i finnally had the chance to use my dunlop winter graspics, what a difference! i thought they were good then... oh man

Hmmm... well Zippy I think you might have overshot the runway there, and I don't reckon I'll check into the local jail just yet....

On the other hand, y'all have a point.

So I retired the Toyos yesterday and put the nice fresh all season OEM tires that came with the car back on, as they have been all shiny and bagged, and waiting in the cellar.

So mebbe now I won't hit the ditch quite so quickly.

Thanks for the boot in the @ss.

Cheers,

Charlie

Not everybody knows what the differences of the different tire catagories are.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/types/tiretype.jsp

Even high performace all seasons will change below a certain temperature,
and can be lumpy until the they warm up.

Well....was being a bit dramatic for effect...
Any good crew member knows how to convey the seriouses of a situation to those around you...and summer tires in the winter CAN BE DANGEROUS TO LIFE AND LIMB.
Goog to hear you swapped them, and hopefully others will read of the scarryness of summers in the cold....
I hate the thought of my wife and daughter getting hit cause another person choose to drive on tires that behave like hockey pucks (harder and more slick when cold).

I hear you.

Time to go shovel now...



Cheers,

Charlie

Mine had the original OEM Dunlop runflats on it when I bought it. The car was dangerous in the rain in the summer. In the snow it was worse than the Corvette on slicks. If your tires look like snow doughnuts when you park it, they are not working.

My fix:

1. Turn off traction control. It does not enhance traction, it just kills engine power.
2. Replace tires with Kumho Ecsta 4x all season tires.

I know the car could do better with true winter tires, but another stack of tires in the garage is not an option. It does OK in snow. A good compromise tire.

The ride quality improvement was phenominal. It was so smooth and quiet that it was hard to believe that it was the same car.

Not sure if serious.

Come on, man, get some snow tires and then let us know how terrible it. The car in my signature is pretty damn low and super stiff, yet with Dunlop Graspic snows, I've been driving to go snowboarding the past 5 days, all with 14" of new snow in my City. I watched an AWD Honda CRV not make it up a hill yesterday, meanwhile I passed her in the MINI. Get some tires, brother.

Only drawback to snowtires is folks in 4x4/suv will follow you..guessing they are thinking if you are driving kinda fast in that tiny car in the snow...they should act like they have huge ***** and try to tailgate you to show they think they can go faster in a 4x4/SUV.......(can be funny when they slide into a snowbank)....not understanding the mini they are following can STOP fast...and they will just slide on their all seasons till they stop...
And for the record... Drove my mini through our mess of a storm last-night...got to go around some stuck cars...sucks to be them!!

Hey he's using all seasons. Leave him alone.
The danger is in summer tires. Sure all seasons are a compromise, except maybe the PS3s that out test summer tires.
Enjoy your holidays folks!

--

It is my problem. I just spent $600 on the Rav for new snow tires for my son to be safe driving to school. I'm going to buy a lottery ticket. I can't do it. Good thing I'm ultra schooled in snow driving. I hate it! At least Lincoln is flat!

Or he could ride the bus to school on snowy days...

Also, if your area allows studded tires, AVOID the cheapo studded snow tires. Studless/Studdable winter tires offer more traction ALL around and are generally only a few dollars more per tire. Tirerack has several snow tires for the Mini in the $70 range.

Let's face it: no vehicle is going to do well on ice. That being said, I think tires are very important. I've got small, narrow rims/tires and they have done surprisingly well (so far) this winter. I know it doesn't take much, but I've been able to easily plow through snow as high as my bumper. I had a Jeep Wrangler previously and through the relatively light snow (less than six inches) this does almost as well. I wouldn't be too comfortable taking it out on unplowed roads or through giant drifts, of course, but for what it is, it does very well in winters conditions... provided you've equipped it with the proper tires.

sorry but driving skills play a large part. I drove in 2 ice storms in Dec with my Conti DW , that's ULTRA SUMMER only and never loss control. Maybe my clubbie does better than hard tops but "trucks" are you kidding, they are the worse thing on ice . Give me any FWD in ice over RWD.

Oh yeah, you can't forget those driving skills! I don't want to presume anything about the OP, but this factor is huge. As far as tracking on the highway, the mini does better than the wrangler did when in RWD.

The MINI isn't bad in snow and ice; but then I run fully studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta7 tyres... the issue for me is the right height. If the roads aren't ploughed, or the ruts get too deep, I risk getting stuck on the compacted snow underneath and beaching. That's just how it is. Still, it hasn't happened yet...

This being the InterWeb it's so easy to be confrontational. Please accept that possibly the road temps were high though their was ice precept. You should check those tires because they can tear at temps below 40°.

It's false economy to risk lives & the cost of your Mini over switching tires. A good set of winter tires increases the fun quotient as well.