What would be the most efficient option to put on your tires in order to to drive across areas filled with snow or ice?

 

This is question sort of vague, do you mean tires, chains and studs? My MINI w/ the DSC and European rated snow tires has gotten me around in 7-8 inches of snow and Ice in the Alps. This was w/o chains. However we did chain up all 4 corners when it came to coming down the other side, Law required it at that point . I havent driven other front wheel drives in many years, but my R56 did VERY WELL. With the chains on we pushed snow. We had to replace the bottom air deflector, that plastic peice at the lowest point on the front bumper. My R56 has proven to be an ALL YEAR PERFORMER

 

But someone told me that the S model wont wear chains! Is that right?

 

I have all seasons and they work well. Have read many comments here about true snow tires making the car perfrom extremely well in snow. Ice is a whole other issue.

 

Check out what this guy used.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=128334

 

Hah, that's me! The Spike Spiders fit fine. The caveats are,
1. They are 'relatively' expensive for the few times a year when one needs them
2. The maximum speed is 30 mph, and last year with my old Cooper, I drove around Deep Creek Lake in snow, 30 mph was too fast on most of the roads, more like 20 - 25mph! So, that presents a problem when cruising home in a heavy snowstorm on a road crowded with all-wheel drive vehicles that are traveling in excess of 50mph! At least that is what they do here around DC, where no one seems to know how to drive in wintery weather.

 

If you really need to drive your MINI in the snow / ice, you really should get snow tires.

If it's only a few days a year that snow / ice is an issue, can you just stay home and not drive on those days?

 

As above, get some Vredestein or Nokian snow tires and you will be well equipped. They have the added advantage of allowing you to drive quite rapidly in less than ideal conditions that chains and their like don't allow you to experience.

 

Snow tires are not worth having in countries that have snow for a few days. So im not really looking for snow tires but a more efficient approach to the matter, either chains or its alikes!

 

It always amazes me to see people spend hundreds of dollars for performance equipment of questionable effectiveness, then refuse to spend a few hundred bucks on something that can definitely let them stop 100 feet shorter (5 car lengths, or 8 in the case of the MINI).

Will you have chains on when you hit that slippery black ice? Nope. And then you may find your insurance deductible is higher than the snow tires were...

Chains are for keeping in the trunk and getting you unstuck, or for putting on when the law requires over mountain passes. They won't be on the car when it matters most unless you can predict the future. And they only really fit well on 15" tires anyway, so are best used with snow tires. The Spikes-Spiders have the advantage of being so easy to put on and remove that you can drive to the plowed highway and take them off, rather than driving down the highway at 20mph and creating a hazard.

It's not worth having all-seasons year round for a few days of snow each year, since snow tires will last a looong time if used only when below freezing, allowing the use of summer-only rubber the rest of the time. And the best snow tires now handle as well in the dry as the best all-season tires--they just don't last as long.

 

Where i come from we have extreme snow/ice weather only 2/3 days a year and not every year so im not gonna spend money to get a set of four snow tires just to use them 5-6 times!
Does that still amaze you BFG9000?

 

Yes, it does actually surprise me that someone would find gauge pods and stripes to be more important. But then only you can set your own priorities in life

It also snows here only an average of 1-2 days per year, with subfreezing weather only for 2-3 weeks. Since I really need to get to my job no matter what, I have snow tires for the MINI. This is even though I have 4WD vehicles available (yes I have snows for them too)--I'd rather motor unless it gets really bad.

Honestly snow tires are not like other purchases, in that the absolute cheapest set of studded tires you can buy work just fine, and are cheaper than the mentioned Spikes-Spider chains to boot

 

Putting on and off snow tires isnt practical when you cant move the car (due to snow or ice) to the nearest tire change shop. If you have them on as your regular tires thats a different issue, but still i wouldn't want to have snow tires permanently on my mini, nor would i want to have snow tires on 15" or 16" wheels! 17" wheels is a one way road for me!
So all this is a practical and looks matter, so no need to argue on this and lets get back to the original issue this thread was about!

 

okay you two break it up. both of you have good points and personal preferences for both sides. personally i use the handy jack and breaker bar to change my tires. yesterday i had wanted to flip back to summers and get rid of the snow set up as mid february is around that time for me in SE Pennsylvania. i couldn't however because i lost my wheel lock. in any event. it is nice to have snow tires and i feel alot safer on the highways and warding off black ice and the like. if the temperature will be below 37 you should have on the snow tires. i put mine on in november and take em off in february and that will usually get me through 4 seasons. i'm not a big fan of the chains or those spiders because my commute is on highways. i had chains rip off my last car and it actually took a large part of quarter panel with it. that was years ago now but i have enjoyed snow tires and they were relatively cheap. i got rims and tires for 600 shipped.

 

My wife runs dedicated snow tires on her '07 MCS. It makes the drive much safer and more enjoyable.