R55 CLubman S in the snow
#26
#27
My Clubman's about to experience it's first battle with snow, I'll let you know how it works out. My car is low enough that i'm sure i'll be plowing as I drive though. I didn't get winter tires, but I am rolling on the OEM Continental Contiprocontacts. I was contemplating taking her out tonight but ended up using my wife's car (Acura RDX) so ensure I get where I need to go safely. I was contemplating getting winter tires, but how many sets can I possible want for this car? I have another set of wheels/tires (R112's) on summer tires and the Pace wheels on the stock OEM All Season tires, I really don't want to go crazy and get yet another set for the winter. It's still a decent blizzard as of now, and we're expecting anywhere from 12"-18" of white stuff. That's a lot more than i'm used to in one shot. Let you know how it goes tomorrow!
#28
My wife didn't let me take my car today. I ended up using her car today for the errands I did. I did pull out my car from the driveway to clear out the sides of the driveway and go for a quick ride, as I suspected I was plowing the snow a bit, but I did not get stuck at all. There were a few times I stopped in about 6-8" of mixed snow and I started moving with little difficulty. I'm taking my car in to service tomorrow, so I will be driving it, in the morning, but by tomorrow most of the roads are completely cleared.
#29
My wife didn't let me take my car today. I ended up using her car today for the errands I did. I did pull out my car from the driveway to clear out the sides of the driveway and go for a quick ride, as I suspected I was plowing the snow a bit, but I did not get stuck at all. There were a few times I stopped in about 6-8" of mixed snow and I started moving with little difficulty. I'm taking my car in to service tomorrow, so I will be driving it, in the morning, but by tomorrow most of the roads are completely cleared.
My MINI arrives at the VDC Monday morning (today since it is past midnight). I wonder how long it will take it to get to MINI of Manhattan...I am hoping to get it BEFORE 2010 to get the tax break.
#30
I live in Brooklyn and work on LI...I think we got a little over 13" of white stuff at home, and my secretary says they got 18" by my office (she lives around the corner from my office). I'm going in now to see what the situation is. I'll probably spend a good part of the day shoveling...
Pics of my car that I took on Sunday morning:
Pics of my car that I took on Sunday morning:
#31
Woodside, Queens here! How did it go today with those all seasons?
#32
Funny you mention that...I took my car in to service today for the chain tensioner issue...they gave me a 6sp Clubman base car with just hot seats and a roof. Wow what a difference the 15" wheels are compared to my car with 17" runflats and springs...It's like driving a Cadillac compared to my car..
And so far, no, I didn't get stuck in it either. I'm buried in a spot now too..Need to pull it out to go home, so let's see how I do!
Pic is a little dark, it's night out
And so far, no, I didn't get stuck in it either. I'm buried in a spot now too..Need to pull it out to go home, so let's see how I do!
Pic is a little dark, it's night out
#33
hey Woodside
went fantastic ... I always had A/S tires on my MINI's and they are great on ice and snow ... the car is super tossable on 15" wheels and you can correct it easy when you hit a problem.
DSC "OFF" as well on icy roads ... never really liked its unpredictability.
I come from rear wheel cars that were pigs in snow ... so driving the MINI in it is super easy.
went fantastic ... I always had A/S tires on my MINI's and they are great on ice and snow ... the car is super tossable on 15" wheels and you can correct it easy when you hit a problem.
DSC "OFF" as well on icy roads ... never really liked its unpredictability.
I come from rear wheel cars that were pigs in snow ... so driving the MINI in it is super easy.
#35
#36
#37
I had them on my GTI, they came with the sportcontacts (summers) and I changed them to the extremecontacts when I got the car. Great tire! Nothing beats a winter tire though..
#38
Question , I have ordered Blizzak tires for my JCW Clubman , they won't be here for a few days and its snowing today ( allot ) . How safe is it to drive on my Continental Conti Sport Contact tires , I believe they are 3 season not even 4 season . Yes I am new to "tire " world . PS I'm new to the area and have not had to really drive in "snow" since I purchased my mini .
#39
Question , I have ordered Blizzak tires for my JCW Clubman , they won't be here for a few days and its snowing today ( allot ) . How safe is it to drive on my Continental Conti Sport Contact tires , I believe they are 3 season not even 4 season . Yes I am new to "tire " world . PS I'm new to the area and have not had to really drive in "snow" since I purchased my mini .
#40
Denise,
I replaced my conti's for blizzak's two weeks ago because of the lack of traction, and that was just trying to get it out of the garage with freezing temperatures and no snow/ice outside yet. I did not drive my car for 3 days waiting for the tires (I did not wanted to take any chances!).
I had the chance try the blizzak's this past couple of days and the traction is fantastic! so if you can wait for a couple of days as I did, you will be rewarded bigtime
I think "Shoof" is right saying that it would be an "exiciting driving experience"
I replaced my conti's for blizzak's two weeks ago because of the lack of traction, and that was just trying to get it out of the garage with freezing temperatures and no snow/ice outside yet. I did not drive my car for 3 days waiting for the tires (I did not wanted to take any chances!).
I had the chance try the blizzak's this past couple of days and the traction is fantastic! so if you can wait for a couple of days as I did, you will be rewarded bigtime
I think "Shoof" is right saying that it would be an "exiciting driving experience"
#42
Just got back from Pittsburgh and the ice up there was a real drag, especially on this one very vertical driveway. I almost did not make it to the top. I have the tires that came with the ClubmanS, not winter tires, and I also made the mistake of keeping the sport button on. Bad choice. Once I turned it off traction control quit blinking and I got over the hill. No car really does well in black ice anyway, regardless of the choice of tire. All in all she did pretty good in the snow though, especially once I figured out how to drive it in that slop. I don't get much snow where I live so it was a learning experience.
#43
Winter tires
We ordered a set of 4 new Michelin X-Ice X12, 196/55R16 XL 91T back in September. They are a new tire from Michelin with stronger sidewalls (XL),and they are not run-flats. What a smooth and quiet ride compared to the Contis. They finally arrived in October, the day before our first major snow storm. After three months, I have no complaints about the tires. They go through anything and everything. Feels like driving my previous car: Volvo XC70. We own two Clubmans, but only one has snow tires. Needless to say, the one without snows stays home on bad days.
#45
Just bought used 16" winters (Dunlop Sport Sp) off of somebody else's cooper s for my 08 clubman S. Rather than paying big bucks for winter's, I dropped a couple hundred and put these tires on the original rims. I plan to by replacement rims/tires for the summer. With good winter tires the Clubman gets around very well. Leave the stability/traction control on, and you'll have a hard time getting stuck.
#46
Home made snow tires
My experience with snow tires has been a decrease in stability, or more to the point the car gets a bit squirmy. I really like feel of the Goodyear Excellence tires that came with the car, so in order to preserve that, I decided to cut additional grooves in one pair of tires to give the tire a bit more bite. I was going to buy one of those hot iron tire groovers but decided I didn't want to deal with the stink. I used a straight bladed mat board cutter (which controlled the depth of the cut) and then an 'L' shaped exacto knife to remove the remaining rubber. It took a bit over an hour to do each tire. During the summer months they stay in the rear, and then I rotate them to the front just before the first snow. So last week we had the big snow storm here on Long Island and I got to try out my experiment. Are they as good as snow tires, heck no, but they took me through some pretty deep stuff without much problem. The biggest problem with the Mini is the that low spoiler on the front. Driving on a back road through about 8 inches on SUV trampled snow was not easy, but I doubt if snow tires would have helped all that much under those conditions. Anyway, being out of work caused me to come up with this money saving solution, and so far it seems to be working just fine. The other problem I noticed with the Mini is the braking is really touchy in the snow with the front tires locking way before the back. I wish the car had a brake bias proportioning valve like my old '82 Jetta. I do keep a set of cable chains in the trunk as a backup for the really deep stuff.
#48