Yet another MINI & snow topic :)

Even on ice a really good set of studless tires are better than studded. Search YouTube for the tire rack comparison of the two.

we use de-ice and anti-ice. they works for about an hr.

Well went out and ran around with the DWS and they did real good, but it is coming down to hard and by to night it will be bad with the drifts so I broke down and installed the winter shoes.

Again, this is the best car I have ever driven in the snow.  The 175-65- R15's cut like a knife through snow and slush and the power curve is perfect- I have tried to break traction many times today and it's virtually impossible.  Stopping is also very good.

My Blizzaks amaze me every time. The only times I have felt stuck was this morning, when I drove uphill into 6 inches of fresh snow with a layer of ice in the middle, and 2 days ago, going up a steep hill when there was a very slick layer of water over about an inch of ice. I managed to get out of both situations with relative ease. 

It is a Gen2 and therefore useless in the snow.

Im here to say that the Mini Coupe is awesome in the snow and ice. And the spoiler comes up ice on it or not. It was sitting out a good portion of the day yesterday and just coated in ice and snow. I had ice hanging 4 inches off the mirrors. The poor car looks like it's been through a war. It's going to take a week of Sundays to get this car clean again. 

Thanks for the info Pat. I guess we are sending our over PUD over to help.

I went and tried my Mini and my Alpin PA3s in real snow for the first time on Thursday, and it did great on the street where the snow is mostly flat. I saw a lot of cars get stuck on the moderate slope of my street, but the Mini's traction control handled that well. It's interesting to watch the little yellow light flash on as you drive around the slush and snow. I suppose if you could train yourself to drive so the light never come on, you'd be a pretty decent snow driver.

So then I went to a coffee shop 4 blocks away -- I usually just walk there -- and drove the car up on a 9" or so berm by the curb. Because one of the issues with snow is that if you park next to the berms instead of on them, you stick out in the lane and somebody driving by will hit you. Of course in the winter they slide into parked cars anyway, but it's worse if you aren't close to the curb.

As you would guess, I got stuck on the berm. More or less high centered on the snow. I tried a bit to dig it out but it was too much work. I just had my coffee and walked home, then came back and got the car yesterday after the rain and warm weather cleared the snow a bit.

So my little experiment just verified to me that I probably wouldn't be happy if I lowered the car at all. I like the idea of getting coilovers but I need to be able to drive it, and between the potholes and the snow I can't afford to go any lower. Even coilovers that drop it 0.8 or 0.75" would be more clearance than I want to give up. Probably just upgrade my struts and keep the stock springs so the height doesn't change.

Very happy with KONI FSD struts and stock springs and ride hight on CINIMIN and WOODSTOCK. 

After a couple hours of driving through snow / ice a few days ago - 16" Blizzaks WS60 here.