I have 8800mi and still have the performance run flats on my MCS. Today we had our first snow, maybe only an inch or two. The DSC was kicking (worked well though). Granted, there was hardly enough snow for the tires to grip into... Do you think these tires will perform OK through the winter??

Now, keep in mind, the car is on lease, currently I have about 38000mi left on it...Should I get Blizzaks for for the winter driving around Cincinnati, which will include a couple trips to Syracuse and the NorthEast to ski? Note: I'm not planning on replacing the rims and I would get a pair of 17" blizzaks. Advisible?

Then I would have to swap back in the spring and when the lease expires. When I'm done with the lease, I might have partially used winter tires left over...

Should I tough it out with the current tires, knowing that any wear I put on them will be going towards replacing them with another warm season tire? Should I would not worry about winter tires?

Thanks,
eb

 

eb, not to put too blunt a point on it, but you're nuts if you plan on riding around Cincinnati (not to mention Syracuse or anyplace where skiing is a possibility) with performance runflats in the snow!

I mean, if you had all season ruflats and didn't plan on doing much driving...well, maybe. Or, if you had the performance tires and planned to avoid all snow except for the rare emergency dash out...well, it'd still be nuts, but maybe. But, you want to DRIVE? YOu need snows or at least a set of all season tires.

Don't be lazy. Don't be cheap. Even a minor accident with those performance tires will cost more (in insurance deductable and lost value) than a set of Blizzaks and steel wheels from TireRack (or wherever). Also, go read the (huge number of) posts re. Blizzaks and snow tires in the TIRE FORUM. I think most people are going with the 15" tires and replacement/winter wheels. Saves mounting time, saves your good wheels from the winter, and the 15" tires are actually better in the snow.

_________________

Bring Out the Scoops!

 

I agree with jsun. I also live in Cincinnati and my snow tires make it so much easier to get around. It only takes an hour to swap the wheels and in 38,000 miles, chances are you will have saved the $500 or so it costs to buy a package at Tirerack in reduced tread wear on the runflats. I am sure you could sell them at the end of the leaese to someone on here too.

 

Assume you don't replace the tires. You'll probably have to replace the runflats due to tread wear before the 38,000 additional miles are up. So either way you'll be paying for another set. Get the Blizzaks, drive them, and spread the wear of the runflats over the remaining lease.

 

I agree as well..
Get the Blizzaks....they are terrific in the snow.
Give Alex @tirerack a call..he presently has great deals....:smile:

Peace,
D

_________________
I own a 2002 MCS w/ alot of stuff on it.

 

My MINI handles like **** in the snow. I leave it in the garage and use the Honda instead.

 

ditto, at least get some good all-season tires on there.

also, i think i read somewhere that you're suppose to turn
off the DCS in the snow (according to the owner's manual).

 

I found the Euphori@s completely inadequate in the snow. Driving on those tires in the snow is needlessly dangerous. Therefore I have Blizzaks on the way.

Also, I found the DSC so crippling in the snow that I had to turn it off just to be able to get up hills. I believe it was never meant to handle such a severe, persistent lack of traction.

 

Buy the Blizzaks & 15' wheels and be safe this winter. You can always sell them after winter for a few bucks. BD

 

When you turn off the DSC, you're also turning off traction control and that's what's making it difficult to drive up hills in the snow. The manual says, and my experience shows, that you want to disable traction control (which on DSC-equipped cars means turning the DSC switch to off) when you need some wheel spin...e.g., to get up a hill in the snow.

Otherwise, leave it on. Stability control (the non-traction control part of DSC) could come in very handy if you encounter black ice or other slippery conditions known to occur in winter.

 

I had no choice but to switch of the DSC, because it was overruling me on the gas pedal, which I did NOT like. The DSC seems to be programmed to bring the car to a complete stop every time it slides. Not fun when you're sliding every 20 feet or so.

 

I drove around all last season on Performance Runflats - white knuckle all the way. Last storm of the season - I had a minor collison...and it was not a cheapy repair. Dealer had told me they were all seasons, but what did they know. I found out by doing more research that they were really summer tires. I live in a hilly part of NJ...needles to say I am running all seasons now. Continental ContiExtremes, and they seem to do pretty well. I can't complain about their performance in last weeks big storm here - I got home fine , even passed a slipping Chevy Blazer and Benz S500....nice.

 

Get the Blizzaks. After the lease is up, I'll bet you'll end up buying the Mini or leasing another one anyway.

 

I live in Montana. Speaking of tires, my MCS is on order, and I went with the 17" all-season runflats. I want the 17s for the twisties and the all-seasons for the rain and snow of Montana.

Since I intend to get a set of Blizzaks for my snow tires in the winter, am I better off getting the performance runflats, since I'll be putting on the Blizzaks in the snow anyway? That way, I could enjoy the performance tires here in the summer.

My MCS is "On Order", but I still have time to make a minor change.

Thanks,
Dan

 

Performance tires in snow? Are you CRAZY? No.

 

If you are considering swapping on a set of 17in winter tires, why not just run 15 in tires and steel wheels. The cost will be less and your factory wheels will not get damaged. Winter tires are the only way to go, you have the right idea there. Spend the money and be safe, don't worry about after the lease. You can always sell the tires here.
I will always use winter tires after I slid my Mustang sideways into a telephone pole, at the end of my driveway! Not one of my finer moments

 

A new set of blizzaks on new 15" steel wheels is worth less than $500 and they will last you (and save your ***) for a few seasons, not bad at all if you weigh the pros/cons yourself.

 

>>I have 8800mi and still have the performance run flats on my MCS. Today we had our first snow, maybe only an inch or two. The DSC was kicking (worked well though). Granted, there was hardly enough snow for the tires to grip into... Do you think these tires will perform OK through the winter??
>>
>>Now, keep in mind, the car is on lease, currently I have about 38000mi left on it...Should I get Blizzaks for for the winter driving around Cincinnati, which will include a couple trips to Syracuse and the NorthEast to ski? Note: I'm not planning on replacing the rims and I would get a pair of 17" blizzaks. Advisible?
>>
>>Then I would have to swap back in the spring and when the lease expires. When I'm done with the lease, I might have partially used winter tires left over...
>>
>>Should I tough it out with the current tires, knowing that any wear I put on them will be going towards replacing them with another warm season tire? Should I would not worry about winter tires?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>eb
nullThis is my second Jackson Hole winter with my 2002 MCS with stock dunlop run-flat M+S. They are working just fine. When they wear out I will replace with Michelin Alpins(?) for winter and high performance tires for the summer. Forget about the run-flat idea.

 

I got the performance runflats on my MCS and I got it towards the end of last winter. I though about getting a set of snow tires but I knew I was moving and I figured we were almost done with winter and it was pretty mild so I waited...

Then we got some snow. It wasn't a lot but enough to make me realize that I did not want to go through that again. This year I live in Vermont (snow tires a must) so I got a set of blizzaks. If you plan on doing any driving in the snow I recommend getting a set of snow tires. I got the 15" from Alex@tirerack and I've been extremely happy with them. (See Review of Blizzaks in the Tire forum)

I've found the DSC to be a horrible thing in dry roads as well as wet. I haven't noticed it doing anything except kill my engine when the wheels slip. If you know how to drive, turn it off! I turn it off all the time as I only find it to be a hinderance. Occasionally I'll forget and while driving in the snow I'll be fine for a little while but once the wheels start to slip I'll realize my err and turn it off... Blizzaks are a great tire and they've proved there worth to me up here in Vermont.

 

>>My MINI handles like **** in the snow. I leave it in the garage and use the Honda instead.


I put four 15" Blizzaks and Steel Wheels on mine last winter. Handled better than my wifes Explorer in the snow (and we had a lot in NH last winter). Same thing this year. Hands down the best car I've had so far.

Turning off the DSC does not kill traction control, just DSC. But I only turn it off in the deep stuff or a steep hill.

 

^ jtpryan, I agree with you re. how well the MINI (with snows) does in the snow, but I'm positive that you're wrong about what happens when you turn off DSC. Go out and try it (we got snow down here in MA last night...so I know you've got the right conditions up in NH today ). From a stand still, try spinning your wheels with DSC turned on...see the little blinking triangle and the resulting power cut? That's traction control on. Then, turn OFF DSC and try the same thing. Little triangle is constantly lit and you can spin your wheels to your heart's content. That's traction control off.

Again, what's confusing is that on a DSC-equipped car, the switch that turns off both is only labeled "DSC". It's not possible to turn off one without also turning off the other; but stability control has very little to do with wheel spin and it really has no impact on anything unless the car is already making forward (or backward??) progress.



_________________

Bring Out the Scoops!

 

Runflats suck in the snow. My wife had to shut off the traction control to climb a snow covered road. T/C kept shutting down the engine, it was so bad. We have 15,000 mi. on run-flats, and I doubt if we will see 20k before the tires fail state insection. I am going to put Goodyear Eagle RSA,s on next year. They are a high performance-allseason tire.

 

I think I'm gonna get some snow tires mounted to my stock 15" wheels, then come spring buy a set of 17" or 18" wheels and tires, and stack the 15's in the garage. Are Blizzaks the way to go or are there other recommendations?

 

>>I think I'm gonna get some snow tires mounted to my stock 15" wheels, then come spring buy a set of 17" or 18" wheels and tires, and stack the 15's in the garage. Are Blizzaks the way to go or are there other recommendations?

Blizzaks are great, although I'm evaluating the Michelin Arctic Alpins on my MCS on 15" steel wheels this season (also purchased form Alex at Tire Rack). So far, I've been able to climb some pretty steep snow-covered hills where my performance tires left me stranded at the bottom. There are slight differences in dry-weather performance between the Michelins and Bridgestones. Talk to Alex about how you drive and what surfaces you're most concerned about during the winter (deep snow, glare ice, plowed roads)...

 

I have to disagree with the consensus of this thread. I have the performance run flats and have not had any trouble in the snow with them. The day after our little "snow flurry" last spring [40" on my porch] I drove the MINI to work [25 miles each way] with NO PROBLEM. BTW the Land Rover was DOA with a seized transfer case.
<rant mode on>
The trick people is to learn to drive. Take the car out in the snow and make it slide [in a safe place like an empty parking lot] then learn how the vehicle responds and how to control it in those situations.
<rant off>
I will agree that the DSC kicks in at some inconvienient times. I usually turn it off for stoplight starts and sharp city intersection corners and then back on for "steady state" operations.
Just my $ .02