From NJ and we haven't had snow yet. Just got my new mini in October and was wondering how it drives in the snow. My Toyota had a 1 and 2 on the shift which was good for the snow. How does the Mini work. I have an 06 automatic. Is there a way to drive in "low".

 

Like any FWD car, MINIs are great in the snow. Even with 205/45s. And with ASC+/DSC it's even better!
Can't address the auto trans thing, sorry.

 

I have an '06 MCS automatic, too. For snow, I like the floor shifter [I don't use the steering wheel paddles much at all...ever]. Put the car in Drive and then move the lever to the right. This puts you in Sport Drive. To use the shifter, move the gearshift lever up or down to whatever gear you want. Remember, when using the shifter, the car stops in second gear. To get into first, push up. Then you will have a 6 speed automatic.

The original Classics zipped thru the snow and ice with ease and they only had 10" wheels. The "new" MINIs get around well in snow, too. I've heard of many who have put winter tires on their cars, while others use the all-season runflats, or even the OEM 15" wheels and tires. I've run the 15" wheels and tires and have also used my OEM 16" runflats on other occasions, and have found both to make the car handle almost as well as the old Classic I had when I was much younger. A lot of people complain about their MINIs "snowplowing", but this is whatcha get for lowering your car and then driving it in Winter. A MINI that hasn't been lowered will do just fine.

 

I drove my mini in a small amount of snow and it did great. But I parked it when ice came. I just didn't want to take a chance of it getting damaged.

 

For a huge majority of MINI owners, snow tires probably aren't necessary. If you live anywhere where the meteorologists like to throw the phrase, "Lake-Effect Snow" around, (any areas around the Great Lakes), then snow tires are going to be a worthwhile investment.

I live in Syracuse, and we get pounded with snow each winter. That is why I change my wheels and tires over each winter to Bridgestone Blizzaks. But in New Jersey, I doubt that you'd need to resort to these truck tires.

Don't get me wrong, when the snow is falling, these tires make my car get through it like it was a tank. But on dry pavement, let's just say that they're not very athletic. Fact is, they handle pretty poorly on dry pavement.

So consider going the snow tire route very carefully. If you really enjoy spirited driving, and you hardly get lots of snow, then snow tires would be too much of a comprimise in ride quality, and an unnecessary investment, in my opinion.

On the flip side, if driving in the snow or ice, (no matter how small the amount is), really freaks you out, then some snow tires might be recommended. But the Blizzaks are really for the worst snowfall areas. There are other snow tires out there that provide a much nicer ride on dry pavement, that may be a better middle-ground for you.

Hope that helps.

 

Call me crazy, but i only have summer tires. Its snowing in nebraska now, my car is stuck 3 feet from the garage...its only like this 3-4 days out of the year, so its not worth buying snow tires.

 

Thanks I have a 06 MC automatic. Only time will tell. Right now I'm in Florida and not worrying about the weather.

 

I am in Manitoba, so winter tires are a must. I have the 17 run flats for summer and i got 15 winters for snow. I have an auto, what helps is to use the manual shifting controls and use 2nd gear to start, it keeps the tires from spinning. The Mini does great in snow, although we just got 10" and I will stay parked for a day or two until the plowing is done.

 

My Dunlop M3's (dedicated snow tires, albeit a "performance" snow tire) are a FANTASTIC tire overall, with none of the insecure handling that some snow tires exhibit. Heard good things about the Hankook Ice Bears too. Blizzaks, while great on ice and in "real" snow, aren't so hot anywhere else (think "pillows"). They also wear fast. They ARE a great ice tire, though.

Snow tires are a compromise and have some pretty different characteristics from brand to brand or model to model. Best to read up on them and do some research.

I lived in NJ and there are areas of NJ where a dedicated snow tire is, well, maybe not a "must", but a "highly recommended". Northwest NJ can get POUNDED sometimes, and it's warm enough that they get a lot of ice, and have to deal with narrow twisty hilly roads. And sometimes spotty snow removal.

I have Michelin X-Ices on our Honda Odyssey and, while they're a great snow tire and perform quite admirably everywhere else (ride quality is great, and wet grip isn't so bad either), they're getting a little noisy into their third season. I liked the old Arctic Alpin better for noise, everything else was similar and the x-Ices are better in regular snow (AA was marginally better on ice).

Hope this helps - don't be scared of snow tire handling, some are not so bad, and others are actually much better than many all-season tires in, well, "all seasons" - though they'll wear fast in warm weather. Semperits Sport Grips, Dunlop M3's, Michelins X-Ices, AAs and Pilot Alpins are some I've had great experiences with. The cheapie snow tires (Wintersports, anything "studdable") tend to be noisy and squirmy.

 

nabishin- you should atleast get a set of all seaon tires unless you have
another car to drive in the winter. driving summer tires on snow and ice
can be deadly.

 

Oops - forgot one thing - in winter it's pretty good to start out in 2nd, or *really easy* in 1st. You do NOT want all that torque resulting in wheelspin... drive as though there's a raw egg between you and all the controls...

g - e - n - t - l - e .........

 

The Mini handles fine in the snow. I have all season tires and the car did very well in the last storm that hit Denver, CO. Most of the major highways are clear at this point, however the side streets still have snow on them. The major problem is the 4 1/2" clearance, not traction. There are times I have to drive very slowly to avoid damage to the front end of the car.

 

I bought snow tires and wheels before last winter, and so far it's been an total waste of money. It's apparently never going to snow in Boston again, so I wouldn't be surprised if I go this whole winter without even mounting them. Last winter we had exactly one storm, and it all melted within 48 hours.

 

Today, the snow on the roads is mostly melted, it melts fast here so winter tires are a waste. Yesterday, after the plows went through and i dug my mini out my tires, high performance summer tire: Kumho Ecsta 711s, worked surprisingly well with the help of DSC and those fancy systems on the snow packed roads. I didnt get stuck at all.

 

Hold it, you gotta be careful. Even if the snow melts, keep those winter tires on for the cold roads. Last winter season, i kept my all-seasons on knowing that it wasn't going to snow much, well, as clean as it was on the streets, i still ended up spinning helplessly on the highway...ice and slush will always win that battle against blizzaks, anti skid and DSC's...

Anyway, from my experience of driving the MINI in the winter (montreal), it handle's very well and surprisingly i didn't get stuck when it snowed about 1-2 feet. Considering you have an Automatic tran, you shouldn't worry about the highs and lows, it should know itself. It's very different from us with Manual trans because we gotta deal with the gears and clutch and take-offs...like DixonL2 said... g - e - n - t - l - e ...

 

Old one looks like it handles pretty good:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...70&q=mini+snow

...and so does the new one (just wait, it's after the Audi...):

http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...03&q=audi+mini

 

Nice find...it performs well in the snow but with the right tires...

 

My first MINI did fine in the snow- just be careful. I did find that sometimes I needed to turn off the DSC in order to get moving, particularly if I was headed uphill. Otherwise, as the tires slipped, the computer kept cutting back the revs until the engine died True, there was no wheel slippage, but sometimes a bit of slipping is okay! Just remember to turn it back on once you get rolling.

 

Oh yeah - almost forgot - after handbrake u-turns and such, snow can get packed in the rims and you'll think a tire's out of balance. Clean the rims and life smooths out. Do not ask how I know this.

 

After this snow fall last winter, I was out and about once I got the snow off of Poco.

Got lots of thumbs up from the folks in 4x4s.

IMO if you live where it snows, get snows





Mark

 

Yes, be carefull out there

 

Wow is that a 'vert???

 

Ouch!

 

I purchased an 06 with the Pirelli P3000 tires on them. This is a "Summer rated tire" as soon as we had a 2 inch snow, these tires didn't perform well. Had problems with similar Pirelli's on my husbands Saab. I switched them out to Bridgestone Potenza G009's which are a high performance all-season - they're a bit wider 195/60 than my Pirelli's but have performed much better for me in both the rain and snow when it comes to holding the road.

Anyone out there interested in some Pirelli's with less than 5K on them for their Mini? I've got 4 to sell!

 

'tis now! (ouch - hope the driver was OK)