Hi All. I'm currently in the market for a new vehicle and have researched the mini quite a bit and am very interested. My husband is concerned about me getting one because of the severe Winter weather we have where I live.

I'm curious as to how the mini has performed in the Winter for anyone else who has experienced driving through anywhere from one to four feet of snow...icy conditions...etc.

I'm wanted a Mini S...feel free to leave any info. that would be helpful! Thank you so much, I appreciate it!

 

I drive mine here in Germany during the winter with no problems. Mind you it is not a great car on roads that are not cleared, but for the occasional ice patch and light snow it drives like a champ.

 

Get a set of winter tires and you'll be set.
Had Zero problems this past winter. With all the tecno wizardry DSC and all that, felt as secure as my Subaru.
I went with a set of the Pirelli Snowcontrol 180s from the Tire rack.

 

handling in snow with stock 15' Continental all-seasons; very good

handling with Pirelli Snow controls: great

 

2 Wisconsin winters, no problem with Michelin Pilot Alpin snow tires or should I say tyres. Now mind you, things will get interesting with more than 4 inches of unplowed snow. Handled the snow and ice just as well as my former AWD FX 35.

 

Upstate "Snow Belt" New Yorker chiming in:

MINI's are great in the snow, when equipped with snow tires on all four wheels. I would strongly recommend dedicated snow tires if you get lots of snow, slush or ice each winter. I bought four Bridgestone Blizzak tires, mounted to four steel 15" rims from the Tire Rack, and love them. The confidence and traction they provide in the snow is awe inspiring. The car is a virtual tank in the snow, nothing stops it.

The only caveat I have is that the front air dam is like 4" off the ground, so your car may turn into a snow plow in the really deep snow.

 

Also running 15" dedicated snows (Dunlop M3's) and have never had an issue... JerseyGirl always makes a point of going to work during even the worst snow storms just to spite the 4WD SUV owners she works with who wuss out and stay home.

 

Ditto

Mark

 

http://mini.ca/en/More_MINI/MINIfun/default.aspx

Click on Dominate Winter

 

Mine has been great in the snow, (even with the 17" wheels), very stable in light snow (2-4"), and icy conditions. I wouldn't try to drive it in much more than 4 to 6 inches, it just becomes a snow plow. We had 4 feet in one storm last year, and it waited until the plow came by, (as did my other 4X4's), but once the roads were somewhat cleared it does fine.

Nik

 

I would concur with everyone's comments. My MINI has exceeded my expectations in winter driving. I have the Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires mounted on an old set of OEM S-Lites. With DSC and traction control, the car is very stable in bad weather. As others have indicated, when the yucky stuff gets deep though, you're sort of out of luck.

 

I have 195/50-16 Hankook Ice Bear 300's on mine and love making the SUV drivers squirm as I zip by in the hammer lane. I've driven in 9" of fresh snow without problems but I wouldn't push it much past that. Visit http://www.arcticmini.com
and you'll see some serious winter driving with the MINIs.

 

I bought snow tires from tirerack.com and have DSC. the car handled better than any other car I've ever had in our Cleveland Ohio Snow-Belt Winter. I was really suprised at the handling of the crud that forms between the lanes. The car drives right through the slush and handles great. The DSC light blinks a bit when traction is lost but the car is solid.

 

Ive got an 06mcs with the lsd and dsc, not that the lsd matters too much in the snow. Any way. I got caught in a really really nasty storm last year going through chicago. What made it especially bad was when i started my 700 mile treck there was no snow and the day was nice. By the time I got to chicago from green bay there was about 6-7 inches on the ground and the plows were busy piling up snow on the entrance ramps closing the interstates instead of clearing the snow off the highways.

So here I am in a dang blizzard on the chicago tollway. I can barley see out the front windows, there is about 5-6 inches of standing drifting snow on the tollway, and im the only one on it.

So i turned off the headlamps and ran with only my fogs. I generally kept the car a gear too high just to avoid the powerband a bit travelling mostly at 45-55 mph. the car did beautifly. Any time the front grip started to go away all i had to do was let my foot off the throttle and the car snapped right back into shape. This was even with the all season tires and not snow tires. Needless to say i was impressed.

I think for this next year if i dont end up moving some where with favorable weather ill scoop up some snow tires just so i can play around in the snow. However, even without id say this car is just about up there with my old rally ready subaru svx. Matter of fact with the same tires id match them up evenly in the snow.

 

No troubles here dealing with Colorado winters on the stock 15'' tires. I don't have to drive in the very worst weather (one benefit of a virtual office), but if I did I'd just get a set of steelies with winter tires for the worst months and keep motoring.

--Matt.

 

I got my MCS last winter and also was alittle concerned about driving in the snow/ice here in Minnesota. First time out in the snow I took it to a big open parking lot and "played". It was a matter of "bonding one with the car". I'm super comfortable with how it handles in the snow now.

 

You got to be kidding it is 98 deg's out now. LOL

 

.....and your point is?

 

The snowplow effect seems to be the greatest risk for winter driving with the MINI. Between the front wheel drive configuration, DSC, ABS and winter tires, you probably have a very controllable car. But 4" of ground clearance is going to require staying on roads that have been plowed.

 

Now that's one dead sexy way to dominate winter.

swizzle

 

As everyone says, traction isn't really the issue, it's ground clearance. I had 3 people in my car & had to drive over a road that wasn't entirely cleared. I heard the bottom scraping against some ice... ouch.

 

This:



got through this:




with comparatively little effort, with Bridgestone Blizzaks on 15" steelies.

 

Ah, but do you see the snow plow marks (inside of the tire marks)? At some point, you will build up a drift of snow. Better to avoid unplowed roads.

 

Awesome! Thank you all so much, this has built my confidence! And yes, the whole "Dominate Winter" on the mini site was great! Thanks again everyone!

 

Impressive! What size tires are those? 195/60?