For all you east coasters living in a cave we are having a blizzard tonight. I'm on call tonight to ~ midnight. Any tips for driving the Mini in the snow and slush?

 

Snow and ice tips...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=122790

I don't live in a cave but sorry, no blizzard here on the East Coast. Just you North Easterners.

 

We get our Blizzards down at the Dairy Queen!

Good luck to you guys in the Nor' East.

Drive some other day. Safer and more fun.

 

Isn't that from Dairy Queen? Dang...simple minds think alike

 

If you have snow tires and drive slow, the only thing you have to worry about is the other guy.

 

Not on the coast, but we have a bit of snow in Colorado.

If you have snow tires, good. Hope you have at least all-seasons. Keep the start up revs down and watch out for SUVs.

I find the MINI gets around very nice on snow pack and the ice/snow pack our city has decided to leave on the streets.

 

Yeah shoveling the snow would be a lot nicer if the "weather" blizzards included Butterfinger pieces.

 

80 degrees here today! Thought about going out to the pool. Stupid Charlotte weather....

 

I'm rdy. Continental WitnerContacts (taken this afternoon)

 

We got 11" of snow here in Connecticut. My MINI is at the dealer getting work done I pick em up tomorrow so I'll be able to test out my Blizzaks....Hopefully the roads will be clear enought to drive. My road still hanst been plowed yet.....I love it when the roads are snow packed its much more fun to drive on than nasty slush.

I'll take some pics of MINI in the snow too.

 

- have a 2nd set of winter wheels
- find a open parking lot and slide around to feel how she handles
- find a parking lot with a good slope to find how she climbs/brakes in the slop
- try with, and without, the traction control (in general, leave it on at speed, turn it off if climbing hills from a stop or slow speed).
- watch your ground clearance for those snow plow chunks in the middle of the road.
- brake early

 

Snow tires (Blizzak 17" runflats) and taking it slow worked wonderfully for me today (after I dug my car out of a snow drift). We ended up with a foot of snow, and the roads s u c k e d but DSC did its thing and I didn't die. Yay.

 

I'm in CT also, just had some Blizzak WS-60s put on this morning.. not to soon! They made the drive home great, SUVs were sliding all around and I had no troubles.

 

Back in the '80's the Air Force thought a Texan should be stationed in Alaska, so off to Anchorage we went. In November.
First Sunday I had off we went to the empty parking lot of Northern Lights Mall and played "how to drive on ice". Sunrise was about 9:30, so it wasn't very bright out, and my headlights were all over the place. Slide, slide, spin, slide.
I would start by making a large circle and then just tighten it until I lost traction. Without making sudden, jerky movements you could feel when the tires gave up. Plus you learn how much you can push before enertia wins.
Anyway, I had built up my courage and I am running in the 50's. You slide for aways when that lets go. I spin to a stop, and lo and behold, there is one of Anchorage's Finest headed across the lot. I figure I am about to get the riot act, but, he gave me some pointers and said he wished more people would learn on a parking lot.

 

Just to let everyone know, I made it safely home. Actually it was fun. The main roads were clear. However, closer to home there were some less than optimum roads and I was able to put the car in drift safely since it was so late. The car feels very confident in the snow with the standard Dunlop all season RFTs.

 

I dropped from 195/55R16 Conti SSRs to 185/65R15 Blizzak REVO 1s in November. The only problem with them was a shimmy on grooved highways. Had an e-mail conversation with Bridgestone/Firestone yesterday who recommended switching from 33psi all 'round to 30F/35R. Tried it this morning, and the handling was significantly improved!

 

Glad to hear it. How much snow did you end up with on Long Island? We got around 10" in southern NH.

 

They are a great tire huh! Got the same ones.

 

only about 3"

 

They are great. I've driven in the last 3 storms we have had and I'm amazed out how well they work. I've been unable to even activate my ABS using them! Last thursday I ended up driving home in the storm we had at night and had no issues at all, all the while watching cars fish tail all around.