If you have a chance and ability to go 15", go 15.
See my post above. MINI is too light to have anything more than 185 for winter traction. Of course if you don't ever see snow you will be fine.
205 width is a standard on much heavier cars.

 

My 195-60-15 Blizzak Revo's are doing fantastic in the snow/ice we're getting in Seattle right now. This week saw 7"+, extremely icy, plus lots of hills. Have yet to run into a situation that has stopped the mini.

 

I have came to a situation that stopped the Mini....16" of snow overnight and not a plow in site!! Backing up in that will stall the Mini cause the snow packs into the muffler, driving forward turns it into a snow plow with snow going over the bonnet in about 20'. Either way snow that's TOO deep will stop the Mini. Outside of that I haven't found one.

 

Slites fit the 09 Factory JCW? I'm looking for a cheap set of winter rims. Would love to go with cheap steelies but they don't/won't fit the Brembo brakes (per tirerack.com)

 

I noticed that many posts talk about buying another set of rims to go along with their winter tires. What are the advantages to this? I'm terribly cheap and I love my upgraded wheels. Why would I want to purchase a winter set of rims?

 

Several reasons come to mind

1. You don't want to damage your wheels with the winter salts and sand

2. You don't want to damage your wheels and tires (especially run-flats) with repeated mounting and unmounting.

3. You want to pay less for your winter tires (I have 17'' in summer, 16'' in winter)

4. You don't want to pay twice a year to mount and unmount your tires. Once on the rims, I make the switch in fall and spring myself, in my garage.

 

5. (sort of on the same line as 3.) You can elect for a narrower 15 or 16" rim, which will also you to run a narrower (and therefore, more effective) winter tire.

 

good suggestions. thanks.

 

What are you comparing your current situation to? What have you used before to conclude that MINI is not bad in snow on 195 tire?

I see no benefit whatsoever in going to wider than 185.
In my personal preference, 185 that i have is already too wide. I have Revo1's on another car and they are good winter tire but they don't perform miracles over other winter tires.

 

Not really sure why a comparison is relevant- the performance in the conditions leads me to conclude that it's not bad in snow/ice.
Could it be better with narrower tires? Possibly. Without a back to back test of the same brand of tire, in the same conditions it would be impossible to say for sure, but as a generalization I’d agree that narrower is better for snow tires.

As you say, your *preference* is for a < 185 tire, but It doesn't follow that > 185 suddenly makes decent tires ineffective. Your statement that "MINI is too light to have anything more than 185 for winter traction" simply doesn’t hold true in my experience. Certainly I didn’t want for traction recently, on steep, icy, unplowed, unsalted streets.

And, yup, I doubt very much that Revos perform miracles of any sort, but I never claimed such a thing.

 

the whole "narrow" concept is not that difficult. It somes down to pressure per square inch of tire. The narrower the tire, the more pressure/weight per square inch of the trhead and subsequently deeper into the snow it goes. If you make your tire "footprint" wider, you're getting less pressure from the car's weight and tire is more prone to slipping due to lack of weight.
Given MINI's small curb weight, each size wider, you're diminishing your traction.

The reason to find out what conditions you're comparing it to was to find out if you're comparing it to all-season tire. If that's the case then of course there will be a huge difference and you will be inclined to say that MINI is great in snow on snow tire. If you would compare another FWD car with comparable winter tire to MINI you could find that MINI actually lacks some performance in the snow due to very stiff chassis, low weight and stiff suspension.

 

The car is light... But look at the weight distribution, it is about 62/38 front bias. So despite the fact that the cars total weight is fairly small, enough of the weight is over the front that it isnt as big a deal as you make it seem.

 

I'm running some studded 185 65/r15 Pirelli Winter Carving tires on my car for the winter.

My MINI will go up through an Alaskan mountain pass with more ease than any other non-4x4 vehicle I own (or have owned), which were also equipped with proper winter tires. I'd say that the MINIs really don't lack over any other FWD vehicles I've ever owned (and I've owned plenty!).

If anything, the MINIs really are pretty decent for winter driving, assuming proper winter tires and that the snow isn't terribly deep. And if the snow is deep, the MINI will still go through it so long as the snow is still fluffy and light.

I'll even dare to say that there plenty of times that I'd rather take my MINI over some of my 4x4 vehicles (again, equipped w/ proper winter tires), just because it is lighter, more nimble, and more surefooted. It sure as hell stops faster being that it's so lightweight.

I'd run 175s or narrower if I could find a decent tire in the right size (I don't want to go any lower height-wise than the tires I'm running now). For the road conditions I've personally driven my MINI through (and believe me, Alaskan road conditions are some of the WORST in the nation), the 185s do JUST FINE.