Mini in the snow question

[terrible1]

Im new to the forum and, I dont have a Mini but i am thinking about getting one. It would be my only car and i live in Michigan so i would have to drive it in the snow for about 4 months a year. Just wanted to know what some of you thought about driving minis in the snow. thanks

[ImaVunDerBrah]

Hi there! I'm in Michigan as well. This is my second winter with the MINI as my only car. I drove all last winter on 16" 5-stars (option w. the Cooper) and the All Season Run-flats. This winter I opted to mount a set of Blizzaks on my 5-stars and have a dedicated 'winter set' of wheels/tires. The All Seasons were good... not great, but not bad either. The winter tires are phenomenal... no sliding, no fishtailing, it just plows right through whatever snow there is.

If you get a chance, stop by www.MichiganMINI.com and say hi!

[haroldchrismeyer]

It will do good as long as you don't get summer only tires, such as the Kumho 712s I have. Summer only doesn't have anything to do with cold weather. It was worse than my Z-28.

[Humourl3ss]

Living in Canada (albeit not the snowbelt area) and having had an MCS for 3 years now, I can say that once snow tires are fitted it's certainly as better than my four previous Honda and Mazda products.

Just invest in the snows and you'll be fine. DSC doesn't hurt either.

[MINNOW]

The MINI is a great handling car.... just be sure that in winter it has proper boots.
Changing from the stock Conti all season tires to Toyo winter tires had the expected result - control.

[mikeoconnor1]

Snow tire help a lot. I was impressed by how well the car did with all season run flats, but the dedicated snow tires are a whole different story. If this car has any drawback, it is the low ground clearance. Those chunks of snow and ice that fall from behind the wheel wells can give you some serious pucker factor. I haven't hit one too bad though after two full winters with my car.

[Eric_Rowland]

Just drove my MCS across country (VA to CA) and hit some serious snow in Kansas, and again in Flagstaff, AZ. The Goodyear RSA (Performance All-Season) did a fantastic job, much better than I expected. The DSC kicked in a few times, but more often in standing water than it did in the snow. Listen to the Midwesters for real opinions, but for this California boy, it works great in snow! Mikeoconnor has got it WRT pucker factor - just afraid the lower lip was going to act as a snow plow!