mike.cars Posted October 6 Report Posted October 6 Hello MINIacs, I am new to the MINI world and look forward to joining the group in person soon for one of the weekend rides. I recently purchased a 2017 2-dr JCW from New York, and it came with Blizzaks (year code 2023) on the stock wheels. I'm guessing the previous owner had a set of summer tires on aftermarket wheels. I have a couple of questions/thoughts I'd like to ask more experienced MINIacs than myself... 1. How would you feel about running Blizzaks on some spirited driving like on the Oct 20 or Nov 2 runs coming up? Too warm to run that kind of tire? What are the negative aspects of spirited driving a winter tire in warmer temps - faster degradation, any safety concerns, etc.? 2. What would you do in my situation with these relatively new Blizzaks? A couple options I am considering are: Replace the Blizzaks now with Michelin PS All Seasons (what to do with the Blizzaks then?) Ride out the Blizzaks through winter and in the spring, get a set of aftermarket wheels with Michelin PS 4S's and keep the stock wheel/Blizzak setup for the winter Maybe some other option I'm not thinking about... I just moved to DC in June so I'm not sure how cold it gets here over the winter. I called GT Peace last week when I was thinking about getting some Pilot Sport All Seasons through them, and they seemed to lean toward keeping the Blizzaks on through the winter and doing a summer tire on aftermarket wheels in the Spring. What do you think? Thanks for your time and help! Mike
1975_mini Posted October 7 Report Posted October 7 Welcome Mike, BLUF: IMO, if you only want one set, PS4 all-season will handle the weather here no issue. If you want two sets all seasons and a nice summer tire. ----------------------------------------- Just my option, winters are a bit of overkill around here, all-seasons are fine for our temperatures. When we get snow most everything is shut down until the streets are cleared and that is usually within a day. Unless you are on unpaved roads you will only in an extreme occasion be driving on snow covered roads. We have Michelin PS4 all-weather on both of our MINIs that we lead runs for the club in. I feel I set a decent pace on them. I also have ultra-performance summers (200tw), but really only use them for performance driving (autocross, track events, etc...). You will be fine using the winters on any runs you join for the end of this year until it warms up. That will be the biggest thing with the blizzaks, they will heat up quick with the blockier tread and then wear faster pushing them on backroads. You don't need to replace them immediately, just swap them out going into spring. Again welcome and look forward to seeing you at an event soon. -Corey 1 1975 Mini 1000, 998cc A+ w/ K&N air filter, 10" Mamba wheels
mike.cars Posted October 7 Author Report Posted October 7 Hi Corey, Great advice and information. Thank you very much! -Mike 1
