aftermarket wheels. I really enjoyed driving the MINI in the winter because the control you get with winter tires is a big leap in performance over an all-season. Not that an all-season tire is total crap, but after you drive on winter tires you don't want to ever have anything else in the winter. The only problem is everyone else on the road in the rust belt. Almost 75% of the cars in Metro Detroit have bald tires so you you always need to watch your 8ss because of all these jerks. Let's not forget about all those cool cats who are driving their souped up Mustangs and spinning all over the damn place. If it's your daily driver, it is absolutely worth the extra control and safety that's gained.

 

X 3 on the Blizzaks. Get wheel changing studs to help with the semi-annual change out - link in my sig.

And remember you want 6/32" min tread depth for snow. 4/32" min for hydro planing and 2/32" legal. Great article on TireRack.com related to tire depth.

 

I don't drive my MINI when the weather is bad. Snow? I have a 4x4 pickup for that.

Dave

 

My Cooper does better in the snow than my Ram 2500 4x4 (regular AT type "E" rated tires, stock width). No, it doesn't take off from a stop better, but I've never had an issue with my snows and traction control off (just to get rolling).

 

I've had that setup with other cars...intend to do so with my MINI, which is to be #2 of our 4-season cars.

Nokians or Blizzaks will get mounted on the original 16's, and the plan is to get a set of nice 17's with sticky summer tires next spring.

+1 on the wheel changing studs / wheel hangers. It's been a while since I've owned a German(-engineered) car with wheel bolts, not studs. Beats trying to align the wheel and hub holes by holding the tire with your feet "just so" while you try to thread in the bolt.

 

15x5.5 holies with 195/60/15 Michelin Arctic Alpin PA2 snow tires for Nov - March.
16x7 SSR GT1 wheels with (currently) Dunlop SportMaxx 205/50/16 for the rest of the year.
This will be the last year for the tread of those tires, will probably get
Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Specs next spring unless something even better comes out.

 

I just bought my first Mini Clubman S and plan to have a set of snow tires and wheels for it as well. I live in NJ and the winter is not so bad like this past winter but can be unpredictable.

I have the same setup on my BMW X3 for eight years now and its worth it. Although the X3 is All wheel drive and it does quite well with traction but I opted for the time to switch the Winter/Summer wheels-tires for the added security of the braking traction in the snow.

Having the summer tires and wheels for the summer is much more fun as well. All together it has been worth it and I'm still on one set of tires for both winter and summer for the last five years now.

Worth while and much better than on set of all seasons if you have the money and efforts to switch the wheels and tires once a year.

Good luck and let us know which wheels and tires set up you ended up with. I'm starting my process to replace my OEM tires in the next few weeks. The RSC tires are to harsh and noisy.

 

My MINI drives around most 4X4 Trucks that stop on uphill grades for stop signs. I come up behind them stop then when I see all 4 wheels just sitting there spinning, I drove right around them. I yelled at, sworn at, given the finger and a few other unmentionables.

I have had 4X4 vehicles before and well my MINI is much more fun, gets me to the ski mountains regularly, and in have NEVER been stuck in my MINI. Where as as the 4X4 Dodge Pickup would get stuck in my driveway (12 degree grade).

Snow Tires on the MINI make all the difference. NOT All Seasons. Snow Tires.

 

I have complete sets. It's worth it. Winter falls between October & May here.

Pirelli Sottozero for winter & Hankook Ventus Evo V112 for summer. It's a pretty good setup that's not too expensive.

 

Yeah you all just got dumped on from what I see on the news. We got all rain and my brand new Yokohama S-Drives handle great in all that water.

 

Winter tires and summer tires on their own set of wheels is the way to go. I endorse the Pirelli Sottozero Serie II. Great grip on cold wet roads and snow. Not bad in the dry either. Running Dunlop Star Specs as the summer tire and they are great as well.

 

16 inch stock with performace tires for most of the year.
15 inch stock 1st gen wheels I intend to get blizzaks for snow and ice days only.

 

I have lived in New England all my life and have never had a car with snow tires.
I now have a new to me 2007 Mini Cooper s with All Season Yokohama Avid Envirgo tires.
My wife would kill me if I tell her that I need to buy a full set of wheels and tires for the winter months
If I have been comfortable with all season tires in previous cars will I most likely be OK here, or does the lightness of the mini or any other issue make it a must have?

Thanks Dan

 

I have set ups for both. I also use my car for daily driver and found that having a winter setup was great.

What was even better was when I replaced the "all seasons" as a summer tire and went with a true summer tire. Huge difference.

 

When I say I don't drive the MINI in bad weather, I mean that I even avoid driving it in the rain!

I've never gotten stuck in the snow with the 4x4. For fun driving in the snow, I have an old Soviet full time two wheel drive motorcycle with sidecar, nothing stops it!

Dave

 

I just talked to a somewhat local garage who is going to sell me a set of Mini rims and snow tires with a good couple of seasons on them for $500.

I am going to pick them up after work.

What is good is it will give me a spare if I really needed one to get one of my regular tires fixed since I do not have run flats.