Yeah it's a little early but I'm starting to think about snowboarding this winter which will be my first with the MCS. This will be also be my first winter without a 4wd vehicle in many years so I have a couple of questions about the MCS and snow.

I've read through the threads on snow tires and it seems like they are useful. Looks like Blizzaks from tire rack and a cheap spare in the boot are the way to go. I'm probably looking at running them from mid-Dec to April. Are the Blizzaks okay for normal commuting? I live in the Seattle area and drive in the wet a lot but I don't put on that many miles with the exception of heading to the lifts. Let's say 5k miles - can I get a couple of seasons out of the blizzaks? It will be difficult but I'll try to take it easy on the tires.

I also like to board and go up in the mountains when it's dumping snow and occassionally chains are required for about 10 miles or so. What do you guys do about chains? From what I can gather if I go with a 15" tire then I can use chains if necessary. Anybody have experience with Rud Centrax chains? http://www.rudchain.com/snow/cars1.htm There was a post on mini2 that said they worked but I was wondering if there was more experience out there with them. I also haven't seen anywhere to buy the chains in the US and they appear to be around $200-300. I'm debating just buying a normal set of chains for the 15" tires and hoping I don't have to use them much. It's not all that frequent that chains are required - a couple of times a year.

Any experience or opinions would be welcomed.

Thanks,

Erik

 

I heard from the sales office wrt the Rud chains. $500. Way too expensive for me.

 

Erik, I have used Blizzaks on my CRX si for awhile. They work very well in the ice and snow but are a little slippery in the rain (ya just gotta slow down). I used my car as a daily commuter and I've gotten upwards of 12000 miles on Blizzaks and they still had life left. I never needed chains.

 

Just get the Blizzak package from tire rack. If the weather is bad, you'll get stuck because of the bozos in front of you clogging the road. Any MC with snow tires and a good driver is as good as or better than any other car, even a 4x4, with an average driver.

First snow, get to your supermarket parking lot after hours and practice your spins

 

Blizzaks are popular here around Toronto and work well in mixed snow/slush/rain. Whatever you get make sure you get 4 of them.

 

JCW MCS with 15" Blizzaks - it's an amazing tire, total confidence in the snow, and handles better in the dry than the stock performance runflats (17".) Do slow down a little in the rain, but you'd want to do that anyway.... I had considered going for 17" snowtires but they are more expensive, and it wouldn't take long to end up costing more getting them swapped on and off the rims than just getting a set of cheap 15" wheels and tires.

You will have ZERO problems with them as long as the temperature stays below around 50' - that's about the temperature I was told they'd start wearing out super fast.

It's a no brainer as far as I am concerned, get a set of 15" rims with Blizzaks (or other good snow tire) and enjoy.

 

60 degree's farenheight and below

Alex

 

The temp thing is important.... I have blizzaks on my Passat. A couple of years back we road tripped to Boston from philly...in January - well wouldn't you know it, FREAK WARM SPELL. It was like 70 degrees plus during the weekend, I put 700 hard miles on the blizzaks in very warm weather...I swear you could SEE the wear after that trip! OK to tell the truth...I also had the car in for service at the dealer a couple of days before the trip, as it turns out they put in like 45 psi into the tires. Couple that with the warm temps that year....there was visible wear after the road trip.

Don't get me wrong, I love the blizzaks...real snow tires are the only way to go. I have not gotten any for the MINI yet. I was pleasantly surprised to how well the sp5000s did in last years snows...maybe that was because they were pretty new...I'll see how they handle this winter.

 

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll order some Blizzaks.

Cheers,

E