Just curious as to who's getting what for their Clubmans tis winter? I was going to put the car away for the cold season but long story short, we decided to keep her on the road and now I'm stuck trying to decide on tires, or NOT?

I've heard the all-seasons are just fine but we are snowboarders that like to travel in the snow.

Any recommendations. Hard since this is the first year out for the Clubbie so I'm guessing no one knows how it handles in the snow and ice

 

In Rochester? (!). Snow tires!
Here on LI, which averages just a few snowy days per winter lately, it's a toss-up, but don't you get lots of snow up there?

 

It's hit or miss with snow...either we get dumped on or get rain. Hoping it snows but we haven't had the best winters lately.

Most people have snow tires here but as I said, was told that some people use their all-seasons on their MC and are just fine. So looking into it....

 

Definetly get "Snow Tires".

We do a lot of travel in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to go skiing and "snow tires" are definitely 1000 times better than all season.

My BMW wagon (two wheel drive) goes better with snows on it than my former Dodge Pickup (4 wheel drive) with all season tires.

My suggestion is to have a second set of rims and snow tires. Then it make it an easy change from one to the other. We never rally know when the snow will start and this way all you have to do is put a jack under the car and put the snows on at the first sign of heavy snow or the end of November which ever comes first. Then when you get to spring when the weather starts to get above 40 even at night it is time to change back.

Also the snow tires will do better on the ice that forms in your area when you get rain and then a really cold day the next.

 

I'm in Long Island as well just replaced my runflats with Altamax all season .
Time will tell .

 

Snow tires are cheap insurance, especially compared to what you paid for the car. You'll be kicking yourself if you end up sliding into something or someone.

Winter tires are dramatically better in winter conditions. For improved performance, you can even run a skinnier tire. Sure, you can get around on all-seasons, but all it takes it that one time someone decides to pull out in front of you. It's the 'other cars and pedestrians' that make winter tires necessary. Also, using winter wheels saves your alloy wheels. Winter is hard on wheels...pot holes and road salt can be harmful to alloy wheels. Steel wheels are readily available and much cheaper to replace.

You're not going to really save any money by running all-seasons, err, 3 season tires. While your running your winters, you're saving the wear on your 3 season tires. All you're really out is the initial cost of the winter tires (but you're saving your other tires, so no real cost here), optional winter steel wheels or the price of a tire change in the Spring and in the Fall.

Just do it...

 

i just took my 09 justaclubman to mammoth (central sierra nevadas) from los angeles approx 1 month after i got it. 1000 miles on it with stock tires. it performed great. when we were there we got 18 inches of snow overnight and it drove wonderfully. never turned DSC off. i had Shur Grip Z cables but never felt the need to put them on.

pictures below...

 

Wow. That's a lot of snow.

However, I couldn't help but notice the cleared road in the back of the photo...

 

I've got the all season runflats on my '09 mccs - I'm going to give them a try through this winter. Here on Cape Cod our winters tend to be pretty mild.

We got some Hakkapalitta's on steel wheels for my wife's '07 Cooper and they were outstanding. They actually look pretty good 'cause they're silver and I got the Mini small hub caps. Got the package from BavAuto.

 

I'm using the 15" stock wheels and tires this winter.

 

Here in St.Louis there is no need for snows, but when I lived up in Manitoba I ran them on my 03 Cooper. Looking forward to some snow though to see how our Clubman does.

If you do get snows, get cheap steel wheels for them, besides winter being hard on your alloys, changing tires twice a year on them is hard on them also, and the cost of the steelies is off-set the first year of have tires swapped.

Mark

 

I am having snows put on this week. I am more likely to deal with lake effect than you are in Rochester, but as you are going to be spending time going into ski country, why take the chance. I don't know where you board, but the roads into Holiday Valley and KB, epically KB, can be dicey when its coming down. It's going to be interesting getting my board into my Justacooper.

 

Thanks for all the replies....guess I'm going to suck it up and have snow tires put on. Had hoped to save the money but its probably worth it overall.

Now, have to figure out what kind, etc etc, blah blah. Oh joy!

 

cool photos! thanks for sharing~

 

Ice at KB LOL! Funny to see KB and Holiday mentioned. I grew up skiing them went back to KB last year for the first time in 15 years. I remembered the hills being so much bigger but after years out west the seem tiny. Going to hit HV this season just to do it. Spent 90% of my days skiing it anyway when I lived in Buffalo. Back to the question I would go with snows in Western NY for the winter.

 

Just put my winter tires on today after seeing the forecast for lake effect snow for the next few days here in western, NY (I live in the Buffalo area.) I bought Bridgestone Blizzak WS60's...can't wait to try them out in some real snow. I drive about 30,000 miles per year all around upstate and western NY and didn't think twice about investing in snow tires for the new Clubman.

 

I had the Blizzaks on my 06 Cooper and now have them on my 09 Clubbie..
I also live in Western NY and after I got into a $6500 dollar fender bender in my 03 Cooper, I will never be without snow tires on a MINI! What a tank in the snow with the Blizzaks!

I had to pony up the $$$ for the new TPMS sensors for the 09 but it all worked out,

Dave

 

I just put on my snows on Friday. In Toronto I wouldn't do without them. Even if there is not a large amount of snow, the cooler temperatures affects a tire's performance.

 

Southern Wisconsin here, and I'm going to make a go of it this winter in the all season runflats. This is going to sound bad, but I'm so used to sliding around corners and driving in the snow with older cars that I'm hoping it won't be too bad.

 

Calgary checking in...

Put on Blizzak LM-25 RFT 84V in the OEM size on R110 Pace wheels (Summer tires are on accessory R112 Challenge wheels) back in the third week of October. We got our first snow this past weekend, and there's lots of ice and crud hanging around, depending on which part of town you're in.

The tires bit pretty good, but seem like more of a "snow" tire than an "ice" tire.

Other club members (check us out at minicalgary.com wink, wink) are all over the map: RFT, non-RFT, 15", 16" 17", steelies, alloys, etc.

I like having another dedicated set of wheels/tires, as it forces a tire rotation at least twice a year...

 

As sort of an aside...My old steel wheels (bought originally for my '04) will not fit The Clubman...

Why doesn't Tire Rack showing any steel wheels for any MINIs after '06? I know, I should just call them but wanted to check in here first.

 

My 0.02 from a cold Manitoba.

I just got stuck in about 2 inches of snow (!!), with a thin coat of ice underneath that. The all-season run-flats were absolutely useless on that surface.

I had been debating about not buying proper winter tires for the Clubman, and just using our Infiniti G35x (with winter tires) when conditions dictated.

This latest experience just confirmed, though, that it's just not safe to count on all season tires in the winter.

If you're going to drive in the winter, you really should switch to winter tires. A pretty cheap investment, really, for the most important safety equipment on your vehicle.

 

Changing wheels is hard on wheels? Uhm okay. Driving cars is probably hard on cars then.

 

Steel wheels are not made for the new 2nd Generation and certainly not the Clubman, from everything I've read. If you want to keep your TPMs, you'll have to buy a wheel that has the option of having them installed. (Check out TireRack.com)

I'm not exactly sure when the change was made but the bolts changed from 12mm to 14mm. Yes, there are conversion stud kits, but that is not something that I, personally, want to get involved with... I do have my steel wheels and snow tires from my previous MINI, but the only thing I can imagine doing is using the snows on my existing 15" alloys that came with my non S Clubman...then, perhaps, looking for some more attractive wheels for the regular all-seasons come March or so.

 

Laurendesigns,

I too am in Rochester and I'm going to try the OEM all season run flats. We'll see, but if its bad I can use another car or just stay home. I do plan to get a nice set of wheels and tires for the summer, then when the OEMs wear I will get some real snows. That's the current plan......