[baradona]

Hey guys, trying to get back from work today in Enfield (North London) to Finchley I got caught in the snowstorm. My bridgestones were rubbish, spun and aspun, couldn't even start in second. Ended up getting pushed into a sideroad. A couple of hours later I got pushed out on to the freshly gritted main road and struggled home.

What really hurt was getting stranded and watching every other car on the road making it past me, from novas through escorts, cavaliers, HGVs, toaster vans (Rascals)....

Anyone suffered the same? Any ideas what to do tomorrow? No way am I putting (or buying) chains on my MCS. I doubt I can get much more grip with a low tyre pressure.

Also, my tyres got pretty scored when spinning (I was in high gears etc but could still smell them burning - I had to try though. I was blocking a main road when they gave up grip). I can't tell how deep it is, but I imagine it affects lateral tread strength. Any help?

[Dec]

do u have much tred? and any traction aids? cos i foudn with DSC on i was going incredibly slowly but still moving even up steeper hills...

[eddie_DV52_CCZ]

haha your kidding right? my mini with peppers 15" and tyers was a star today! i went stoke to leeds to stoke again. the roads in stoke were ice! all teh cars were struggling up this steep bank and the police close it f cuz no one could make it up. mini - we got up there and saved the day! so dont give it to me that the mini sucks! Try buying decent tyers with tread. and swap your wide alloys for some thinner ones i have for the winter. you need to have the right tools for the job, in my opinion.

[eddie_DV52_CCZ]

oh one last thing, your just wheel spinning, why dont you try second with low revs, or first gear. what is the incline like? the lower the pressure in the tyers, the wider the base of the tyer will be. this means the area on the snow will be greater meaning the pressure to cut through the snow onto the road will be less - (pressure = force/area). Therefor lower pressure would make things worse! you only lower the pressue in the tyre to get wider tyre in really deep snow like in the antartic ect where you don't want the car to sink through the snow and get stuck. i think i explained that pretty well.

[Ricco]

The Toyo's i had one the Scoob seemed pretty good in the snow, probably cos it was 4WD though

[AtomicKiwi]

I've had no problem with my MINI in the snow. In December, I drove for 3 hours in 2-4 inches snow and ice. I only slipped around a few times. I also made it up some pretty steep hills (including my terribly steep driveway) without a problem, and I passed JEEP's who tried coming up the hills with no luck.

[dietcokeplease]

A MINI on 17s will always struggle compared to other cars. The 17's place less weight per contact area than the 15's. My dad has a Merc E55 AMG - absolutely useless in the wet and snow. He went to the station in my sisters 10 year old Corsa (165/70/13) HGV's perform OK in the snow because of the large weight over the rear tyres to provide traction.

[MoonPie]

We drove up from Northern VA to Delaware in the MINI during a Nor'Eastern right before Christmas...the MINI handled just fine...mind you, the roads had been continuously salted and treated...at one point we looked at each other and just said We are INSANE and laughed (as the snow and ice continuously hit the windsheild).

During this weeks snow the MINI has handled fine as well. The secret is waiting for the roads to be properly treated...

...don't know how the roads are handled in UK, over here, the big trucks are ready and start salting before and during the snow/ice, etc.

Also, the plow comes through our neigbhorhood streets first thing in the morning which helps...though when other side roads aren't treated as well, it's hard to get to the main roads.

[Trainman]

I had to drive to work because Silverlink coldn't run a pee up in a brewery!
Didn't expect the snow and due to problems with it left work at 23:15 and found the drive back a little hairraising to say the least. The last little bit i didn't go above 10MPH as it felt like i was on a skating rink!

I think i will leave the car safe at home tomorrow and try public tranport again!

[baradona]

Quote: Originally Posted by eddie_DV52_CCZ

haha your kidding right? my mini with peppers 15" and tyers was a star today! i went stoke to leeds to stoke again. the roads in stoke were ice! all teh cars were struggling up this steep bank and the police close it f cuz no one could make it up. mini - we got up there and saved the day! so dont give it to me that the mini sucks! Try buying decent tyers with tread. and swap your wide alloys for some thinner ones i have for the winter. you need to have the right tools for the job, in my opinion.

Leave it out mate! I love my mini, it doesn't suck. Nor do Bridgestone Potenzas with only 1500 miles on them!
I tried starting in second at low revs but even then couldn't get traction, the wheels spun. As I couldn't get traction and was in the middle of a main road I tried to spin through to the tarmac to get a boost off, but that was iced over and I just messed my tyres up. DSC killed the power because I couldn't get any traction, so I switched it off - slight improvement as then I could modulate the throttle better.
Truth be told, I didn't do very well - and caused a lot of wear to the tyres - but didn't have a huge degree of choice. The grooves on my bridgestones (205/45/17 - OEM size for MCS chili) are mainly longitudinal not radial, so don't shift very much snow, just dig, hence the spin and damage.
As for tools and jobs I agree, but my car is seldom on snow (2 days a year in london, if that) and often driving fast. Good sticky rubber - and potenzas are good - suits me down to the ground