Let me tell u how amazing the mini was in the snow today. It took me over 3 hours to go from stamford conn to yonkers ny {17 miles}. Every rear wheel drive was unable to drive the hutch pkwy as well as most fw vehicles it was so bad. The guy next to me for almost 2 hours thought i was crazy to be driving in my mini until we passed the last accident and he gave me a thumbs up. Even my father who was a few miles behind me in his lex awd seemed to have more issues. My antil lock brakes only activated once, in my nissan it would of went off every second. The snow was above my bumper and i just pulled out of my spot no problem. Also how would i no when the dcs or whatever it is works i didnt notice anything i wasnt doing? I also love the rear wiper being my first snow experiance with one every car should have one. so much for snow being a concern its 100 times better than my nissan.

 

good to hear, we got another foot out here today so it should be an interesting weekend

 

Nice looking Mini too!

 

Good hear! I've been having great sucess with Nokian's too, but haven't had it over bumper height...... yet!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...snow-test.html

 

Awesome! What size wheels are the blizzacks on? And are the tires runflat or conventional?

 

17 INCH STOCK RIMS LM 25 BLIZZACK RUNFLATS

 

Great report, todoubled! I got my Blizzaks on 15" wheels (I have a matching set of white holies for my summer tires, too) just in time for our first dumping. Wow what a ride!! My favorite is a winding hill, curving to the left, that is snow packed with a slick base! These tires make my MINI tear up that slope like a tractor!! You can actually feel the bite as it pulls you throught the curve! I found a new way to work that is snow-packed with fun along the Mississippi's west bank. Just learning to feather the throttle a bit more carefully. Don't want to light up the DSC if I can avoid it. My second favorite is shooting "rooster tails" of snow behind me! Can't wait for the next foot of snow this weekend...topped by a low of -13 for Monday! Motor on.

 

We pulled Molly out of the garage tonight after she had been couped up all week due to the weather, well not so much the weather, but the gravel that has been put down. "Ding City" and I don't wan't that for my Baby. We went to dinner with relatively little activity in the way of snow, not even 1/2 way through dinner I look outside and it's SNOWING, bigger flakes than we've had all week. The only time I noticed any inclination of the snow underfoot was when I was pulling back up into the drive way, with about 1/2" inch of snow in some places. The tires gripped well, and I could feel the DSC work its magic!!

 

Good to hear. I have to get a set of snows ASAP. Driving around NY today in a bad snow storm, i lost traction constantly. Especially since i live up a fairly steep and long driveway.

 

Thats awesome! I too expirenced some snow (around 4in) and man did my Mioni coop perform well! I thought it was just me and my best wishes, but maybe not!!

 

I was also in traffic described by OP and also saw multiple SUV's/others on side of road. Blizzak's worked great for me too.

 

Why when ABS kicks in does it make a horriable noise and the brake pedal feels werid. I hope this isn't just my car.

 

I installed 17" Blizzacks for my winter set-up and was begging for it to snow, so I can check out how it handles. It just snowed yesterday and haven't left my parking spot for not wanting to loose my primo spot. Parking spaces are precious in NYC!

 

Sounds about right, Bigjoe. Just keep pressing the brake to the floor with all you got. It's just your MINI's way of telling you you got more momentum than the situation requires. It will control your stop as best it can without skidding. I tend to use engine braking alot in the winter mix. Best of luck.

 

Anybody using their paddle shifters on their automatics in the snow?

 

Work well for me. I keep the rev 300-500rpm lower in snow to limit torque (MCSa).

 

I got to try my new LM-25s for the first time in heavy snow today too (first time driving the new MINI in the snow as well). The roads were covered in very slippery packed dry snow, and the bite with the traction control was quite good as long as I kept the revs down under 2K RPMs. Stopping traction was GREAT with these tires and such a light car though - especially with aggressive pumping of the brakes.. much better than the auto anti-lock in the deep snow.

I have a steep driveway (8+% incline) and did a bunch of back to back runs with different traction settings. The best was the standard mode, as both the DTC and E-Diff modes caused a lot of spinning and loss of forward momentum - even under light throttle. You need a little momentum on the steep inclines though. If you stop, you're in trouble - at least with the setup I have. I wish I could run a little lower pressures than 38 PSI but I'm a little worried about tire wear. Is anyone else running a 17" Blizzak LM 25 RFT at anything lower?

 

I also have Blizzaks on my OEM 17" rims. In yesterday's snow my car was a champ! up all the big hills. Best investment ever.

 

Ugh, I can't afford winters this season. Hopefully the OEM Conti All-Seasons will be OK

 

I priced mine out at 2 local shops and one was within $5 per tire if i were to buy them online, so i gave him the business. He actually told me i might be better off price wise buying the tires online and having him install them.

 

Check out my car's snow AFRO.

 

OK, that's just awesome

 

I have LM-22s on my JCW and no problems here!! Enjoy your snow motoring!!!!

 

I have 215/45/17 LM-25 s as well. We've had an unusual amount of snow here in the Puget Sound area. While it's not as unstoppable as my Subarus have been in the past, the Mini is certainly getting the job done. Traction is very good, braking is excellent (all things considered -- and I expect a fair amount of ABS in these conditions). Ground clearance is my biggest concern right now.

The LM-25s and the Mini are a good combo.

 

Yeah, the snow here in Seattle is crazy. Here's a pic of the accumulation BEFORE the additional 7" we received through last night. I like snow, but geez... Ugh.