Hi everybody!!!

I totally love the MINI--its by far and away the coolest car I have seen for quite a long time!! One main concern I have that is causing me to think a little more than I would like to is that its so small that I wonder if it has trouble in adverse weather conditions.

I live just outside of Chicago and the weather here can be pretty brutal--snow, rain, sleet, or extreme heat...so if any of you can attest to how well or how poorly the MINI has handled your weather extremes, I would appreciate it, and I am sure other future motorers will as well!

Thanks!

 

Hello & Welcome skokiedude :smile:

I'm in Buffalo, and I have to say that my Cooper handled the winter very well. From the start of the winter until the dawn of spring I put 3000 miles on her with no problems.

However, we did not have the real deep snow this year that we have had in the past. Like 3' in one day, 7' in a week, but I have the dreaded SUV for those days )

I hope this helps.

Sue

 

We drove our MCS thru the winter in Indianapolis and didn't have any problems. Even have the performanced run flats and didn't encounter any issues. You could also opt for winter tires which I know a lot of people on this site have gotten and I think they increase handling quite a bit.

 

Welcome skokiedude! I'll bet I can guess which town "outside of Chicago" you live in

There's lots of info on MCO related to driving MINIs in snow, ice, rain, etc. You should use the thread SEARCH function to locate some of this (here's a quick "how to" on using the search function).

If you don't mind getting it a bit dirty/snowy/icy/wet, the MINI is absolutely not weather challenged.

 

I'm in the Pacific Northwest, and I can't speak for snow or instense sun, but rain, wind , hail, sleet- all no problem. Because MINI has a wide, solid stance and doesn't get pushed around, driving in heavy weather is usually no more noticeable than driving in calm conditions.

 

Well, I didn't try and drive my MINI in our 2.5 foot snowstorm in March until after the plows came through, but she did just fine in the slush and a couple of smaller snowfalls (including one the day I got her). Rain handling was good, but I will admit to having acquired a 1973 Toyota Land Cruiser (wagon style) to fix up for winter driving in those occasionally harsh Colorado storms. This isn't for a lack of trust in my little green baby, but because I like her too much to subject her to constant slush, salt, magnesium chloride, sand, rocks and idiots that don't realize four wheel drive doesn't improve your stopping power one bit.

 

Skokie Weather has been very kind to Ar-too.
There are about 3 in the area, one CR/B works on main & Laramie, one lives just south of that CR/W. me on Oakton now IB/W and a SG/SG in Morton Grove.

ENJOY!!!

 

I'm in the Sierra and am still having snow...missed two days of autocross in the last three weeks. Drive my MCS in snow? That's why God made old subaru's.