[sdmidget]

Mini Cooper/One Owners

How well does the MINI handle in snow? How about ground/snow clearance?

Particularly interested in the Cooper/Sport Suspension/16" wheel combination.

 

[Apial]

As well as could be expected on standard tyres ie not that good. On winter tyres though its brilliant!

 

[Crashandburn]

Turn off the traction, if you've got it, and it'll be no worse than anything else. I hope I don't have to confirm that, but living in Scotland I don't much fancy my chances.

 

[sweeny]

Mini Cooper/One Owners

How well does the MINI handle in snow? How about ground/snow clearance?

Particularly interested in the Cooper/Sport Suspension/16" wheel combination.

Don't want to put you off but the Cooper/Sport Suspension/16" wheel combination is awful in snow, you would have to get chains or swap the wheels for snow tyres. It really struggled over Christmas when we had some snow...

 

[tripwire]

D'oh, didn't see this thread and posted my own "handle in snow?" thread. Anyway, I'm very interested in how the Cooper S handles under winter conditions as well. Having only driven a Subaru, can someone give some sort of comparison or anything to the like?

Thanks!

 

[MadMiniManiac]

I've had a bit of snow driving.
It's good in a straight line, ie. abs and asc+t are useful.
However with sports + suspension and 16" wheels it has fairly poor grip for cornering. Snow tyres are a must if you get snow regularly!

 

[Mini_me]

I agree. Haven't even tried running mine (cooper, SS+, 16inch wheels 195 tyres) on the summer setup in snow. with the 15 inch wheels and 175 winter tyres it's great. Wouldn't like to try getting through REALLY deep stuff though, not enough ground clearance.
The winter wheels n tyres soften the ride slightly (from a comfort point of view) In terms of grip the softer winter rubber seems to make up for most of the lack of width when not running in snow. I imagine the summer setup would be like a big sledge in the snow, with the flat wide tyres not being able to dig down into the snow because the car is too small and light .........hhhhmmmmm that gives me an idea.....

 

[Apial]

I have 195 winter tyres. They do not suffer any traction problems due to the extra width. If we get a decent fall of snow then the extra width may be an advantage as it will give a better "float" of the car over the snow. The old Minis used to suffer from the engine bottoming out on the snow. I don't think that MINIs will have the problem anywhere near as bad.
What brand of winter tyre are you using Mini_me? I couldn't find any 175s when I was looking.

 

[zoooooom]

I have 16" wheels and sport suspension.The MINI is no worse than any other in the snow I dont have traction control so cant switch it off.
I also have a Shogun and I have not used it since getting the MINI and living in Aberdeen we do get SNOW.

the only problem I had was I put on main beam and it was crap,so I got out to see why and the main beam part of the headlight still had ICE on it cos the dip cannot heat up that part.Other than that no worries.BRING ON THE SNOW AGAIN>

 

[Kinster]

D'oh, didn't see this thread and posted my own "handle in snow?" thread. Anyway, I'm very interested in how the Cooper S handles under winter conditions as well. Having only driven a Subaru, can someone give some sort of comparison or anything to the like?

Thanks!

Cooper S isn't released yet, so no one can tell you!

 

[RaGod]

Mini In Snow

Mine did Great!! Very predictiable and went any where I needed it to. We had a bad winter in Utah this year!
Best car ever driven in snow!