Hi all - Just purchased a 2010 mini cooper s. Traded in my big SUV for this little guy. The gas millage and driving experience is awesome.

I live outside Philadelphia. We can get a significant amount of snow fall. I would like to get a set of winter tires. I have heard good and bad about the Blizzaks - good for snow - horrible in dry. Also, do you need the TPS sensor in the winter tires? I plan on putting them on end of November and removing end of March.

Thanks for your help!

 

If you don't mind the TPMS light on during the winter then you can run wheels without TPMS.

Check tire pressure regularly.

For winter if you have lots of snow it's better to have full snow tires but they aren't that good for the dry as you stated, otherwise you can choose a tire more moderate and for light snow, just drive slower.

You can get more info on what people in your area do by contacting Alex@tirerack.com

Likely a set of 16" winter wheels and tires will do the trick.

 

Thanks for the response! A friend of mine drives a BMW ZHP and he has a good set of all seasons that work good in the snow. Just worried about getting stranded at work. Last year we 1 snow falll that dropped about 2 inches of snow. the year before we had record snowfall that dropped about 14 inches. i guess prepare for the worst...

 

One more thing - the Run flats - not a fan of the stiff feel. Do most mini owners ditch them and just take their chances?

 

A lot of owners do without runflats. I live in Boston. I HIGHLY recommend you buy some snow tires. These cars are terrific with them in the snow. My wife tried getting up our street (a slight incline) with all-seasons repeatedly and couldn't do it. Once she put snows on it was brilliant.

I just bought my first set of runflat snow tires (Blizzaks) with TPMS from tire rack along with a second set of wheels so it's easy to swap them out quickly. Yeah it cost a bit more than I wanted but over the long haul, definitely worth it.

I don't remember the type of snow tires I used on my 2004 MCS hardtop but they never failed to get me through any condition, even 7.5 hours in a nor'easter.

 

Thanks - the run flats are harsh. Definitely getting some winter tires. thought about having the winters mounted on my current 16inch OEM wheels and mounting some summer tires on a new set of wheels. The TPMS sensor adds another $200!!

I am looking at the blizzaks as well. My only hesitation is the dry handling aspect. I have heard mixed reviews on how well they handle normal driving conditions. Every review about these tires in the snow has been excellent.

 

What tires do you have now? Runflat All season? If so then they are OK for cold and light snow.

Now look at the areas you will drive, from home to work and more, are there any areas of slight hills or inclines prone to icing where having real snow tires would be necessary.

Your winter wheels can have TPMS too but you will need to reset them for your MINI, if you have the NAV screen you can do it otherwise the dealer can reset it.

TPMS is helpful for flats but does not need to be on the winter wheels to save money and the upkeep, TPMS can easily be broken or subject to wear and tear and aren't cheap.

Runflats are helpful for the MINI since the Cooper S have no spare tire, some owners will change to nonrunflats and if they do longer trips can put a compact spare tire covered with a bag in the boot. Small jack, tire iron and flashlight are helpful too.

Runflats will always give a firm ride due to the stiff sidewall whether summer or all season tires.

 

Just as a note, you don't need the nav screen to reset the TPMS. It can be done via the standard computer in the tach screen accessed via the button on the end of the turn signal stalk. I've done it on my '09 and '13, neither of which have nav.

 

I paid the $200 for the TPMS on the show tires/wheels I just got. It should make the switch in seasons as seamless as possible. Now if I just had the car...