Drove home through Snowmegeddon, Part 2 tonight. Took over three hours to cover 60 miles, so I got some decent experience with cold weather driving in the MINI. My impressions were generally pretty favorable.

My only quibble was that the upright windshield collects snow when you're driving. The snow accumulated on the wipers, and on each pass, the wiper would leave water, instead of clearing flakes. The water would freeze quickly, and the windshield would ice up quickly. This meant I had to drive with the defroster on full blast, superhot. I had to put the windows down to keep from sweating.

Otherwise, it was smooth sailing, even as other cars struggled around me. The feedback you get on dry roads is doubly useful in the slush. You know when you have traction, and when it's starting to break loose. And when you lose adhesion, it's in a controlled, recoverable way. It was about 4 inches of really slick unplowed snow by the time I got home. There were lots of wipe-outs and plenty of difficulty climbing hills, but the MINI just soldiered on.

One thing I found interesting was using the DSC to full advantage on a hill. I lost momentum behind someone rear-wheeler who couldn't make it up a hill, so I ended up needing to accelerate from a near standstill instead of maintaining speed. I learned that I could stomp on the gas in a lower gear, and the DSC would forbid me from spinning my wheels. I'd just hold the gas down, and the DSC would modulate the acceleration and let me go up the hill at the top speed it thought I could handle.

I've played with the DSC on and off to test its effect in lateral slides, and have always been pleased with it. Now, I'm doubly so.

OK, I did turn it off and do a power slide in my court to put some closure to the harrowing commute. I guess, as they say, any landing is a good landing, so I'm just glad to be home typing this.

 

Sounds like the heated windshield option offered in Europe and Canada but not here in the states would have come in handy.

 

Until you get a crack in it, then it stops working. I need to get mine replaced :(

Come to Canada! We've had a crazy winter so far. I find the MINI is great apart from the fact it's so low and becomes a snow plow.

Have you checked your wiper blades? Mine don't leave water behind. Maybe you need to have them replaced or make sure they are contacting the windshield firmly.

Glad you love your MINI that much more. I like DSC in the winter, in the summer, I turn it off.

 

Yes it does sound like the heated windshield might be a nice item to have in snow country. Glad you made it home safely, sounds like the driving was a bit stressful, I always felt a bit tense after 2 or 3 hours of driving in heavy snow and poor visibility, felt good to get home and relax hope you had the opportunity to that.

 

The icing up cane be fix by one of two ways

1. Front defroster on FULL BLAST
2. Open your windows and lower the interior temp so that the snow on the glass doesn't melt. I used that trick in college in upstate NY. The last 5 or 10 minutes of a drive home would be with the windows open so the windshield wouldn't be a sheet of ice in the morning.

 

+1



Number 9 is called the aux heater, part number 64113422661 ($464.77 on RealOEM). I was considering retrofitting mine with it, but I'm thinking a reflash would be required for that button to work. It might be worth it, since I have a short commute and my MINI doesn't blow heat until I've almost made it to work.

 

Our MINI does fairly well in snow, but snow has a tendency to cling to thefabric-like material in the wheel wells & build up around the tires. This can make steering difficult. Has anyone else had this problem &/or know of a solution?

 

This recent storm was no problem for my Mini -- once it got out of its plowed under parking spot. I live outside of Philadelphia, PA, and the snow was halfway up the height of the car, the snow higher than the antenna on the roof (the antenna no longer visible!)... I have to say that a confident snow driver makes a big difference in the snow and the best thing about this recent event was that most people stayed home.
I also find that the Mini rides low enough that it can easily become a snow plow with its body architecture up front and advise caution against heavy snowfalls.

The handling of the Mini is similar to most front-wheel drive cars, but perhaps better due to its wide-stance. Again, no problems driving around for me.

The DSC basically decreases power to the wheels until traction is gained. Under the most extreme cases, this could mean that the power is reduced to zero and the wheels actually stop spinning altogether (like going uphill on ice might create this problem). Turn the traction control (DSC = Dynamic Stability Control) off, and let the wheels spin at a reasonable rate in which they can at least get some traction and carry your forward momentum enough to get to somewhere there is more traction available.

Snowmeggeddon is a great name -- kudos!
And if Mini/BMW ever offer front window defrosters in the States, I'm buying!