Mini Cooper On the Ice - Me or the Car?!

Jokaty82

I have been driving for years and class my self to be a fairly good driver, however in the snow and ice I seem to be sliding all over the place.

My car struggles to get out of my road, wheel spinning all over the place, then 2 times yesterday when going about 5mph I lost total control over the car, and panicked!

I think I am doing all the right things, starting in 2nd, changing to higher gears as soon as I can, driving slowly and carefully, using gears to slow rather than braking but I am still sliding a lot and to be honest its making me really anxious!

I dont have to drive a lot, but I have to drive home from work today. The gritters dont seem to have touched my town at all. My dad and boyfriend seem to think the roads are fine, but I am finding them slippy. Is it me or do I have a bad car for snow driving????

Red_Cat

Does the car have traction control (ESP)? if so check it is enabled or switched on.

matt1987

If its the same as my partners Mini One, then there is a button right by the gear stick that says DSF? Thats the button that needs to be on in this kind of weather!

Jokaty82

I don't know.....I know absolutely nothing about cars! Il have to look in the manual and check.

To make matters worse whenever its cold my drivers door seems to get wedged shut, so I climb in through passengers. Car was driving for about half an hour, all de-iced and warm, it jammed again. All this really stresses me out, and I would rather walk, but it would take me about 1 hour and half!

Mayve

Jokaty82

Maybe I will google 'Does Mini Cooper have ESP?!

Jokaty82

I don't recall seeing a DSF button to be honest, I think I would remember but I can double check!

Jokaty82

Hmmn it seems Mini Coopers have ESP as an 'optional' rather than standard. Mini Cooper S have them as standard.

gilbert_and_sullivan

It's neither you or the car it's the tyres, it's on low profile summer tyres and everyone else is in the same boat.

If you invested in a set of good quality winter tyres (not Chinese rubbish either) you'd find a world of difference.

It's not as daft as it sounds IF you are keeping the car or 5 years or so to get the use out of them (or replacing your car with another the same), winter tyres are really cold weather tyres that are designed to increase grip below 7'C, so i put mine on end of Nov and remove them end of March, whilst running on those your summer set arn't being used.
The best way to do this is to buy a used set of alloy wheels, preferably in the narrower sizes available for your car (but not essential) and use those for your winter tyres.

This has the added advantage of keeping your best wheels out of the salt.

Someone will now be along to tell you that you don't need winter tyres in Britain as we bask in sunshine and sweat buckets all the time since global whatever has occured.

meself i tend to keep my vehicles for years so keeping them out of the ditch is my priority.

Indout96

First of all it as G&S says above, our Saab is very poor in snow due to its low profile sports tyres - my Celica wears rubber bands so I'll not mention how bad that is at getting stuck LOL you would not believe the looks I get going 20/25 mph in a fully modified Celica when its icy
But secondly

My dad and boyfriend seem to think the roads are fine,

They are the sort of people who have no idea how slippery the roads are and will be amazed when they hit something. Having spend a few years on motorbikes its scary to see the speed some cars travel with no idea how bad the road is.
Another thing to listen for is tyre noise as you drive along, if your tyres go quiet you are on ice.

flyingscotno1

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

It's neither you or the car it's the tyres, it's on low profile summer tyres and everyone else is in the same boat.

If you invested in a set of good quality winter tyres (not Chinese rubbish either) you'd find a world of difference.

It's not as daft as it sounds IF you are keeping the car or 5 years or so to get the use out of them (or replacing your car with another the same), winter tyres are really cold weather tyres that are designed to increase grip below 7'C, so i put mine on end of Nov and remove them end of March, whilst running on those your summer set arn't being used.
The best way to do this is to buy a used set of alloy wheels, preferably in the narrower sizes available for your car (but not essential) and use those for your winter tyres.

This has the added advantage of keeping your best wheels out of the salt.

Someone will now be along to tell you that you don't need winter tyres in Britain as we bask in sunshine and sweat buckets all the time since global whatever has occured.

meself i tend to keep my vehicles for years so keeping them out of the ditch is my priority.

The increasing trend of manufacturers putting stylish low profile fat tyres on instead of 'ordinary' profiled tyres certainly has not helped. Can't imagine the hard sidewalled run flats (that Mini used to fit) help either.

I don't know if I'd purchase winter tyres esp for my car, but if a car had low profile tyres I'd consider it.

vikingaero

Good or bad tyres, you need loads of tread on summer tyres so that they can perform even half-heartedly. I'd argue that 3mm of tread is the minimum you should have in winter months and for driving in the snow.

Also if your MINI has run flat tyres (which most do) then they'll be average in the wet and crap in the snow compared to normal tyres.