Well last night I went to bed, there were tiny snowflakes falling, and they were not sticking. I'm like okay cool no problem. This morning CooperBeagle(who lives near me) and I wake up to like one inch plus of snow. Not so cool. I have had a standing appointment @ Tire Rack for the last two weeks to get my all season runflats put on this weekend. Of course the snow couldn't wait though! So I am driving the next three days in what in the snows eye's are equivilant to racing slicks. This morning the DSC was engaged in 2nd gear at a whopping 10mph and with every shift of the gear. I never got above 15mph. I really don't know whether DSC is helping or hurting is this case though. It was definetly a new experience for me, being a first year driver. I'm wondering besides all season tires is there anything I can do to my car, with my car, or with my driving, to help make my winter life a little easier, driving in a MINI?

Thanks
Chili

 

one idea i can give you is to drive faster yes drive faster. that way if something does happen you will look cool slipping and slidding everywhere

please remember that this is someone who is not the worlds best driver and you should probaly disregard the above post

 

If you value your car, don't bother driving on summer performance tires whenever there is snow on the ground. They just turn into 4 blocks of ice with zero traction, I've tested this theory and it's not fun .

 

Just watch some WRC and learn from the pros snow tires should be narrow so they cut through the snow and get to the road. As for the driver part of it find an empty parking lot and learn what your car does when it loses traction, it is both fun and educational to slide around for a couple hours.


I remeber learning to drive in the snow in a rear wheel drive car, one of the most fun days of my life.

 

Also,

The All-Season Runflats are AWFUL in snow!! I know some people witll disagree with this, and obviously they are much, much better that performance summer tires, but I got stuck with All-Seasons on Vail Pass a month ago. Not a good experience!!!

- ®

 

All season tires! HAH!

Up here in Boston, where we get LOTS of snow throughout the winter, all season tires really don't cut it. They'll get you around in the most basic of senses, but I wouldn't say they are safe to drive on!

Last winter I drove to Stowe, VT for a ski trip, and on the way back we drove through a monster of a snow storm... there were SUV's off the road on all sides, we saw Chevy Tahoes, GMC's, Fords, and several Jeeps! Despite all the carnage, my 05 MCS cruised right along on my Dunlop M3 performance winter tires. DSC barely ever came on, but I was glad it was there!!! Overconfidence claimed most of those SUV's but also a lack of proper tires! Most come with all-season tires, and with their 4WD systems, the drivers didn't know they were at a real loss for traction. Keep in mind a large SUV weighs almost twice as much as a MINI, and therefore takes that much longer to stop (more momentum!).

In general, I tell everyone that snow tires are a good idea North of NY since they are the only thing that will actually help you STOP and STEER in the snow, AWD/4WD does neither of these things!!! Since I commonly drive to norther VT, and NH, it was a necessity for me (I have the Pirelli summer-only tires).

Be safe, and find a BIIIG parking lot, and turn OFF the DSC for a few minutes, and get to know the REAL MINI you own... find out how it slides, when it slides, and how to recover... its all part of the fun of winter! A few short mintes in a safe, open parking lot will educate you a great deal on what your call will do once DSC has run out of tricks!

Be safe!

ciao
RM2k5