My daughter will be heading up to western NY for college in the fall and is in need of new tires. Her car currently has Hankook run flats on it that will definitely be an issue when the weather gets bad.

I'm not a huge fan of run flats because of the limited options and short life span. With my Clubbie S, I was able to get the spare kit allowing me to ditch the run flats. That doesn't really seem to be a workable solution with the F56.

My biggest concern is safety, not performance. My daughter will not be tracking the car or anything of that nature. She needs to be able to have good traction when the roads are wet or snow covered.

Since she will be living on campus about a 10 hour drive from home, a second set of rims with pure snow tires is not really a viable option as she would have no where to store the spare wheels.

Our local Costco has the Bridgestone Driveguards which have decent reviews on Tirerack. Would these be suitable tires for keeping my daughter safe on wintry roads?

 

I put Driveguards on in Nov. '16 so had them all winter. Performed as expected. Central PA is not near as bad as Western NY as far as snowfall. And the lake effect winter weather/roads will be bad. I'd probably recommend dedicated winter tires, unless she'll be travelling a lot between NY and Home. The 10hr drive each way probably is not going to be great on winter tires, especially in the fall and spring.

 

I did Pirelli Sottozero 3s on mine this winter.

I have really mixed feelings on them. During non-severe weather, they're fantastic. Almost as good as an all season tire. Crisp turn in, good grip, not that bad noise. During severe weather though, particularly situations with glare ice or lots of slush, they don't measure up to a real non-performance snow tire (Altimax Arctic, Blizzak WS**, etc.) in a couple of areas. In turning stability, they're good. Stopping, also pretty good. They do not get moving from a stop or ascend slick inclines terribly well, though. I have an LSD, so I feel like I gave them a fair shot.

I was torn between them and the studded real snow tire from Nokian. Those were the two winter options in the stock size in run flats that caught my eye I've got loads of tread left on the Pirellis, but I think the latter will be on my car next winter.

--Matt

 

Matt,

Thanks for the input.

 

Living here in WNY, I can say that winter tires are a must. I had really good luck with michelin Xice3, not too impressed with 17" blizzaks this past winter.

Look up MINI club of WNY on facebook, get other opinions there. There are some tire shops (or maybe the MINI dealer) that can store summer/winter tires and swap them.

What school is she going to, some of them have decent mass transit options.

Have fun,
Mike

 

I have Nokian WRD3 runflats on my wifes 12 Justa, they are great in the snow and as good when roads dry or just wet as the Driveguards I use summer. If you have the 17 wheels they dont have a runflat option and you may have to carry a can of goop. The Nokian all weather tires (G3, D3, A3) are great, they are as good as many true winter tires in snow. Unless you are driving in a foot of unplowed stuff regularly they should be adequate. I live in the Chicago burbs and have pretty much stopped using true winter tires and use the Nokian all weathers all year. Even run my WRX with the WRG3 in winter. Better from memory than my Cont winter extreme or Mich pilot alpin I had before.

 

I'm sure I'll go into too much detail with this, but figured I'd share my experience with my R56S with dedicated snow tires (Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D DSST run-flat's on 16" wheels) and our other car, a BMW 328i GT xDrive with 18" Bridgestone driveguards on it. Hopefully it's helpful.

I know I'm kind of giving you a bit of apples to oranges here since my R56 has smaller wheels and the BMW is AWD, so I'll just try to keep it limited to my snow traction experiences with both. Northern New Jersey doesn't get a ton of snow, but I travel to Montreal about 3-4 times during the winter so the tires certainly get their share of snow.

First, the MINI with the Dunlop Wintersports was unstoppable (or so it felt like) the first season I ran them. For a runflat, they handle well, have great treadlife and are excellent in the cold. The first season I ran them in the snow with no issues at all. Made it through a lot more than I thought the MINI could handle on a performance snow tire. When I put them on for the second season, they just didn't have that same grip level. Obviously the slightly worn tread was the culprit but I didn't expect the drop off to be as big in snow traction considering they were only on for a few thousand miles. They are still pretty good compared to other snows I've gotten to experiment with, but not stellar as they had previously been. It wouldn't be enough to sway me to another tire for the car and I'd be happy with these in any place in NY State for everyday driving. If they're available in your wheel size, I'd look into those as an option, although you did note that you'd prefer one tire due to storage.

As for the Driveguards, I put these on our BMW this past December just prior to a trip to Montreal. They were tested right away as we were hit with a quick storm that dumped about 5" of snow overnight and needless to say the tires were great for an all-season. The AWD did aid quite a bit to get moving in deeper snow but in terms of grip, I didn't have any issues around town or on the highway in snow, as I did the year before with the stock Continental Contiprocontacts. One night we were caught on icy roads and again the tires faired well. I think a lot of this was due to the fact that the Driveguards come with more tread-depth when new compared to most Continental's, Pirellis or Hankooks. The Bridgestone's start with 11/32nd's tread depth so that was likely a big part of why I had such good performance in the snow with these new tires. This winter will be a bigger test as it'll be my 2nd season with them and they're more worn down.

The bridgestones are probably the best bet, by I'd still look for dedicated snows. In that area it may be worth speaking to the local MINI dealer. Many will store your all seasons or summer tires while you have your winter set on, but it's usually provided you buy that set through them.

 

Thanks for the info, NJ. My daughter decided to not take her car with her for her freshman year (had to apply for exemption to have it and she didn't fit the criteria). We now have some time to research more extensively. I'd be interested to hear how the DriveGuards do on their second winter.

 

Consumer Reports has some great winter tire tests that have scientific/measurable tests. I believe Nokian makes about the best non-studded winter tire right now. Not saying personal accounts are valuable, but side-by-side scientific comparisons are probably a better starting point.

 

For what it's worth, I'm in Wisconsin. Have had Blizzaks and Dunlop winter tires on previous cars. Currently,

Michelin X-Ice Xi3 on 2013 Clubman - love them. Best combination of handling and snow/ice traction I've ever had in a snow tire.

Nokain WRG3 on 2016 Clubman - compromise tires. And they drive like compromise tires. Workmanlike but not exceptional for handling on dry pavement and winter driving. If I had to do it again, I'd pay the extra $1,000 and get the Michelins on separate rims for the winter. I will add that this is my wife's primary car. For her, the winter stability is more important than the precise handling. And she thinks the Nokians are marginal on the snow.