I am a brand new Mini JCW 2016 owner and glad to be part of this group. I have Pirelli P7 Cinturato on now and wanted to see if these will hold up in a CO winter or do i have options for All Seasons or Winter tires. Not hung up on run flat and I am not interested in new OEM 17" rims $$$$. Also where to buy if I need to.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thx

 

I have the same setup on my JCW....the P7s are summer performance tires, so if you want to drive in the winter I'd recommend the high performance all season Michelins (non runflats)...check them out at Tire Rack! For me, I may go with a second set of wheels & tires at some point but my JCW stays in the garage much of the winter anyway.

 

I am in the exact same position as you and also very interested in the answers from your post. I just received my 2017 JCW with the 18" cup spoke wheels and I live in Chicago. One thing I can say is you do not want to run the P7s in winter living in CO. At the very least you will want all seasons...

I have thought about purchasing a set of snow tires for the factory 18s and paying to have them swapped each year, but the problem is finding a higher performance snow tire that comes in the proper size. I really like the Pirelli Winter sottozero 3 RF but it only comes in 225/40R/18. I'm not sure if this would be too wide? This option also leaves fear about how the cup spoke wheels will hold up during winter with salt.

I have looked into the dedicated 17" wheel option for winter, but even with a cheap set of wheels from tire rack, with the sottozero tires you are looking at $1400 with TPMS sensors. Definitely the most expensive option, but it's hard to put a price on safety.

Third option is swapping out the p7 tires for an all-season tire, sacrificing summer and winter performance.

I would love to hear some additional feedback from seasoned Mini owners...

 

I think the 225's might rub the strut or be too close for comfort with the stock 54mm wheel offset. Typically, a 45mm offset is needed for 225's for those who run wider wheels & tires. Maybe even a 40mm offset, but that's pushing the rims & rubber out beyond the fender! 215's might work though.

 

I made the decision a few months ago to buy Falken AS and I am very happy. This is a good replacement to summer runflats and I will not have to worry. We don't have snow here but sometimes icy roads a few times during winter.

If you live in Chicago, your wheels will be pitted and covered with road grim after only one winter. You should invest on wheels and tires.