[heli_guy]

Yes Congrats!

I am sure you will like your copper as much as I like mine!

Trevor.

[bok]

congratz on your Soho, i am very sure you will enjoy it

[caah]

Thank you all....Today received phone call from Mini sales rep telling me that the delivery date should be between 23rd and 30th of this month. The car is now at halifax port. I will post pics as soon as possible

He (sales rep) also persuaded me to purchase a set of winter tires then I can have em installed when I pick up the car. I am not so sure they offer a good price. Could anyone please give me some advices? What tire do you prefer and how much you paid for it? Where to buy ( Montreal)? And would it affect the warranty if I don't buy it from dealer? Thanks again.

[xtremepsionic]

Congrats on getting your Mini!

As for tire, no the dealership will not give you the best price. No, you won't void the warranty as long as you don't pick the wrong size for winter tires/rims. FYI you need one of the following: 175/65/15, or 185/65/15, 195/60/15, 205/50/16 sized tires.

You can either get some steel rims for use with the winter tires (the cheapest option if you're buying new) or get a set of 15" alloys that people are selling either on this forum, or locally, or through the dealership. That, or you could just mount the tires on the rims that ships with your car, but at about $60-$90 to mount and balance the tires (so $120-180 a year to swap between the summer/winter tires) you might as well get a seperate set of rims, either steel or alloys.

As for me, I bought a set of used holies (7 hole 15" Mini rims) and mounted a set of lightly used Canadian tire snows on them. Total cost - under $400.

[mr.abulia]

Caah,

I guarantee the dealer will not be giving you the best deal on rims and tires! For a SOHO, I recommend getting steel rims (they are VERY cheap, and are easy to replace if they get bent, unlike alloys. Also, if you slide into the curb you will not care! And with hubcaps, they can look pretty good for winter wheels that will be forever coated in slush and salt) and tires. Check tiretrends dot com, they are a Canadian company that does mail order. Also check kal tire, ok tire or any of the local places... they sometimes have really good deals. There is a tire called Hankook of which I am very fond, but not everyplace carries them. When you find them, they are pretty cheap, though!

The important thing is that aftermarket wheels and tires, that is items NOT purchased from the dealership, WILL NOT void the warantee!

(Oh, and if you like the 15" rims, check e-bay item 290038976635)

[caah]

Thx for your very helpful info, I am wondering...would it be better if you guys can post some pics of you winter tire and tell us details about it? or maybe I should open a new thread

to xtremepsionic, if I use the rims that ships with my car, I need to buy a 205/50/16, it that right?
BTW, what is "lightly used Canadian tire snows"? sorry if it's a stupid question

[Ferroequine]

There's a couple of threads on winter tires in the Canada Forum:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/canada/12...t=winter+tires

This one has a rather comprehensive price comparison in it:

http://www.mini2.com/forum/canada/10...t=winter+tires

I'm pretty happy with the 16" Dunlop Wintersports.

[xtremepsionic]

Quote: Originally Posted by caah (original)

Thx for your very helpful info, I am wondering...would it be better if you guys can post some pics of you winter tire and tell us details about it? or maybe I should open a new thread

to xtremepsionic, if I use the rims that ships with my car, I need to buy a 205/50/16, it that right?
BTW, what is "lightly used Canadian tire snows"? sorry if it's a stupid question

Sorry I guess that didn't make a whole lot of sense, sleeping at 2am could do that to you! I got some slightly used snow tires with 90% tread left from someone who drove a saturn. They are the Canadian tire brand snow tires called Nordic Ice trac(click me to see the tire)

I heard they're not bad, certainly not the ultimate snow tires out there, but do well enough, and a lot better than any all season tires. We'll see in a couple of days, should snow in Calgary next week.

[caah]

It starts snow next week in Calgary? oh....I used to consider moving to Calgary, heard that winter is longer there...

forgot to mention dealer's offer: about $800( tax incl), Pirelli winter tire 15", mag and rim(steel) incl

[I Am Canadian]

Dealer quoted me $2100 and change today for the 16 inch style 87's with Dunlop Winter Runflats. Crazy ***** pricing. I'm debating the purchase of just 17" winter rubber and dedicate the webspokes to cold weather duty.

[Ferroequine]

Quote: Originally Posted by I Am Canadian (original)

Dealer quoted me $2100 and change today for the 16 inch style 87's with Dunlop Winter Runflats.

And I believe the R87's are the only 16" OEM wheels that will clear the JCW brake calipers.

Quote: Originally Posted by I Am Canadian (original)

I'm debating the purchase of just 17" winter rubber and dedicate the webspokes to cold weather duty.

Personally, a 17" tire gets a little too wide in the snow with not enough sidewall grip for my liking. However, Faster,Tobias! runs 17" winter rubber. Paging Faster....

[mr.abulia]

Quote: Originally Posted by I Am Canadian (original)

Dealer quoted me $2100 and change today for the 16 inch style 87's with Dunlop Winter Runflats. Crazy ***** pricing. I'm debating the purchase of just 17" winter rubber and dedicate the webspokes to cold weather duty.

I am debating the exact same thing.

If it helps you any, Kal tire has a sale on tires and rims: they have a 16" rim (core racing evo 7) that will fit over the JCW brakes: until early Nov, they are on sale for $110/corner. Checkm8 has these rims, and they don't look too bad at all!

Caah: That's actually a pretty good price, particularly if it includes the OEM hubcaps (wheel covers). You may be able to find a similar deal on new wheels/tires for around $700, but its a lot of trouble to save $100. The only way to get good equipment for cheaper is to buy used!

[mr.abulia]

Quote: Originally Posted by MiniVee (original)

Personally, a 17" tire gets a little too wide in the snow with not enough sidewall grip for my liking. However, Faster,Tobias! runs 17" winter rubber. Paging Faster....

Doesn't Tobias (the car) run 16" summer rubber now? That Faster... always doing things backwards...

[faster,Tobias!]

Quote: Originally Posted by caah (original)

Thx for your very helpful info, I am wondering...would it be better if you guys can post some pics of you winter tire and tell us details about it? or maybe I should open a new thread

to xtremepsionic, if I use the rims that ships with my car, I need to buy a 205/50/16, it that right?
BTW, what is "lightly used Canadian tire snows"? sorry if it's a stupid question

.

Bare in mind Caah that your Soho is equipped with runflat tires, and due to the rim design (to hold the tire on the rim when flat) the tires are not easy to switch on and off, and if done a couple of times it can damage the tire bead. You are better off, IMHO, to buy a set of steel rims and mount the winter tires on those. What is the dealer wanting to charge for their set? Currently where I work they have Dunlop Wintersport runflats mounted on 16" steel rims for $1200, mounted, balanced etc etc. which isn't too bad (considering it is a dealer )

[faster,Tobias!]

Quote: Originally Posted by MiniVee (original)

Personally, a 17" tire gets a little too wide in the snow with not enough sidewall grip for my liking. However, Faster,Tobias! runs 17" winter rubber. Paging Faster....

You rang, sir?
Guess I should have read all the posts before posting; yes I have my winters on the 17" web spokes for two reasons; 16" wheels are better for the autocross, and I kerbed the 17's last summer. To be honest I had no issues last winter with the wider tire, although the winter was so mild we didn't get much snow. But there is no understeer issue a good yank on the handbrake can't fix. Yahoo!!

[MINNOW]

Quote: Originally Posted by caah (original)

forgot to mention dealer's offer: about $800( tax incl), Pirelli winter tire 15", mag and rim(steel) incl

That's a pretty good price if installation is included.
Local dealer here is selling for $1,000 + GST, installed.
Guaranteed these Pirelli winters (narrow 175 width) will work way better than the 195 width Dunlop runflats - I tried the runflats a couple of winters back for a week or two and that was enough!

[I Am Canadian]

Quote: Originally Posted by MiniVee (original)

Personally, a 17" tire gets a little too wide in the snow with not enough sidewall grip for my liking. However, Faster,Tobias! runs 17" winter rubber. Paging Faster....

I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. If the snow gets too crazy, my biggest worry is the front aerokit bumper that will assuredly make a wonderful snow plow.

[mark-o]

I booked my snows today... Kal Tire as out of the Evo7 - 16" so he offered me another one that had tires mounted & removed that were never actually put on a car for 20% off.

Ther're another Core Racing wheel as seen below. 16" x 7" with Nokian 195-50 tires

-M

[mr.abulia]

Mark-o, please tell me that you can swap that centre thing out and get a MINI cap in there: I'd hate for someone to pull out your cotter pin Sounds like a good deal though. Can't argue with 20% off!

[mark-o]

I was already thinking how to get a MINI cap in there! They're mounting them now an installing them on Thursday - after Monday's snowfall! I'll know better then.

-M