I've had some Pirelli snowsport tires on the MINI for the past month or so. With this mild winter we're having I probably could have just kept the summers on, but that's another deal altogether.

I have the Alta three position sway bar, set to its most agressive setting. That setting worked great with the summer only dulnop runflats - I've noticed that while driving (spiritedly, with the DSC off) around on ramps and things, that there is now a much bigger tendency for the rear end to come around than there used to be, and this oversteering condition was definitely not present with the summer only runflats. I've yet to back off the sway to the lowest setting (I don't drive the car much as I take the El pretty much every day) - anyone have experience with this?

I've never had winter tires before - I've also noticed the braking distance/stability is reduced quite a bit as well.

 

Winter tires are constructed for winter conditions. When used on dry roads they won't work as well as a summer or an all season tire. In the snow they shine though, where the others suck badly. They are more roly poly by nature. Soft compound, deep tread & a more flexible side wall. They definitely have a squirm factor built into them.

I have Hakka snows on my car along with a H-Sport rear bar set on the middle position. My handling is similar to yours. You might try moving one position to the softer side. It may help your handling some. Now if we could only get some snow so we can put the snow tires to their intended use.

 

Thanks for the input - this explains quite a bit - the compound definitely stays soft even in serious cold. The squrimy condition happens more in warmer temps than really cold, as I guess the compound is at a more optimal temperature. These are V rated tires, but the tread is quite deep. even with the V rating I can't imagine making an evasive maneuver at high speed, as it seems I'd likely flip the car, even with the DSC on. I tried increasing the pressures - a MINI dealer installed the tires and they put in 32 psi all round - I upped them to 37 and it helped the instability a little, but it's still there.

I'll try the other two positions on the swaybar this weekend and see if that helps.

We might get quite a bit of snow in Chicago this weekend - but they plow the roads so well here that I think I could have probably just used the summer tires.

 

Putting more air in is a good strategy. If you do get your snow remember to drop your pressures a bit, say around 34 psi. If your tires are very stiff it will cancel some of the benifits of having snow tires.

I'm a strong believer in winter tires. I'd rather drive a FWD car with winter tires than a AWD one without them. They do make that much of a difference in winter driving. Seems as though global warming is changing what we need for winter.