Hi all. First of all, let me say this is a fantastic forum. Just an intro...37 year old computer/web guy from Motown. I am seriously considering a MC or MCS and have a couple of questions...

1. How does it drive in snow? I have an SUV (I know, I know, don't shoot me) that obviously drives great with 4WD. How does the MC/MCS handle in snow?

2. Kid-friendly? I have a 4 year old. Anyone with a kid/kids here that can give me some insight? Do the kids fit alright in the back seat? Or is it a pain?

That chili red with chekerboard roof and white stripes is really calling me...

Thanks for any suggestions/answers...

-procproc@REMOVETHISshoplikeaman.com

 

well, i dont have any kids but i can answer your first question..
the mini is not that good in the snow, but i have to say, its a lot better than my previous car, a 98 altima.
this is majorly due to the dsc, i believe. if there are hills where you live, it wont be able to get up them in the snow.
i learned that the hard way.

 

Well - in deep snow - forget it! We too have an SUV (Thank Goodness) or we would have been stuck for DAYS

 

>>well, i dont have any kids but i can answer your first question..
>>the mini is not that good in the snow, but i have to say, its a lot better than my previous car, a 98 altima.
>>this is majorly due to the dsc, i believe. if there are hills where you live, it wont be able to get up them in the snow.
>>i learned that the hard way.
>>

I strongly disagree with Nomonstersinme! I have an MCS and live in an area with lots of hills and snow (we've had well over 40" this season)...and I find the MINI to be great in snow. It's not a truck, so ground clearance is not sufficient for plowing through unplowed roads...but it easily tracks in up to 6" of unplowed snow. The key is a) snow tires; and b) to TURN OFF the DSC when you are trying to get traction going up a hill. Most of the time I don't find this to be a problem, but the one or two times I've bogged down going up a hill I just stop 1/2 way up, turn off DSC, and then proceed with minor wheel spin.

There are LOTS of threads about snow and kids on MCO. Just do a search and you'll see. Just about everyone finds the MINI great in snow and good for small kids (big ones are another story...).

 

Here is my, albeit limited, experience.

I picked up my Mini in a snow storm last week. On the drive home, I fared quite well compared to the most others I saw out. I then drove around for a couple of hours and didn't slide once. I drove around all the next day on unplowed streets without a problem. While not super hilly where I live, my Mini took corners and hills flawlessly. I think if you live somewhere that snows regularly (and where in the U.S. don't we get snow now days?), the DSC is a must. It is like ABS on steroids.

As for kids, the rear seats have special hooks for car seats, which I think is a nice touch and makes the Mini family friendly. Unfortunately, there is no way to turn off the front airbags, so little ones should stay in the back until they are older. The seats do pop out of the way quite easily.

On safety, I believe the Mini was just rated one of the 5 safest cars on the road. I know there have been discussions on MCO about the report. In fact, the crash dummy in a Mini fared significantly better than the crash dummy in an F10 pickup! Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to play chicken with a Ford Expedition, but the safety features of the Mini and studies have shown it to be quite safe.

I hope this info helps in your decision. Good luck!

-Otto

P.S. I don't know what kind of transmission, Nomonstersinme has, but I have a manual trans on a MCS (only choice) and the DSC (Dynamic Stability Control).

 

I speak with a slight bit of authority...the MINI when properly driven is bloody awesome in the snow!!!
see my ohter post

Two AM rallysport takes 2nd overall

only significant change to the car was 1/8" tow out on the front and dissabling the ABS/DCS

 

Also, if you are going to drive the Mini in the snow, I would not consider the aero kit. It would probably turn your car into a snow plow.

 

Can't answer on the kids, but the snow... well... in general, you're going to run into issues with pretty much any car in snow as deep as the last storm - once you've gotten past the ground clearance on the car, you're going to have problems. The advantage that you have with the SUV is that you would have much more ground clearance to be able to get over the drifts and such. But then you're at a disadvantage with heavy wind gusts or having to maneuver the SUV versus a smaller, more nimble car (as I'm sure you know). Accident avoidance!

If you want to give yourself a GREAT advantage in the snow and you're in an area where you'll come across large amounts of snow, do yourself a favor with ANY car and get a set of winter tires. A separate set works wonders - then you don't have to have the tires remounted twice a year. All-season tires won't cut it compared to a set of GOOD winter tires.. of course they're just not that great at anything, really.... This is from recommendations of a lot of driving instructors over the years as well as personal experience. We've got an Audi S4 (come with Audi's great quattro all-wheel-drive system as well as ESP - similar to the DSC) that came with all-season performance tires. We thought it was pretty decent in the snow, but decided to get a set of winter performance tires and a set of summer tires. The difference is absolutely amazing. The car is virtually unshakeable in the snow with GREAT grip. I'm sure the MINI will also be perfectly fine with a set of winter wheels on it (for great advice on tires, you might want to check out Tire Rack - they've got a phenomenal rating system for tires and really nice sets that you can get).

And there's the added advantage of getting training in how to handle your car in the snow and ice. That experience is just not comparable to anything else. I just came back from a winter driving school up in New Hampshire - the goal there was to get the car to the point where you'd think there's no saving it and learning to take control of the situation. We had all kinds of cars there: front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive. By the end everyone in that class could control nearly any situation thrown at them where the car would slid or skid. Education like that is definitely a great way to get to know your car.

 

If you own a SUV then buy the MINI since at least you will have 1 snow vehicle. As others have said already- how it performs depends on the tires. My 17" performance tires SUCK in the snow. Snow tires or all-seasons are a MUST. As far as kids go, I have 3 of driving age and they have driven it more than me! If you are talking about small kids, my advice is let your wife drive them in the SUV, they might soil the MINI's interior!

 

okay, I WILL answer about the kids. I re-read the post and it seems that you were asking about the fit with kids. I can tell you that I've been in the back seat of the MINI with no problems. I'm not a small woman... 5'8" with long legs. It's not the MOST roomy seat I've ever sat in, but the seats are shaped well that you *fit* in them. So if I can do it, so can the kids! Unsure about carseats, but as mentioned, there've been a few threads mentioning it.

My concern would be with the noise from the exhaust back there... at least with the S. Some people don't even notice it, but some do.

 

Once and for all...YOU NEED SNOW TIRES if you anticipate driving in the snow. "All season" (really, 3 season) tires are fine if you just happen to get caught every once in a while with a little snow. But if you're in a place where snow is a regular winter feature, you need snow tires. Period.

 

>>I strongly disagree with Nomonstersinme! I have an MCS and live in an area with lots of hills and snow (we've had well over 40" this season)...and I find the MINI to be great in snow. It's not a truck, so ground clearance is not sufficient for plowing through unplowed roads...but it easily tracks in up to 6" of unplowed snow. The key is a) snow tires; and b) to TURN OFF the DSC when you are trying to get traction going up a hill. Most of the time I don't find this to be a problem, but the one or two times I've bogged down going up a hill I just stop 1/2 way up, turn off DSC, and then proceed with minor wheel spin.
>>

i never tried that, i dont have snow tires, but would it still work with turning off the dsc?
i tried to get up the hill to my apartment, made it half way, car started sliding.. friend got out, helped push the car.. got it 3/4 of the way up the hill and then anything else we tried just didnt work. the car kept sliding everywhere... i had to go back down the hill and go around on roads that were salted or plowed.. (lucky for me the parking lot to my apt has two entrances.. )
and how much would i be looking to spend if iwere to get snow tires? maybe id rather just slide around...

 

>>i never tried that, i dont have snow tires, but would it still work with turning off the dsc?
>>i tried to get up the hill to my apartment, made it half way, car started sliding.. friend got out, helped push the car.. got it 3/4 of the way up the hill and then anything else we tried just didnt work. the car kept sliding everywhere... i had to go back down the hill and go around on roads that were salted or plowed.. (lucky for me the parking lot to my apt has two entrances.. )
>>and how much would i be looking to spend if iwere to get snow tires? maybe id rather just slide around...

Actually, this covered in the owner's manual in the section on how to operate the DSC.

Whether or not you have snow tires has nothing to do with how the DSC works in terms of when to turn it off (well, it sort of does, but it's not worth going into here). The basic point is that DSC prevents wheel spin by cutting power. This is all well and good most of the time, but sometimes you actually DO want wheelspin...such as when you're bogging down in snow and are looking for traction. In those circumstances, turn off the DSC and you have a "regular" car that can spin its wheels freely (reportedly, this is good for drag racing too

 

I would say without a doubt, I am getting rid of the Dunlop runfalts and putting true snows on my MINI next season. Some of the hills in NJ here are troublesome, and the runflats compund the problem. I have a Cooper without DSC...but it's definitely a tire issue.

 

We live in the Rochester, NY area and have had > 120" of snow so far this winter so I've had a good deal of experience with driving our MCS in snow.

The stock 17" Dunlop SP900's run flats (performance tire option from MINI) are not good in the snow. Very lttle traction, etc. I replaced them with a set of 15" steel wheels fitted with Blizzaks and the car was transformed. Very solid and stable in the snow, at times much more so than our Ford Explorer, especially when cornering (DSC helps with this). The Michelin all-seasons on the SUV are much wider than the Blizzaks which can make them less effective in the snow.

Technically, I believe it's actually the traction control and not DSC that affects the ability of the MINI to progress in a straight line or climbing a hill as mentioned above (DSC comes into play during cornering). Our driveway is uphill all the way and I have had few problems making it to the garage with the traction control system activated. It's actually easier to climb the hill when the driveway is full of snow as the snow tires have something to grip.

All in all, if you're going to be driving the MINI in the snow you should strongly consider a set of dedicataed winter tires. Well worth the investment.

 

>>That said, your problem was more likely the lack of suitable tires than the DSC. It appears that you live in NY. So long as that's not NYC, I'd say that you should have snowtires in the winter if you want to be able to drive around. Check the many threads on this in the Tire/Wheel forum.


actually i am in nyc... and it doesnt really snow that much here.. and its pretty flat.
the hills are in rhode island where i go to school.. and i have no idea what regular winter conditons are like up there.... not sure if snow tires are worth the investment for me right now but thanks for the help, i did read the manual but i understood that it said only to turn dsc off when you have chains on your tires in the snow.. ill have to look at it again.. :???:

 

I live in Denver where we don't get a heck of a lot of snow (especially lately). Anybody have ANY good things to say about 16" run-flats in a regular amount of snowfall (less than 6 inches). I hope so 'cuz that's what will be on my car! Dealer said I'd be fine. Do I need to be concerned? Also, these tires good normally.
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
MC VR/W, chrome, 3 pkgs, xenon, HK, sunroof, leather, big smile

Ebbey is booked on the Libra Leader out of Southhampton on 2-18-03. He's scheduled to arrive in Port Hueneme, CA on 3-10-03. Final Destination: Colorado

 

IN THE SNOW: about as good as any small FWD car. Better tires (run-flats blow) would surely help.

WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS: There may be a million airbags in the front, ABS, DSC, crumple zones and steel beams but I would NOT put a child (or anyone else) in the back-seat. If you get rear-ended there is no trunk area to absorb the impact. Think of the Mini as a two-seater with a tilt-down package shelf.

 

My MC has 16" runflats and it performed admirably coming home from work yesterday lunch (snow had just begun here) and this morning - once we had dug out the 25"+ in the driveway.
I moved my MC up the road, so my wife could move her SLK and we could dig round it - no problem driving it (of course, I was not gunning the accelerator and trying sudden braking).

Later we dug out our neighbours - moved their Ford Ranger pickup and it was APPALLING trying to get it to move ... with no DSC and big tires sliding on the snow, it was much worse than my MINI.

My wifes SLK also was terrible with stock tires, but pretty good now with snow tires. Seems to be that MINI is as good as many cars, if the tires are not performance.

 

Hey there,

Brand spankin' new DS/MCS in 24 inches of fresh snow on Long Island New York.
The car 'rocks' in the snow, the only other vehicles on the road were plows!
The DSC was great, got up every hill there was, my Aero kit was it's own snowplow a few times there.

 

>>Hey there,
>>
>>Brand spankin' new DS/MCS in 24 inches of fresh snow on Long Island New York.
>>The car 'rocks' in the snow, the only other vehicles on the road were plows!
>>The DSC was great, got up every hill there was, my Aero kit was it's own snowplow a few times there.
>>

What tires are you running? No damage to the aero kit either? I figure you lose a little ground clearance with it.

I agree that snow tires and ground clearance makes a difference, but the fact is, some people are just good at driving in snow!

 

Just to be picky, I believe that traction control, not DSC, is what helps the MINI get about in the snow. DSC (which incorporates traction control (ASC+T)) comes into play when going around a corner as it will selectively apply the brake(s) and cut engine power when excessive yaw is detected. Best observed by sharply turning into a snow covered corner with some speed and feeling the MINI get back onto line with minimal sliding (although power will be reduced). Try the same corner with the DSC switched off and see the difference. Great fun.

 

Hey, I'm in Motown myself.
As far as the snow goes...
I've had my MCS since November. So far I had no problems with the winter in Detroit. Actually I'm very happy with its preformance in the snow.
I would not worry about it unless We get several feet of snow. Then You're out of luck in most things anyway.

Cheers