I currently own a 2010 Cooper S Camden with 15,000 on it in 5 months. I will be doing some harsh mountain driving in the snow daily from Nov to March as I live in Big bear area and drive down the hill every day to work. Last year I had 6 feet of snow in my driveway most of the winter. Right now I have 17" runflats that the car came with that I'm not to happy with. Does any one know if you can chain up the runflat tires or if they will handle well in the snow ? Also what is a good but not to pricey tire to put on my rims for winter ? Has anyone used the tire traction device that mini sells instead of using chains? Any info would be helpful

 

Perhaps you can think about getting snow tires on some used rims. You could think about the performance snows, they are a little better.

Chains is just too much work for me especially when it is cold.

If you have LSD that would help as well but that has to be ordered with the car. The aftermarket ones are a little pricey.

 

If you want to try an all season, it should be Continental Exteme contact DWS. If your willing to consider tires and wheels we can get you into a dedicated snow tire. Were you hoping to keep runflat capability?

Alex

 

I go snowboarding up in Big Bear a few times a month last season and got to try out these Spike Spiders (http://www.spikes-spiders.com/), they worked really well. A little pricey, but putting them on/off takes about 30secs. I was worried that it would hit the wheel well, but it clear just fine. I also have 17" ties with runflats.

I went up during one of the worst storm last year. Regardless if you had a 4x4 truck or not, it was so bad that I will never do that again. Too scary for me. I made it through just fine (saw a lot of cars get stuck). I had a lot of traction with them on along with my runflats. I will probably be switching to a dedicated winter tire just to be on the safe side along with these spike spiders.

 

That was pretty pricey at $417 plus.

 

A few things: with the amount of time and frequency you will be driving in snow - get the spiders or other snow aids that are easy and quick to put on. Putting them on and off as you go up/down the mountain is a royal pain as you can't buy and drive on studded tires in CA.

Second advise - get a set of smaller wheels - smaller wheels behave better in snow. You also want to save your 17" wheels and tires from sever damage in case you get a puncture while your spiders are on. That's what happened to us up in Julian (east of San Diego) in snow. Got a flat with snow aids on the car - they destroyed the tire and almost destroyed the wheel.

By the way - i have a set of 15" wheels for sale ( R93 5-spoke Rocket ET45 14.8lb - $270 for all 4). In boxes and ready to go (but you are welcome to pick up in San Diego close by)