I put on my winter wheels today and when I drove it the steering was extremely light. It's a 2004 cooper s with 88k miles and the wheels are S-lites which are noticeably heavier than my summer wheels. I also installed a brand new PS pump 2k miles ago. In case it may matter the car is on H&R lowering springs. Any suggestions as to what the problem may be? Any ideas are more than appreciated.

 

It could just be the fact that winter tires have less grip? The PS pump didn't change the feel I'm assuming. This is interesting, though. I'm thinking maybe its just the fact that summer tires have so much more road holding capability in fair conditions.

 

i have noticed the same thing on my 2012 cms all4

you did not specify tire size and type

in my case, the summer tires are the oem 225/45-18 pirelli p7 summer run-flats and the winter tires are dunlop grandtrek sj6 205/70-16 non run flat

i attribute the lighter steering to
A) the 20 mm narrower winter tire
B) the higher aspect ratio of the winter tire, 70 vs 45
C) the winter tires are not run-flats

scott

 

Winter tires are Bridgestone Blizzaks 205/45/r17. Summer tires were 205/40/r17. I'm thinking it might be the hardness of the compound

 

Thats what I was trying to say but sometimes my thoughts and words don't match up the way that they should

 

Double check the tire pressure ?

Is it light only on highway or all the time/speeds ?

 

When i change out my tires and rims to winterones....the feeling does get lighter....my rims are much lighter too....so car feels more playful.

 

It's light all the time, even on the highway, which doesn't support my theory of it being the hardness of the compound.

 

I find that my steering feels very light when I swap over to my winter wheels, my winter wheels (stock) have more + offset than my summer wheels, I assume the difference in feel has to do with the significant difference in scrub radius between the two setups.

Jason

 

The reason is simple physics....
spining rims and tires act like gyroscopes.....stablizing the car in the direction it is moving...the heavier the rims/tires, the greater the effect.
For this VERY reason folks have been running lighter rims in racing and auto-x....
You get faster acceleration, and direction changes with lighter rims....and better mpg.
The classic mini's came with TINY rims/tires for a reason....
imo bmw/mini choose big rims as an option purely for astetic reasons....but it changes the feel of the car so much....heavy 17+ rims make steering heavy, and slow...you just do not reaslize it till you switch. Folks see/feel part of the gain when ditching runflats that weigh a ton.....
Like i said above, i feel the change when i put my lightweight rims/winter rims on....going from a 16 to a 15'.....heavier rims on my mini....been there, done that, just destroyed the feel. For me to run 17's or 18's, and matain performance, i would have to buy real 2 and 3 piece rims.... $$$ to buy, but light...about 2-3X the cost of typical spin cast rims....

 

Zippy,
The first post states that the winter wheels are heavier than the summer wheels, yet steering is lighter. There must be something else contributing to steering feel.

Jason

 

Thanks!!
Lol....missed that!!
I bet if the psi's are ok, it mostly has to do with the tread compounds....with my snows, i know when it gets warm, they can feel loose...almost greassy....but tighten up in cold weather when typical snow tire rubber gets grippy.

 

Putting together what everyone has said so far, I think the lighter feel is a combination of compound for slow speeds, and a matter of offset at all speeds. I will check tire pressure again but I'm 99% sure they are correct.