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That's what I do in Vermont. Summer high performance tires on stock wheels, winter snow tires (Nokian Hakkas) on steel wheels. Soon to add track tires on a third set of wheels.

 

16" all season on my MCS, and it's fine. The DSC is great on ice; it won't even let the engine stall if you don't declutch quickly when hitting the brakes on ice.


The only drawback is ground clerance IMHO.

regards,
Red

 

I agree that ground clearance is an issue, but my snow tires can pull me through some pretty deep snow.

Is it the DSC not stalling the engine, or the ABS not letting the brakes lock up.
I think the latter.

 

I have the sprts package on my 03' MCS and I have the 17'' rims on it, would anyone reccomend getting the 17'' perelli winter tires or the bridgestone blizzak 17'' tires? Or should i go to a different rim size/tire? what would you guys reccomend? (we get quite a bit of snow )

 

It won't take too many years for it to be cheaper to get a set of 15" steel wheels and snow tires on them and do the swapping yourself. 15" steel wheels are cheap, 15" snow tires are cheaper than 17", and the changeover is free as opposed to paying a shop to swap tires around on one set of rims. There's also no opportunity for wheel damage from mounting / unmounting tires.

But, some people cannot stand the thought of running black steel wheels on their MINI. Cheap-ish alloy wheels exist too.

As long as you're running stock brake hardware (not a big brake kit) most 15" wheels will fit. Some will even say that since a 15" tire will most likely be narrower than a 17" tire, they will provide better traction in the snow as they'll "sink" through the snow more and make better contact with a firm surface.

My 2 cents.

 

I have 15" Perelli Snowcontrols on steel rims. They work great! I can pull through snow that covers the lower cowling grill no problem. Just make sure whatever kind of traction control you have is toggled off, as wheel spin is a good thing to dig down to get grip, just drive like in the old days

There is lots of clearance in the wheel wells for snow and ice that does, and will build up in there.

Going to a smaller rim will make the speedo off, and I would think add more miles to the odometer. Not sure how much?

But if you have lots of snow, get some kind of snowtire on your MINI.

This much snow is nothing to worry about, Don't even need the ASC+T off for this.

 

i had no problems at all on my 17" all season runflats this winter, with snow about every other day... only got stuck once going up a hill and that's only because i was too impatient to wait for the snowplow. seriously, besides ground clearance there's really nothing to worry about, although i suppose snow tires can only help.

 

Changing to a smaller rim does not mean that the overall diameter of the tire is smaller, check here;
http://www.mini2.com/forum/faq.php?f...factory_wheels

Scroll down and there is a chart with all of the typical wheel/tire sizes recommended for the MINI. As you can see the 15", 16" and 17" are all very close in diameter.

 

You have winter Nokian studded Hakkapeliitta 2s? man those are the best winter traction money can buy, I've been trying for 2 years to get a set of those, they are hard to find in the size I was lookinf for, I had to settle for Blizzaks for now.

 

Blizzaks is hard to beat, I would go for Blizzaks before Pirelli and I've had Blizzaks since 1996 on about 4 different vehicles and love them, if you want better than Blizzak, you'll have to find a set of winter Nokian studded Hakkapeliitta 2s, or stick with Blizzak, they are the best thing on ice.

 

I have the all-season 16" run flats and they have been doing fine for the light snow we have been getting so far. But I am planning on getting a set of Dunlop M3s to prepare me for the full Michigan winter that is ahead. Basically if you live in a heavy snow area where there is snow all winter, invest in some serious snow tires, blizzak ws-50. If you just get partial snow, rain, sleet slush, invest in some all arounds dunlop m3s or blizzak lm-25 or just try out the all-seasons if you have them. If you get snow and you have the performance tires, definitely seek other tires.