Hello there i live in Rhode Island and i have a 07 MCS.havent been through the winter season yet. just wondering how does the car drive in snow? is it a safe car to drive in the winter as an everyday car. i have to go school and work. should i get winter tires? or keep the runflats on them?

 

You can put a good all season on it and it will be just fine. If you get a LOT of snow then I would buy some good snow tires. The Mini has a good portion of the weight of the car over the front axles so you will get really good traction. If the snow is really, really deep then personally i would stay home. The front of the car could act as a snow plow in too deep of snow and that could cause some damage.

But the car goes real good in "regular" snow with good snow tires.

 

+1 to everything PatM said.

 

If we have a winter like last year i would put on good snow tires. Im in RI also and thats what im doing

 

I live in North Central MA and travel VT, NH, and ME for ski trips. The MINI with a "good" set of "snow tires" NOT "all seasons" will out preform many of the small 4 wheel drive SUV's out there.

I have driven past many stuck 4 wheel drive vehicles over the 2 winters with my MINI. IT really 'pisses' them off when they are sitting on aslight incline at a stop sign and i pull up behind them stop and then drive right around them when all they do is spin all 4 wheels. I get lots of middle fingers and obsenities thrown my direction when I pass them.

So get real snow tires NOT all seasons and you will be golden to drive the winter in RI and many other places with snow.

 

how long have u had a mini for in RI

 

which brand should i use to winter tires and how much is this all going to cost?

 

There are many good brands. If you have a Discount Tire in town I would run by there with your budget in mind and they will fix you up.

You can also look here http://www.tirerack.com/index_w.jsp, do some studying of tires. Then when you go to Discount or some other retailer you will be armed with knowledge.

You can pretty much spend what you want but I would think 95 to 150 a piece plus mount and balance will get you there.

Good luck.

 

+1 for what Schatzy and PatM said. Definitely go with a dedicated snow tire. Sometimes you can buy a used set of wheels or even wheels and snow tires here on the NAM marketplace for a reasonable amount. Cost of tires will depend on if you are getting runflats or not. I chose not to and purchased a set of Hankooks. I believe they were the iPike 409's. They were fantastic last year, even in snow that was above the front lip of the car. My all season tires the year before would have a hard time on hard packed snow on a slight incline! I use tirerack.com to research which tires are the best to buy as their site does that well. But discounttiredirect.com is my choice for tires. Best price I have found anywhere. Here is a link to the tire I bought:

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/di...5&rd=16&cs=195

I think I have a phone number for the guy (Zack) that I order from. He is easy to deal with and knows his stuff. And they have been good to me. I declined the initial replacement guarantee one time and then promptly hit a piece of metal that tore out the sidewall. He let me "buy" the replacement insurance after the sale for four tires costing less than replacing the one that was ruined. Let me know if you want his number and I will look it up and get it to you. No financial interest on my part.

 

Falken Espia EPZ snow tires. Incredible snow performance, I passed many little 4WD suv's that day and acted as a snowplow all the way to the summit of the winding road you see me parked at. I feel very confident driving the Cooper in the snow, and that stuff was pretty deep.

 

i have to get through most of 1 Ohio winter with my 08 MCS. Then in Jan i am moving to Florida. I CAN DO IT@!! I am going from a AWL Buick Rendezvous so it should be interesting. Also my house has a very steep driveway and a steep hill going up to it. I hope the Ebrake doesn't fail, and i hope i can get it up my drive.

 

I've only had my mini in ri since late may. But because of last winster ive don't a lot of research with how they perform in the snow since that was one of my major saftey concerns wirh a light car

 

I've been on Pirelli snow tires the last 2 years and haven't had a single problem with our huge amounts of snowfall.

 

I am also in RI. I had an '03 Cooper for 4 winters here - this year will be my first with the '07 MCS....

My original tires were only fair - but they did get to me to work every storm. I then upgraded to new wheels and tires but did NOT check the condition rating of the tires. They were horrible!! That was a tough winter!

I then bought some all season and they made a hue improvement - I made it in through every storm this past winter. Granted, snow depth created some issues due to the low ground clearance of the car, but I always made it and if you remember last winter - we had some serious snow!!

I am not sure what is on my new car - only had it a few weeks, but I will certainly look to upgrade them to snows if I find they are not.

Bottom line - tires make ALL the difference in snow. Get the right tires and enjoy the ride!