I am so overwhelmed by options. Can anyone recommend (in plain English, please!) a good snowtire for my 03 MCS? I've narrowed it down to getting dedicated winter tires/wheels, but now should I go performance or studless ice and snow? 15's or 16's? I'll be doing a ton of driving this winter-I have an hour commute to Washington County. I'm going to use Tire Rack and have a local shop install. Who know that getting snow tires was so complicated!

 

I love the blizzarks, best tire for front wheel and rear wheel BMWs and the ride is very smooth. Get the studless WS's.
I would get them on a package from tirerack on steels so it will never bend your rim. If you put this on your 16" alum. Then get a high walled blizzarks, smoother ride and more give. I drove downtown pittsburgh in a snowstorm during a autoshow rear wheel drive and was the only on the road to move.
I would say they are a life saver.
-alpinamike

 

We chose the Michelin X-Ice (also from Tirerack) on 16" Kosei K1 racing wheels (winter in style!). The Blizzacks are also a great tire but are only the special "winter" compound for the first 1/2 of the tread from what I'm told (I could be wrong - best to check) then it goes to all season. The X-Ice are same throughout.

I'm from Canada where there is more snow and longer winter then almost anywhere else on earth (or at least it feels that way) and people who invest in winter tires always go X-Ice or Blizzack.

There was also a big article either in MotorTrend or Grassroots Motorsports last month testing a variety of tires that you should check out. I'll post the results if I can dig them up.

 

There are a lot of good answers to this question. No one is absolutely correct. I will try however, to point out some information that should help you decide for your situation.

Typically, people seem to agree that a narrower tire is better for snow traction than a wider one. I'm no engineer, but this seems to be a factor of how well the tire can bite (sink) itself into the available surface and cut its way through the stuff. (Here's a link to TireRack's winter tire size explanation.) 15" tires will be the narrowest.

However, if you don't already have 15" wheels, you will need to add these to the total cost. The additional cost is somewhat countered by not having to pay for your winter/summer tires to be mounted from your wheels twice a year. Although, you should still have them balanced, so the savings is mininmal. You will also need a good place to store the set not being used.

Runflat consideration - while not many folks here like the runflats, there is a certain amount of security and safety inherent to them when driving an S with no spare. I don't think there are any 15" winter tires that are also runflats. You might consider getting a portable repair kit. Here's one example from MINI Mania:



Also, I considered that we don't generally have more than a small handful of times throughout each winter here in SW PA that I need to drive through heavy snow. Typically, it is just light snow and icy patches, or it is wet/slushy stuff. I live in a rural area, so I will occasionally plow through a few inches. Given that, I didn't want to sacrifice too much in the dry/wet performance or handling departments if at all possible.

OK, as far as the different tires available - here is my choice:

Pirelli Winter Snowcontrol 190

+'s

• Stock 15" size available.
• Good dry/wet performance and handling.
• Reasonably priced.
• Available from TireRack.com

-'s

• Not the BEST snow/ice grip available.
• New tire, limited feedback and evaluation.

FWIW, here is also a quick look of what CR had to say:

 

While it is true that a somewhat narrower tire can be better, higher ground pressure per square inch, it is not necessary to get a 15" tire to get a narrower tread width. Tread width is determined by aspect ratio not by wheel size. Tire sizes are typically expressed as follows 175/65-15, the 65 is the aspect ratio. The higher that number the taller, (height above the rim), and narrower the tire.

It should also be noted that the taller tire will usually provide a smoother ride.

Hopefully I haven't confused the issue. However as a general comment if you currently have a performance type tires on your car now, regardless of wheel size, put winter tires on all four wheels. Do not use studded tires unless you face ice everyday, when the studs wear the tires will exhibit lower traction on dry, snowy or wet pavement than a studdless tire.

I am an engineer and once upon a time designed tires for a living

 

Pirelli Snowsport 210 runflats (195/55/16) are doing great so far this year....and it's -18C with ice/snow on the roads here now!! Also pretty good dry road handling.

 

Good clarification.

However, for proper fitment on a MINI, the 15" tire will provide the narrowest/tallest option.

 

Running the same tires Very nice.

Decent dry handling as well.

 

After much agonizing and contemplation, I decided to go with Pirelli SnowSport 240's on my existing wheels. They are getting pretty beat-up, so I'm going to get new wheels in the springtime! I've been pretty happy with them so far....got them just in time for our first big snowfall of the season and they handled just fine! thanks for the info!