Here is the survey data on the Pro Contact SSR's

Alex

 

if you are open to buying another set of wheels, buy snow rubber for those 16's and get some cool 17's or even 18's for summer or all season rubber. that's what i'd do at least!

or..

since the 4x100 bolt pattern is common in the honda/toyota ranges look for some rims for cheap and then you can do rubber on those...craigslist would come in nicely if you went that route

 

I had Pireilli Winter Carvers and the car was unstoppable , now with the Bridgestones , I have to deactivate the DSC and let the wheels spin to get going smartly. The stopping is worse also. Is there another tire I should look at? Heres the Tirerack comparsion. I don't care about dry traction. I need more snow bite.


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...sp?type=W&VT=C

 

Try Nokian Hakkapellita 5's I'm using them in a winter rally series (although not on a MINI) and they are excellent. The only downside is they are a bit expensive and somewhat hard to find

 

I would like to try them, but where can I find/read about a set?

 

It seems that those are studded, is that something anybody runs on the street nowdays?
http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=1...akkapeliitta 5

 

Studded tires are illegal in some states, especially if run in the summer, they are however the best solution to ice.

 

I bought four Hankook Winter iPike W401 195/55R-16 87T DSB at discounttiredirect.com. Received a great price from:

Zack Taylor
Retail Sales Specialist
Discount Tire Direct
1-800-589-6789 Ext#51875
Tom.Taylor@discounttireco.com

No financial interest, he has done well by me several times. I havent had the tires on very long but have been very pleased with them so far. And they received VERY good reviews from owners on the web site.

 

My sister has the studless Hakkapellita tires on her MC. It is unstoppable in the snow.

I've gotten my succession of Nokian tires from Tires by Web.

 

You can buy the Hakka's studded or studless. I really like mine. Yes they are quite costly compared to Blizzak's.

 

I have the General Artic Climates, and you can have them studded, have yet to have a problem in the snow with them and I live on a Mountain and go to work at hours when the roads are not normally plowed

 

Here they are for sale, makes you go UMMMMM
http://www.tiresbyweb.com/p-7757-nok...eliitta-5.aspx

 

It's actually the General Altimax Arctic. I've got a set (non-studded) that I'm using here in Chicago, and am very happy with them. A few other friends use them (non-studded) on their cars too (Acura TL, and Pontiac Trans Am) and find them very suitable for our Chicagoland area. One of the least expensive options as well, so you won't feel like you're overspending.

 

I'm using studded Hankook iPike's on my Mini and on another car. A really good deal for a tire that is similar to the Finnish brand. I have 15" rims for the snow tires -- that way cable chains can be used if things came to that.

Yes, they are legal. With two tire sets I put the studded tires on in November and back off in March. The extra cost is minimal becuse your regular tires will last that much longer.

 

I am using Nokian Hakkapeliitta R. They are not the best on dry roads, however, in the snow they are quite good.

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=1...01&name=Nokian

 

I don't care about the dry, the way I figure the best snow tires in the world will slip more in the snow than the worst snow tires do in the dry.

 

anyways, I wonder if I would see an improvement over the Blizzaks with any of these in the snow? Nonstudded,will studs help that much and is it a real midwest option?

 

Which Blizzacks did you get??
Many Blizzacks are sold as more of an ICE tire than a snow tire (hence the Blizzacks claim to fame..the special dual compounds that grips ice like you not believe!!)....Nokian Hakkapeliitta R's are well loved in NE...I have Pirelli 210 SnowSports....a compromise between an ICE and Snow tire..pretty cheap too...I have been very happy with them as they do great on bare roads too...while the WinterCarver that you used to have is a pure deep snow/powder tire....studdable for ice packed roads.


Studded tires IMO are not an option for you.....illegal in many areas (they destroy bare roads very quickly), loud, and they really only improve traction on packed snow and solid ice. They are also pretty dangerous on bare roads (stopping distances go up by HUGE amounts in panic stops) and the studs will quickly wear out unless you ALWAYS are on ice packed or gravel roads....think RURAL Northern MAINE, Canada, the Rockies Mountain West too.... etc for tires like this.

 

This ^^^

I'm assuming that you have Blizzak LMs and not Blizzak WSs.

I've learned over the course of having many sets of snow tires that there is a big difference between what Tire Rack refers to as "Performance Winter" and "Studless Ice & Snow" tires. Performance Winters just can't compare in the deep, slushy stuff or on ice. Conversely Studless Ice & Snows can't compare on dry roads.

Having said that, I really like my Blizzak WS60s so far...

 

I believe the WS60 replaced the WS50. We have gone through 2 sets of WS50 Blizzak's & they were great. What I really did not like about them was that special compound is only in the top portion of the tread. Once they wear through that they become mediocre at best. The WS60 is most likely the same, but I do not know for sure.

I switched to Nokian Hakka tires & have been very happy with them & feel I may get more miles of use out of them compared to the Blizzaks. That being said a set of Hakka 5 snows are going to cost almost $200 more than a set of Blizzak WS60 snows.

 

Correct, the WSs do become notably less effective when they get beyond 50% worn. That is why you see a lot of people selling used sets on ebay and other boards for cheap. True they may have lots of tread left, but they get hard as rocks in the cold when the outer layers are worn off.

Nokian Hakkas are really really nice, but very pricey. I had them on my Forester and that car was about invincible in the snow. I got a really good deal on my Blizzaks, or I probably would have gone a different direction.

 

I have put on more than 50K miles on studded tires, and I have never had the studs wear out before the tire tread. In fact, the carbide insert seems to get longer as the rest of the stud wears down. Let's hear your experience to the contrary.

I don't know about the stopping distance on dry roads, but I can tell you that ice and snow make the stopping distance much, much, much longer if you don't have the right tires.

 

I recently bought a beautiful, well equipped, low mileage 2008 Base Mini to replace my 2006 MCS that was off lease. The car has 175/65/15 all season tires. I have a set of Dunlop Winter Sport 3d M&S 195/55R16 mounted on 16" alloy Mini rims left over from my '06 MCS. My questions are:

1. Will the tires fit and speedo be accurate?
2. Do I have to put tire pressure sensors on them or is it ok to just drive the winter with the warning light on (or disabled somehow). Seems like a PIA to have to buy 4 sensors and dismount and remount tires to use them.

Thanks for your input.
Sid

 

WS60's
thats what I thought, so studdless snows are the tire to look for.

 

I think all the real snows of different brands have the dual compound and the good stuff wears off fairly quickly to leave less effective rubber for snow.