Hi guys I'm about to buy a MINI S but cannot decide on the tire of choice...

The S lights come with an All season tire and a performance tire.
For the people who have driven with one or the other through the past winter seasons, what is your expirience? Is the performance tire capable of good grip in snow or is the all season the real way to go?

Also How many miles should I expect for them to last?

 

I haven't driven a MINI in the snow yet, but I've driven in the snow a lot. There are two problems with performance tires in the snow. One is the tread pattern is all wrong & the second one is it's got the wrong compound for cold weather. The rubber will likely become hard in cold weather. Definately not what you'd want in the snow. For winter use my MINI will get a set of real snow tires (not all seasons) Hakka 2's on 15 inch rims. Tall & narrow with the right tread compound & pattern.

Chuck

 

The performance tires will not do well in the snow. I recommend getting the all-season tires. If you want speed and performance, buy a seperate performance tires for summer season and put the original all-season tires for winter time.

 

If you're willing to live with two sets of wheels / tires, avoid the "no-season" all season tires. Get the performance tires and a second set of cheap steel wheels with real snow tires on them, something with the "severe snow service" snowflake / mountain logo on them. look here:
http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/...jsp?techid=125

If you don't want to go to two sets of tires, get the all-seasons, not the performance tires...

 

If you pick up the new Road and Track, they compared runflat Pirelli eufori@ summer tires, all-seasons, and snows. They called the all-seasons more like "all-temperature," as in they work fine in winter--when there is no snow. I'd get summer tires and either another set of rims for snows... or a beater winter car with more ground clearance AND snows.

Summer tires in snow is simply suicidal.

The issue is worth checking out for the explanation of how they destroyed the engine in their long-term '03 MCS.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....0&print_page=y

 

Get the summer tires and a set of wheels/snows for winter. You'll be glad you did. Snow tires are WAY better than all-seasons in the snow.

 

My snows just arrived yesterday. I ended up getting some 16" alloys and the Dunlop M3 snow tires. I spend a lot of time on dry pavement here in NoVa, but we generally get enough snow to warrent some good tires. On my last car I used Mich. Pilot Sport A/S tires, but I had Quattro so I didn't have any trouble (and the PS A/S have a good snow rating even tho they are an all season). With the light weight MINI and only FWD I figured that I'd opt for the real thing.

The car came with 17" S-Lites with performance (summer) tires. Which as soon as the temp really starts to fall will likely be like driving on hockey pucks.

 

I am a bit confused on how is that possible? I have been driving a G35 RWD 6speed through winter snow here in NJ and it has worn out Pilot Sport Tires that according to the manufacterer should not even be used new in cold weather. I get enough traction to keep me going and I have not spun or got stuck in the snow. My daily drive is from BergenCounty NJ to NYC and back. Now Road and Track says all season tires won't go in snow? I cannot seem to believe that...or does this have to do with them being run flats and being all super stiff??

 

You're lucky and / or good.

A "performance" tire will lose significant grip as the tire temperature drops. I've read 50 degrees as a point to start being aware that things are going to not grip as well, and the freezing point as a "danger" point. These could be horribly wrong as numbers, but they sound good to me.

If you drive sensibly, you can get by with performance tires on cold pavement... until something unexpected happens. Slam on the brakes or try to turn hard to avoid something, and they will not grip as well as you think they will, causing problems.

If you are not regularly driving on snow covered roads, snow tires are not necessary. And by snow covered, I mean no pavement showing at all.

Tires are the most important safety device on the car. It's worth the expense to have good tires, and the right tires for the conditions.

The runflat or not case is not important in this discussion, I think. It's the softness of the rubber in the tread that is a concern, not the softness of the sidewall.

 

Well it mostly depends on how hilly things are over there, and how well the local DOT sands and salts the road. My SO3s turned hard as rocks in the cold, and would start sliding down hills from a dead stop even with the brakes locked the whole time! Not an experience I'd like to repeat.

"All temperature" tires aren't as useless as you might expect; with more soft rubber on the road than standard snow tires, they actually work better than standard snows on ice! But then on ice nothing beats studs, with modern "studless" snows being a close second (those have embedded grit or micropores).

For actual snow, open-treaded snow tires are best for obvious reasons, but people frequently want to know if something is "good enough." It surprises me to see people spend so much to mod their cars for slightly higher performance, then try to "get by" without specialized equipment that can help them stop 100 feet shorter. It's false economy in my book, especially since a set of tires is about the price of one deductible.

Traction control and/or AWD will get you going alright. But they don't help you stop...

 

This sums it up right here.
By me, the snow is cleaned up by the time it stops snowing.
My all seasons will get me thru the 1st winter. I will re-assess in the spring.

 

Many of today's 'Ultra High Performance' tires are manufactued with with silca. This allows these tires to work better at colder temps. Some of the 'Max Performance" tires are not manufactured with silca and do become scary hard at low temps.

To the original poster of this thread - I ordered my mini with 16" all-season runflats. These worked fine in the snow. They are not as aggressive as pure snow tires in the snow, especailly the Q rated tires. But I will never use a Q rated snow tire again; the sidewalls are extremely weak. The car wanders at legal highway speeds as a result. I cannot justify a little more performance in snow storm and far less performance when the roads are clean. The V rated snow tires that I've used did not feel any different than all-season run flats. Different cars, seperated by a summer. So my evaluation is not a back to back comparison.

I'm using the runflats again.

 

The real issue is how much snow do you get?

If you are constantly on snow, you need real snow tires.
If not, you have options...

How cold does it get?

There is an article somewhere showing that high performance tires are only good down to about 40 degrees, then forget about them.

All-seasons dont do as good in summer temps as they are a compromise, but they are excellent from 10 - 50 degrees and light snow

Real snow belt, get snows.

 

Lots of snow or ice all winter?

Get snow tires.



And if you're getting snow tires, two words: Bridgestone Blizzaks.

There's a reason why they're the most famous snow tires on the planet... They freakin' rock! There's no better tire in winter if your top priority is traction, like it is for me up here in the snowy northeast.

But, I've heard the Dunlops are a bit better if you need snow tires with more of a performance feel. Maybe those are the way to go, if you don't get hammered with snow for the ENTIRE winter, and want to flog your MINI around like you do in the summer months on those dry-road days.

Since dry-road days are few and far-between up here in Syracuse, I recommend Blizzaks to anyone who will listen to me!

Check out the Tire Rack, they have testimonials which might help you decide which tire is best for your exact situation.

 

According to your data I' should logically get the all season.

 

Once you drive a car with real snow tires you'll never go back to all seasons....really no seasons. The cost of a set of snows is about the same as most folks insurance deductible. G35 worn tires in snow! Yikes!!!

Chuck

 

Blizzaks are good. Nokian Hakkas might be better. And I've heard good things about Green Diamond tires, too.

But the Bridgestones are easier to find than Nokians or Green Diamonds.

 

Hakka's aren't hard to find. I Googled them up made a phone call & a big brown truck dropped them at my door in two days. I've also heard good things about the Green Diamonds. I believe that all the snow tires around today are pretty good.

Chuck

 

for me $400 is cheap insurance in the snow

Have Michelin X-ice on the one MINI and love them in the snow/cold. The Pirellis get way too hard as soon as the temp drops

 

I had the 16" run-flats on my MCS and right after the first 6" snow storm I was looking for some real snow tires. Do yourself and everyone else on the road a favor. Buy yourself some cheap narrow steel wheels from Tire Rack and some real snow tires and you will be amazed at the difference.

You will be able to go where and when your want confidently, not just "manage" to do it without spinning out. There is no comparison between a real snow tire and an all-season(no-season) tire.

If you ever have to deal with icy roads get studs. Nothing short of tire chains work as well.

My 5.5"x15" 7-holie MINI Cooper wheels are having their brand new Nokian Hakkapiilatta 2 studded snows mounted so that I will be ready for the snow and ice of a Southern New England winter. They work great on my MCS.

 

I am serious, I did 4 full auto X events, 2-burnouts, and 26,000miles and I still drove the entire winter season, it was fine...I think the long wheelbase of 112inches helped.

 

It is obviously unanimous that you don't want the performance tires in snow. My additional knock on performance tires is that they wear out in no time. I have an Audi A4 with sport package that came with performance tires and these things had serious wear very quickly. When I got my MINI I stayed away from the performance tires. I therefore do not have direct experience with the MINI performance tire but I think it is safe to presume that wear is not much better. So unless you are planning on getting snow/winter tires AND the performance difference is worth the additional expense of having to replace them frequently (relatively speaking) then get the all season whether you get winter tires or not. So maybe then the conclusion is (again presuming performance is not big with you) get the all season then see how they are for you in winter and if not good enough then get winter tires too.

 

Studs and chains are not permitted in some states. I live in Illinois. My dad always used to get studded snow tires when I was a kid but they are no longer allowed here.

 

Yea I think I will listen to the majority here and get the all season, after it wears out I'll get snow tires on them and buy a special set of wheels for summer.

 

I went through the first winter with the All-seasons, was ok.

Last winter I had snow tires, Pirelli Snow Controls, they are great

This is a light dusting around here