HAs anybody already fitted some winter performing tyre on 17"?!
I only found pirelli producing some runflat winter ones, for around 450$!!!
Is it worth?!

 

Careful driving assisted with some quality all-seasons work pretty well if your weather does not call for constant snowy and icy roads throughout the winter.

If I were to get snow tires, I would not spend $450 for run-flats though. I would just get regular ones and keep a can of fix-a-flat in the boot.

 

Dr_Cooper_S, there are lots of threads on winter driving and snow tires. Check out this one for example. Just do a search for more!

I've been driving in snow and slush for about the past week, and I've found my MCS to be a great snow-handling car. I have 15" Blizzaks mounted on steel wheels for the winter.

 

Cleveland here, and I too have been driving my MCS on snow for about a week now. It has the Pirelli run-flats on the 17" rims, and I've been surprised by two things....1. Once rolling stability is quite good, and trying to figure out the difference with DSC on and DSC off is quite fun (Especially in big deserted snowy mall parking lots, late at night....there's nothing like the smell of e-brake at midnight!) However, getting started is another story, as all of a sudden it feels as if the MCS is a torque-spewing muscle car with just the slightest producing wheelspin that the traction control doesn't even seem to be able to conquer.....2. Stopping is a loonnnnnngggggg proposition, as anyone who regularly drives in the snow can attest. However, it seems extraordinarily long given the weight and electronic nannies of the MINI. Infact, it seems to have a longer stopping distance than the 5000 lbs Range Rover that I drove all of last winter, which I can only atribbute to the Pirellis. So the moral of the story is this: Snow tires probably arent' necessary if you can take it reallllllyyyy slowly, can deal with some wheel spin, and also live with the knowledge that there is a chance you will get stuck. If someonce relies on a MINI, especially an S, for everyday, reliable transportation in more arctic regions of the nation, snow tires might not be a bad idea.

Just my two cents...

Brian
Happy (Winter) Motoring

 

Thank you all guys,
but how probably you'd already have figured out, the given link from jsun did not mention any particular experience with 17" runflats.
Since I live in no artic region but in northern Italy, close to the alps, snow isn't that much of a constant, and provided that I can't get tyre rack's steel 15" I think I'll stick with OEM all season ones.

keep it hard on the gas

 

>>Thank you all guys,
>>but how probably you'd already have figured out, the given link from jsun did not mention any particular experience with 17" runflats.
>>Since I live in no artic region but in northern Italy, close to the alps, snow isn't that much of a constant, and provided that I can't get tyre rack's steel 15" I think I'll stick with OEM all season ones.
>>
>>keep it hard on the gas
>>

The winter climate in New England is probably not too different than what you're dealing with in Italy. Thus, the issue isn't "constant" snow and ice, but rather snow/ice throughout the winter alternating with periods of time where the roads are perfectly dry. As BrtshRceGr said, if you want to COUNT on being able to get around safely during the winter when snow/ice is an issue, then snowtires are important. On the other hand, if you can stay off the roads during those times when traction is low...and those times aren't too frequent/inconvenient...then fine, give it a go with the slicks. As I've said, with winter tires, the MINI is very stable in snow and on ice. I'm not sure why one would want their daily driver (if that's what your MINI is to you) to be otherwise.

I'm sure you can get 15" wheels (steel or not, it's just a matter of cost) and snows somewhere near you. On several of the winter tire threads we had a poster from Germany who highly recommended the steel wheel/winter tire switch. Said that it's a common German practice.

I would try to keep it not too "hard on the gas" in slippery conditions