I bought my daughter a 2004 Mini S -John Cooper edition and am looking at getting a set of winter tires with new wheels for it because she will need to get to work and school when it snows.
They do a good job clearing the roads here but there are times she will have go out before they plow or sand.

Should I get four snow tires or just the fronts?
Does it make sense to get slightly narrower tires to make it easier to drive through deep snow?
Where is the best place to get replacement wheels? ( Sometimes I can find wheels from other cars that fit for less money - what fit?)
I usually get tires from TireRack - what tires do you suggest?

What is your experience??

 

whatever you choose definitively get all 4. I am looking at doing the same. there are many threads in here regarding snow tires and have found that runflats are most recommended no matter the brand.

 

Must get all four.

I ran Nokian Hakkapeliitta on my 325i (amazing winter tires), Michelin on my Civic Si, and something else (can't remember) on my 2wd Silverado. All worked well, but I am an experienced and confident snow driver, especially with RWD. By the way, I had all of them mounted on black steelies, just my preference.

I haven't decided what to put on my Clubman, if anything.

 

Get all four.

Might want to check these out:
http://nh.craigslist.org/pts/4059828302.html
http://nh.craigslist.org/pts/4038094887.html
No relation to sellers at all, just found them as I wander CL for parts myself...The first ad is for a set of tires on 15" rims, not sure 15" would fit a JCW, maybe someone can chime in. Doubt they will.

 

After 10 years of snowboard instructing and living in Vermont and the Sierra Nevada mountains I would say I have a pretty good opinion on this.

As everyone else said, Get 4 tires. Don't ever just put 2 on your car.

I always preferred to go with studded tires myself since the ice traction is night and day, especially during the notorious freeze/thaw conditions of the northeast that can dust over ice that had thawed and frozen the day/night before.

Studless snow tires are good most of the time but IMHO the studs are the best option especially if you plan on changing the tires come spring again.

 

I must disagree about the studded tires. Aside from damaging roads, the experts warn that they only are beneficial on ice and before the studs have worn; on snow or clear roads they actually perform at lower levels than a standard snow tire.

 

get 4 and get them narrow, narrow is the best for snow driving. i have a set of black steel rims with 175 on them. they arnt snow tires just some cheap worn out all seasons, and i made last winter my bi*ch, no problems at all. bought some chains too but didnt need them.

 

Get all 4...doing otherwise is VERY dangerous....makes the car VERY EASY to SPIN..then wreck, and maybe DIE.
With modern rubber, studds are usually not needed....
modern snowtires can grip ice so good folks actually RACE on frozen lakes..NO STUDS!

Now the down and dirty...
If you plan on using a REGULAR rubber all season tire...go narrower...(lets the tire slice through the snow...and not ride up on top...but with little traction, getting moving/stopped can be an issue)
BUT...
For a modern snow tire, made with special rubber (multicellular), a tire that is wide as your regular tire is a good choice...more surface more grip...this is especially apparent on ice or frozen slush....
A true, modern snowtire grips better in the cold....even on ICE...
I have a set on my MINI...makes the car AMAZING in the snow....

 

PS
What part of NH?
Down near the MA boarder, a good set of all-seasons would be fine (NOT the UHP tires that most MINI's run on, but a true all-season/touring tire).
I live in southern NH, and snow tires are more of a luxury than a necessity.....
Just keep in mind....with snows, they get GREASY/SLICK on warm days...and wear fast in warm weather....so for some folks, they are not ideal....

 

Get as many snow tires as you expect to be on snow.

 

Nokian Hakks's all the way.

btw the Bridgestone Blizzik is clone tech off the Nokian. Go with the original. By Nokian. Go studded if she gets ice in the area she lives.

 

The Bridgestone may be a clone, but they work fantastic and are less expensive. Go with the WS60s in a 195-55x16 and you won't go wrong. These are studless ice and snow tires that we run on our Justa. Or go with the LM-60 RFTs which I run on my MCS. I am in Upstate NY and ski in Northern VT and have driven through a ton of crap with these with a very high level of confidence. Both of these tires ride nice and are quiet (for a snow).

BTW - NEVER run just snows on the front. The back of the car controls the stability of the car. Plain street tires have less traction than the snows and with them on the back and snows on the front you will find the car swapping ends with the slightest provocation.

 

I'm a bit biased, ran General Altimax Artic on my beaters for the last 4 years, not that expensive and good for both snow and ice. Pretty much everyone said it, buy a set of 4.

I've lost control on the highway with my Terc'hell 2 years ago (6am in the morning, so I was alone), because I tried to be cheap and go thru the winter with only two new tires up front and two old ones in the back (not the same brand and near the thread limit for a winter). And it's wasn't due to a lack of experience in the snow... So yeah, don't be cheap :p

 

The big, yearly Scandinavian tire tests (such as the ones on naf.no) show that in the studless category, Nokians are really no better than Bridgestone, Michelin, etc. Not worth the significant price difference IMO.

2010: https://www.naf.no/forbrukertester/d...piggfrie-dekk/
2011: https://www.naf.no/forbrukertester/d...piggfrie-dekk/
2012: https://www.naf.no/forbrukertester/d...piggfrie-dekk/

In summary, the same few tires all take turns in different rankings. Says to me they are pretty much all equal.

As for width, Continental now claims that wider winter tires are best, for everything except deep snow.

http://www.continental-tires.com/www..._winter_en.doc

http://www.continental-tires.com/www...ide_tires.html

 

Nokians arent always as expensive as people lay them out to be. Its like saying the Mini is going to cost three times as much as a chevy to fix because it is a BMW product. Or the same goes for Mercedes. To tell the truth I run either Nokian or the Blizzak depending on what I end up getting first. Either tire works just as well but Ive had better longevity and performance from the Nokians then the Blizzaks. Bridgestone owns stock in Nokian. Gislaved is another decent tire but I have never driving on them so have no opinion other then Ive heard they are a good winter only tire.

The Hakka 1's studded were on my subaru and were driven off road on trails to ranch houses. So we are talking muddy, slush, icy slushy mud snow, etc in the winter.... they performed well and never stopped. Good traction all around and thats why I am completely sold on the Nokians and not the Blizzaks. Because Ive been stuck in the front of my house in the blizzaks and had to switch cars only to drive away in the car with the nokians. My mercedes diesel had blizzaks too as was stuck in the driveway one season while my wifes tdi Jetta with Nokians left with no issues.

 

I honestly haven't shopped Nokians is a while. But about 10 years ago I found only a few places in Minneapolis that had them and they were nearly twice what tirerack.com wanted for Blizzak WS-50s.

 

check on ebay... some of the tires stores now use ebay, no taxes, sometimes free shipping to your door.

 

Southern NH near the Mass border!!

That is slightly longer than the seacoast where I live.

My Daughter drives Rt 2 in Mass from 495 to Gardner, sometimes to Worcester, and into Boston when she teaches at Harvard medical school.
She has the chance of running into bit more snow when she is in the hills to the west of Boston.

I'll have to look closely at the tires that are on the car now - They are in excellent condition but I don't remember brand they are! I am hoping they are all season.

 

See what tire size she is running as well.

 

My car came with 16' rims....I run UHP's on them
What I did was get a pair of 15' rims, and get snow tires to run on them...
one tip...
the BigBrakeKit (BBK) or "JCW" brakes did not come out till 2005...and even then they were an option, so unless they have been added, a set of 15 rims should fit the car fine, and mighty save you some $$...they also ride better on pothole covered roads..like 93/495/290...
I actually have 2 sets of 15's...one set I have REAL snow tires on....but this past spring I found a deal for some OEM 15' rims that came off a 2013 cooper....sold the TPMS (our gen1 cars do not use them...used they are worth about $35-75 EACH), and the OEM used tires ( I wanted something a bit wider than the OEM 175)...then tossed a set of all seasons on them for a second "winter" set of rims....total cost was...er...not much
My winter tires are great, with 195 width, but they wear pretty fast....They might get another 5000 miles.....the all-seasons touring tires I put on the OEM rims are 185'...slightly narrower than the oem 195 width, but OK for most driving, but should be ok in the snow...much better than the UHP all seasons..those are a WHITE KNUCKLE EXPERIENCE...in even LIGHT/trace snow/slush.
So you might find a set of used 15 rims that could fit...even 16's
One tip...
Check with PETE out at Greasy's Garage in Worcester (a GREAT MINI Centric shop)..he sometimes has deals on winter tires/rims that will fit on MINI's....also a great way to keep the MINI maintained!

 

Since you were asking about snow tires I thought you were in the mountainous part of NH. She hardly needs snow tires but a handful days out of the year down there, no? Any set of Studless snow tires will be fine. I used to run off brand tires and they were great, cheap and recommended by my mechanic in VT.