When I read what tires you were using, it made me cringe. Don't get me wrong, but if you get snow during winter, you should get a set of decent winter tires. I've bought my Mini in december of 2009 and drove it all winter long with cheap winter tires and never had any problem. Actually, the only thing that bothered me on snow/ice was the traction control.

Dedicated winters, this car is a mountain goat in the snow. Running performance summer rubber in the snow is insane.

Bottom line is you need snow tires.. if you don't want to spend the money...then park your MINI for better weather... theres no way around it.. unless you like to take a chance on a very dangerous and unpredictable situation..

Your suspension components are worn, and even though you think it "tracks" straight on dry pavement, I would bet your camber and caster is way out too.

1) fix the mushroomed strut towers ( They are not flat even if they look it)
2) replace control arm bushings/lower ball joints, have tie rod outer ends examined for play.
3) get some decent all season tires or set of blizzaks if you have to be on the road before plows are.
4) then, get a proper alignment from a MINI dealer.....

I had similar issues with my 03 including a nagging vibration many attributed to hubcentric rings for my MINI winter wheel/tires. That was total BS. It wasn't until ALL those components were replaced, the strut towers were flattened ( by naked eye they looked ok but were not ) and an alignment was done that my MINI handled the way it should in all sorts weather.

I don't really need the snow tires now, but run them anyways since I have them.

When the weather gets that bad, the Mini sits in my storage building with the Vette and I drive my 2500HD Suburban (aka Galactic Cruiser). I run Goodyear Eagle GT's year round on the Mini.

I am going to jump on the band wagon and say it's your tires. Running summer tires on snow and ice is at best Darwinism waiting to happen, at worse homicidal.


Our little R53 has gone through many storms through the Sierras and it is awesome in the snow. We have a dedicated set of Michelin Alpin tires on the stock wheels. Amazing difference in both go and stop capabilities.


It's no longer the main SF to Reno car, but I have fond memories of driving that car through deep snow. I am driving from Reno to SF later today and we just had a big storm. Doing it in the X5d shod with Blizzaks, it won't be as much fun as it would be in the MINI...


Gratuitous pictures of dirty car resulting from those drives:















But it cleans up well:

I'm betting the reason is that you have a Mini with larger wheels.

Here in Britain where very few people use winters (as we get maybe a couple of weeks' snow per year), there is a very different response from Mini drivers with base 175/65-15s and those with 205/45-17s. The narrower 15s work quite well in snow but the wider 17s are a nightmare, on a (relatively) light car.

This is probably the reason your wife's Golf seems quite good - I'm betting it doesn't have as much rubber for its weight as the Mini, so cuts through snow better.

I once had a Citroen 2CV with 135 section tyres (yes, really, like a pedal cycle's!) and it could go anywhere in snow on summer tyres if driven with care......

I live in Reno and run Blizzacks on my 05 R53. Its a lot of fun to go out right after it snows, and I live just off the Mt. Rose highway. The Mini is an absolute blast to drive in the snow, with proper winter tires.

would be instructive to hear from those experienced with some of the modern tire chains - for example: Michelin Easygrip Composite Snow Chains... In my geographical area we have mostly no-snow winters and then suddenly, once every few years a huge snow. These might be more useful in certain situations than dedicated snow tires/wheels?

Anyone got experience?

We get very little snow here as well, but I still like to run dedicated winters. They grip, turn, and brake much better in the cold, even if it's dry.

+1 on this, even more fun when you can be there by yourself with no traffic. So is Donner Pass Road to bypass chain control lines out of Truckee.

Good point dannyhavok! You helped get me off the dime - I'll order some winter tires from TireRack tomorrow.

My R53 is a hoot to drive in the snow!

Depending on how many days you actually have snow/ice on the roads you might not need a snow tire if you don't want to run that type of tire.

Here in Colorado we don't have enough days with snow/ice on the roads to warrant something like blizzaks. Usually everything is melted off of the roads after a day or two.
I run high performance all seasons for my winter setup and they do fine.
Just slow down and be careful, AKA common sense.
When the roads are dry during the winter I still want crisp, fun handling.

I ran blizzaks one winter. In the snow/ice it was crazy how well the Mini did.
I just didn't like the dry performance.

What to get? I need them now! Slip sliding away. Run Flats suck! I had little or no notice or time for this snow. It sucks. Need snow tires asap. This snow was a surprise. Of course as luck would have it, I have to spend $750 on the Rav4, partially on 2 rear tires, there's $350 of it. The fronts are great. It's a good snow car. Sadly, (or safely) it's my sons car. Now, I'm the unsafe dude. I think I'll be taking him to high school and leave the Blue Meanie in the driveway for a bit.

This is about temperature! As has been said summer tires get hard as BBs at sub 40 degrees F. My friend slid his WRX into a curb broke two rims and did suspension damage. ( WRX, Subaru Wrecks? ) It was 28 degrees F. Road was dry!!

Winter tires are for going fast even on dry pavement. I switch on my cars. Going sideways in a snow covered parking lot for hundreds of feet in a Volvo V70R AWD 6-speed manual 300hp with Brembos on Vredestein Wintrac Extremes was total fun!!


You come to see what a compromise all seasons are. Mini is staying in the garage anyway.

How much am I going to pay for winter tires? ouch! Service Engine Soon light also came on this week. Not looking forward to this.

Depends....you MUST HAVE 4.
I SUGGEST getting a second set of rims...saves paying $80+ each season to mount/unmount tires on the current rims....if you order them online...you can get them shipped as already mounted...save a few $$. The SIZE you pick might save some $$...I run snows in a 15 since I have a gen1 S, and 15' fit IF you have stock brakes (non jcw).
If you don't need such hardcore winter performance, you could get a set of touring or regular all seasons..... Typical ultrahigh performance sllseasons folks put on a mini do not have the tread depth to do well in snow....
Simply put....REGULAR all seasons will give you passable winter performance....snow tires will make the car handle great!! Pick what you need based on your needs...snows are not for everybody...maybe they should be...like in much of Canada where it is law.

Well having taken Gollum out this morning for coffee (yes, I was desperate) I can now report on the performance of the Toyo R1R 205/45-15 when traversing 1" of fresh snow mixed with underlying ice deposited on roads which were already below freezing when the storm started.

Secondary roads - where my tracks were sometimes the only ones (4:10 am).

>> zero traction

Highways - where intermittent applications of salt created a mish-mash of ice, wet road, and fresh snow.

>> zero traction.

Max speed on secondary roads, 30 mph - on highway - 50 mph.

Drivers nerves - SHOT to HELL.

:-)

Cheers,

Charlie

Check your R1R's for cracks Charlie.

http://www.tirerack.com/images/pdf/C...eStorage-6.pdf

The new Michelin Ps3s are all season. They have been great warm weather tires. I have not tried them in the snow. Won't unless I have to.

Remember y'all summer tires are bad in cold temps even if it's dry.
If the tires cost too much buy a beater to drive in the winter.

+1
There were several reports from mini in the usual places....
Some reports of the oem gp2 tires cracking were just from transport/unloading in freezing conditions....and resulted in mini giving owners the option in getting "alternate" tires st delivery since the cars were shipped and delivered in the winter months...
To all...
Summer tires are soft and pliable above about 50°....
Below that they become hard and brittle....
And not only provide little to zero traction at cold temps, but CAN BE PERMANTLY DAMMAGED when used in cold conditions...If you are lucky, they just feel lumpy from being parked, worst case, the tires come apart or you hit somebody or end up in a ditch.
Anybody driving a mini with summer ONLY tires in the winter should spend the night in jail or get a ticket for placing EVERY OTHER DRIVER ON THE ROAD AT RISK. Playing with fire.
End rant...

Rav in the shop for all new tires and check engine light. Snow has melted, so Mini is doing fine. Just a little grumpy at -5 this morning. I need a miracle to replace all the tires this month! Just cruising slowly in the Blue-Meanie.

I have Michelin Ultra High Performance A/S Plus on my R53. They're pretty great all year round and handle like a champ in snow, even on my burly 17" wheels. I'd put good money on them not coming close to Blizzacks, but they're surprisingly good for what they are. I live in NYC, but have driven in Vermont in the winter and have rarely had any problems getting around.

Vredestein Wintrac Extremes are quite amazing. Nearly comparable handling to summer tires. I said nearly. Predictable and grip amazingly in all the different frozen wets. My Blizzak experience was in the early 90s and they are sure to have improved them. They at the time were a great ice and snow tire but not performance oriented. Where I live it can be dry for weeks but very cold so you can haul &$$. Suddenly you're driving over black ice!

The cost of good tires relieves the white knuckle heart in my throat experiences. For me whether its hot or cold wet or dry the tires are the only thing that communicate with the road. That's the last place to save a few dollars. I've gotten my loved ones out of harms way and continue to desire that confidence window. YMMV (your mileage may vary )

Heck, my 2006 JCW is stored for winter and is sitting on winter tires JUST IN CASE I have to use it.