seen the minica.com videos of winter driving, but still not convinced.....anyone have input or snow driving impressions? ( I know, it's rellay hot and humid in MA, but I won't get my S till January!?)

sold My cherokee and jetta GT for 1 parking space and a huge smile, long way to work and such.



:smile:

 

The only problems I had in my S last winter (and this is a western new york winter mind you... not some wussy winter..) are while driving in unplowed areas (the MINI turns into a snowplow with bad results), and a lot of wheelspin/asc kicking in during take-offs... I just learned to start slower...

other than that, it's aces in the snow.. and I was running with my standard 'performance' all season tires...

Rocketboy_X

 

Blizzak's Talk to the tire rack

 

Snow tires are an absolute must. I prefer the Dunlop WinSports as they perform great in the sludge and dry pavement alike. Order a set on steel rims and have them popped on yer MINI before you drive out of the dealership.

 

I wouldn't say snows are a 'must', but I would suggest them... Like I said, I survived a Western New York (Buffalo Area) winter just fine, w/o any pucker moments... Snows would make life even easier, but you can survive w/o them...

Rocketboy_X

 

hmm i dont even take my mini out when there is a hint of rain..so i coudlnt tell you

but good luck on gettting ur mini.. :smile:
it will be fun

 

I don't know about western NY, but snow tires were absolutely essential for me here in Michigan. Of course, I have the sport tires which are absolutely useless once a 1/4" of snow hits the streets.

 

Hey futpot,
As you can imagine, there was quite a bit of discussion on this topic this past winter. If you do a search of the forums (use the search link to the right of the drop-down menu, NOT the box at top right), it should point you to at least a few of them. Try keywords snow and/or winter...

I can tell you though, the opinions of the MINI as a winter-mobile are mostly very positive! I've had mine (in MA as well) since last October, but I was commuting via foot and bicycle this winter, so when it snowed, I let it stay put in the underground garage...

 

>>seen the minica.com videos of winter driving, but still not convinced.....anyone have input or snow driving impressions? ( I know, it's rellay hot and humid in MA, but I won't get my S till January!?)

I don't know if you are waiting until January on purpose, but for a two hour ride plus a 6-8 week wait you can have a 2003 S a whole lot sooner than January! We ordered ours on June 4th and we took delivery yesterday. Just come on down to Hartford, CT at New Country Mini and they'll set you up. That is, unless you are waiting for the 2004 model year changes...

 

first of all, thanks all for the input, I am getting a warmern feeling bout the snow(it's tough to say goodbye to 4wd as an avid alpine boarder)

dealer in Peabody said 6 mo. I asked if they would do a dealer search for me as I am a little flexible with the equip. they gave me the "cant sell a non MA car here, (emissions)

I didn't "buy it" so I put the deposit down with the intent of looking for other "local" dealers

thanks for the input though. was there a premium? :smile:

 

Handled Indianapolis, IN winter fine. MCS with Performance run flats. If snow was deep (over 7&quot and roads weren't plowed yet, we didn't take Alice. But other than that no problems. We have DSC on ours and yes it kicked in every so often, but if you drive like you normally would in a small front wheel drive car on snow, it isn't a problem. I wouldn't do any twisties a high speeds.....

 

>>Handled Indianapolis, IN winter fine. MCS with Performance run flats. If snow was deep (over 7&quot and roads weren't plowed yet, we didn't take Alice. But other than that no problems. We have DSC on ours and yes it kicked in every so often, but if you drive like you normally would in a small front wheel drive car on snow, it isn't a problem. I wouldn't do any twisties a high speeds.....

The first rule to winter driving in any car with any tires is to drive sensibly. Anyone trying to imitate a Finnish rally driver needs beaten aside their head. I tend not to take chances and run Blizzaks from the first sign of snow til April.

 

Good that I don't have to drive in winter becuase our winter is HOT.

 

I find winter driving in any car to be an unpredictable experience. That said, I do think the MINI did resonably well. The only troublt I had was pulling out of the driveway after an overnight snowfall. My MINI just wanted to stay in one place and spin its wheels. 1-5 inches weren't really a problem getting out (a little slippy, but I could make it to the road). Anything above 6+, the MINI did what I just explained. I was using stock Goodyear's though. I bet the MINI will do very well this year when I mount my extra rims w/ snowtires. Oh ya, I'm in PA (Pittsburgh).

 

>>first of all, thanks all for the input, I am getting a warmern feeling bout the snow(it's tough to say goodbye to 4wd as an avid alpine boarder)
>>
>>dealer in Peabody said 6 mo. I asked if they would do a dealer search for me as I am a little flexible with the equip. they gave me the "cant sell a non MA car here, (emissions)
>>thanks for the input though. was there a premium? :smile:

Unless there are emissions rules in MA that require you to bring the car up to MA standards then you can buy your car elsewhere. However MA could be just like California where you have to retrofit any non-california car with approved emissions devices. I am not aware whether the Mini has California or Massachusetts specific emissions equipment - if not, you should be ok buying your car out of state. You might check in the regional forums -- it seems lots have people have bought their cars in Florida and shipped them north and I bet there are people from MA who have done this.

As for the premium, no. The car was MSRP, however. No dickering on the price, but no trade either.

 

I didn't have any problem at all with my MINI in the snow. Except when they plowed me in in my parking lot, but I didn't have a shovel. Regardless of what you are driving in the snow, you never know what might happen, but I was running my stock 16"s with the runflats last winter and we had more snow in MD than I had seen in years and the MINI performed wonderfully.

 

I'll be driving my MCS in Syracuse, NY this winter while the Boxster rests in the garage, so I'm more than a little concerned about driving in the snow. Of particular concern is the MCS' ability to take a slick hill if it's slowed by traffic. Can you comment? Also, which tires do you run in the winter? :smile:

 

I live at the bottom of a hill, so that's not much of a problem.. and like I said, I have the standard runflats that came on my MINI... and if you're from ra-cha-cha you know what a WNY winter is like... so you can trust me...

Rocketboy_X
(PS: Check out http://www.minicooperclubofwny.com .. we'd love to have ya..)

 

I live at the bottom of a hill, so that's not much of a problem.. and like I said, I have the standard runflats that came on my MINI... and if you're from Syracuse, you probally know what a WNY winter is like... so you can trust me...

Rocketboy_X

 

>>hmm i dont even take my mini out when there is a hint of rain..so i coudlnt tell you
>>
>>but good luck on gettting ur mini.. :smile:
>>it will be fun
:smile: :smile:

 

>> :smile: :smile:

It is probably because of the lack of rain that the roads are particularly slippery in California when it does rain. I know when I was driving west of San Francisco and it started to rain I slowed down to what I thought was an appropriate speed only to have to put on the brakes and have the car slide like it was on snow.

Yes, the CA drivers don't slow down enough and should know better but the visitors sometimes don't either!