I have asked many, many ownwes about how their mini"s perform in snow and have received only one answer - "You may want to get bigger tires for snow."

Can any one give me a more detailed answer to what to expect? It will be sometime before it snows and I want a mini now! Should I get one and if so, should I just ride the bus when the white stuff falls?

 

:smile: :smile: :smile: Ask again tomorrow, bump the thread and you'll get more answers. I can't help you. Snow doesn't fall and stay around long enough in SoCal to give you an answer. :smile: :smile:

 

Depends TOTALLY on the tires. Anything that is described as "performance" is probably unacceptable. I have the Dunlop SP3000 Performance Runflats on my 16's...forget it. Will soon have the Blizzaks on for the cold weather...

 

How do I bump the question up, so more people can see it? I am a new member.
Thanks! :smile:

 

^^^I'm not sure what you mean by the previous post, but if you need more info here's mine:

I was using the stock 16" tires last winter with the all season good years. The car did good in the snow. Slid a little bit, but that DSC worked great to keep me on course. Only trouble I had was getting out of my driveway if there was a snowfall over night. 1-5 inches, the MINI can handle. 6+, the MINI can't. It just acts as a snowplow, gets stuck, and spins its wheels (w/ or w/o DSC on). So, the solution was to keep the driveway plowed or just make a fast run for the main road. If I got stuck in my driveway, I knew I'd be there for about 20 min trying to play with the MINI to get it loose. However, once on the main roads, MINI did great--even got me home in a BAD storm once. This year, I do think I'm getting snow tires. I feel confident they will help me out.

 

just by replying the thread gets bumped to the top :smile:

I haven't driven my MINI in snow yet, but I've heard it's respectible, provided you have at least all-season tires on it. Better yet, throw on a set of snows

 

^^^
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OOOHHHHHH!!!

Now I see what you meant . With posting this I'll bump you up again, deal?

 

I agree that the performance tyres are kinda useless in snow or ice. They are good if there is at most maybe 2 inches of snow or slushy snow.

It should perform as good as any car with all-season's I'm sure. Traction control doesn't hurt either.

 

:smile: :smile:

Chow!

Donna
donna@dcmetrominis.org

 

Morn'n,

To agree w/ the crowd...high performance tires and snow ...don't work....plain & simple.
My T1s's are great summer tires...but totally useless in the snow

Vdubdoug had Blizzaks last season...and spoke highly of them.
We had a harsher winter here in NY than normal ....so they came in handy.

I will be getting a set of Blizzaks for my old 17"rims for this comming winter.

Peace,
D

 

I have a set of 16 wheels with Bridgestone Blizzaks that I use when The snow falls. They make a huge difference. It feels like there is no snow and you are driving on dry pavement. The car handles good and powers through the snow even with traction control on. Take traction control off and the car pulls and snow goes everywhere. Just be carefull when there is no snow around becuase the tires tend to make the dry handling a bit mushy.

 

Scout,
My experience with BMW Z3 and MINI is that the Dunlop Winter Sport M2 or M3 is your best choice (M3 being available in run flats). Blizzaks are (IMHO) highly over rated. I think that The Tire Rack, while a good source, gets an extra spiff from Bridgestone to push their tires.

The M2 or M3 is a wonderful balance of a great winter snow tire that also performs very, very well on dry, wet, and icy pavement. The Bridgestones are far more a "mostly" snow tire. Dunlops are quiet (for a winter tire) as well.

Put on a full set (all four corners) and there won't be any corner of Colorado you won't get to this winter.