Canada - winter tires

Recommendation from a car guy is worth it's weight in gold. I use discount tire, but they are so pushy on sales, that I don't recommend them to non-car people...

Most tyre shops that aren't in the bad part of town should be able to mount and balance tyres properly.
The staff and policies are the main difference between shops. Prices vary only a little. It's a competitive business.

 

With the Power Spoke wheel asterisk.

 

First of all, i didn't suggest you to look for tire shops that have mounting machine with "polymer roller" or "touchless" mounting head or "road force" balancing. If I did that, then your comparison would have been valid. All I suggested was to find a shop "with newer equipment". That's not the same as evaluating their equipment at all. What's the point of asking if the shop has newer equipment? A shop with newer equipment is more likely to keep up with proper tools and technology and that is more likely to do things properly. It's not a guarantee but it's a good way to gauge and assess potential outcome.

Secondly, why wouldn't you have any clue to evaluate if a shop has newer equipment? Can't you simply just ask them directly "how old are your mounting and balancing machine?"

It's the same situation with the wheel torquing point. Can't you simply just tell them to use torque wrench to torch the wheels with "so and so" setting which can easily be found on your owner's manual inside the glove compartment of your car?

 

They are not putting winter tires on the existing wheels, they are getting the full winter set with wheels and tires. But yes an adapter is needed to balance the power spoke wheels and the part can be ordered at the mini parts department for around $25. Also there is a hook in the tool bag that is used to remove the cover of the power spoke wheels to expose the lug nuts.

 

I still laugh every time I recall @F14Scott's reply 2 years ago when I asked what tool to use to remove my Power Spoke wheel-bolt covers. I neglected to look in my Iconic/Power Spoke tire-repair kit before asking.

 

Hi. From Montreal too. Lots of good advice here. I also drove home just recently with a brand new 2023 in need of winter wheels and tires. Here's my choice, the reasons for what I chose and suggestions on where to look/shop/install.
For tires I chose Michelin X-Ice Snow, in the 195/55R16 size. I've used a number of brands over the years, Toyo, Yokohama, Pirellis, Goodyears... best I found where the Michelins X-Ice. Also, looking at reviews: good grip on ice, improved traction in snow, quiet ride (for winter tires), and good fuel efficiency. Also, Michelin has a $100 rebate promo right now. Where to shop? In QC, I suggest you try Point-S (point-s.ca).
For wheels, I wanted alloy wheels. Yes, steels are cheaper but in two years time, when they're flaking off, and rust starts dissolving them and you have to scrape them and paint them over with Tremclad, you'll wish you'd spent the extra money to get alloys. Two suggestions, and made in Canada (as are those Michelin tires): Replika (fastco.ca/Replika), and RTX wheels (rtxwheels.com). I have a set of Replika wheels on order.

 

Good additions to the notes here, thank you. And welcome to the discussions!

 

I too originally was going to get the Michelin X ice snow but then I found out (and was confirmed by Michelin corporate) that Michelin had discontinued the production of this tire in size 195/55R16. So beware in the future if you need to replace a flat tire, you might run into trouble finding one.

 

We had three sets of xIce on our XC90. Wonderful tires, used them a few winters, and then ran them for a summer when the tread was low. We got more miles from the winter tires than the miserable Pirellis that came with the car.

I had Yokohama W Drives on my 330CIc that moved to my Astra. The response was crisp, and they handled turns with ease. They got me out of a few situations I should not have gotten into in the first place. I replaced them with xIce and I immediately regretted it. The sidewall was just too soft for a sporty ride.

 

Thought you all might enjoy reading this:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/winter-tire-review-an-ode-to-proper-winter-tires-11669061044?st=gwt6v0eqprdjfu7&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

I'd never heard of a Hakkapeliitta tire until I started reading this forum. (Reminds me of when I was learning how to spell Tennessee in my youth.)

 

FYI, 205/55R16 fits fine as well (that's what I'm using). It's the same width as the OEM 17" tires so no clearance issues and the extra height isn't necessarily a bad thing for winter

 

All tires MINI supplies--except for the SE--are run-flat tires, so they'll be heavier and probably reduce your range more than go-flat alternatives.

 

All excellent choices (though the R3 is deprecated now and has been replaced with the R5).

I’ll let others chime in on the various terms if I’m making no sense, but I usually refer to wheels when I’m talking about the tire-rim combo that supports the car, rims can be steel or alloy and refer to the rim itself without a tire, while the colloquial mags refers to alloy rims, because they used to be made from magnesium for racing in the 50s and 60s, but virtually all mags these days are made from an aluminum alloy.

PS: my dealership here in Montreal is horrible as well.

 

I had the same experience in 2019 when I sent letters to MINI USA, BMW in Germany, and Plant Oxford in the UK, begging the company to take $1,500 extra to delete the hood scoop by substituting the cheaper hood from the base MINI Cooper. If they wouldn't respond to someone offering them more money, I'm not surprised they ignored complaints about dealers.

 

I think for motorcycles and dirt bikes the mags are the one piece alloy wheels for road use and the spoke wheels are better suited for off-road punishment. You should also look to getting some TPMS in addition to the wheels + tires. The other optional things are center caps and lug bolts (most people keep the same hardware). My energetic yellow center caps went to the winter sets and I have self-leveling MINI ones for summer.

As for winter tires, you buy whichever brand you can get a hold of at a reasonable price. I think 16 inch wheels are better with more tire compared to 17 inch wheels for winter.

 

Our cars are built by robotics in highly automated assembly line with human assist. Everything is preprogrammed including parts logistics and such.

It's logistically challenging to substitute one hood among the entire assembly line. It would be a different story if the SE are mostly hand built.

 

Of course, you are correct, but all the F56 models are built on the same production line so it wouldn't be a logistical problem--the different hoods are all close by. It would just be a matter of a software revision. However, I'm the only one I know of who was willing to pay a body shop to paint and install a scoopless hood on their electric MINI, so the factory had little incentive to grant my request.

I can't wait to see if the 2024 Zhangjiagang SE gets the even fakier hood scoop stuck onto the camouflaged test cars. Hopefully, it will be peelable, like the MINI-E logo on the hatch of the current SE.



If the Zhangjiagang SE doesn't end up with a fake hood scoop, will owners add them?