Feb 5th, 2010
It’s the dead of winter in most of the world and for some of us that means driving our MINIs in snow. But that’s not all bad. With the right tires and the right techniques the MINI can conquer almost any snow. That brings us to this week’s Ask MF from Mary:
My 2005 mini is not doing well in 2-6 inches of snow. Is there something I can disable to get better control? I grew up in Maine so I know driving in snow, but my MINI is not handling well. Help.
There are several things that you can do to turn any MINI into a snow devouring beast. First off knowing when to turn off traction control will help in some situations. Secondly if you get a good amount of snow annually, the most important addition to a MINI are dedicated snow tires. These can be ordered by a place like the Tirerack and shipped to any tire installer in your area. It’s a bit of an investment but dedicated snow tires with their own wheels make a night and day difference.
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Feb 3rd, 2010
With the release of MINI’s first crossover MINI enthusiasts and perspective owners have had lots to react to. But more than anything they’ve been asking questions about the car, the business case and what this all means for the “mini” in the MINI brand. While we’ve done some work trying to clear up some of those questions we thought, what could be better than going straight to the source for all answers? So we have enlisted the help of MINI USA Product Manager Vinnie (Tennessee) Kung to help in answering your questions about the new MINI Countryman. That’s right, the man responsible for all product in the US will be answering your questions about the Countryman.
Here’s how it works:
- Post your Countryman related question in the comment section below by Friday February 5th 11:59 pm.
- We’ll go through and pick the very best, combine them with a few of ours and interview Vinnie.
Finally we’ll post the full Q&A interview right here next week.
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Nov 13th, 2009
This is a repost from one year ago. However given that the weather is about to get colder in the coming weeks, we felt that a re-post was in order.
So you have a MINI. You got the Sport pack and thought performance tires were a good idea. Then it snowed and you almost died. What should you do? That’s the question that prompted this week’s Ask MF sent in by Scott:
I have a 2006 MCS with the sport package and performance runflats I just bought used and I need some recommendations on snow tires to get me through winter. I’m in western Michigan so I really need some dedicated snows rather than all-seasons. Any suggestions?
Blizzak, Nokian, Dunlop and Michelin all make solid snows for the MINI. There some versions that do better in deep snow and some that are more performance oriented. Being in Western Michigan and getting enormous amount of lake effect snow, I’m guessing you need something that geared toward ultimate traction rather than performance. Because of that I’d start with taking a look at the Nokian and Blizzak line-up first.
But what else is out there? Lets hear it in the comment section below.
Oct 30th, 2009
This week’s Ask MF comes from reader Bob Hayhurst:
Currently I have an E30 and a R56 and both BimmerFile and MotoringFile are taylor made for me. Now my question. The other night I watched a show about the worlds largest car transport ship named the Faust out of Sweden. They were shipping both MINI’s and BMW’s (among others) from England to the US. I noticed on the BMW’s that each car had what appeared to be a coating of sorts which was evenly applied and which caused each cars paint to have a dull and flat appearence. I don’t think it was dirt or gime and it did not seem to be visible on the MINI’s, Jag’s or Rolls Royces. If you know; is this some type of protective coating applied to the cars for shipping? I’m more curious then anything.
Thanks for the kind words. The material you are talking about is called Cosmoline. It is a thick waxy substance BMW coats the vehicles in for shipment. It is removed by a hot water wash at the US port, separated and then recycled. BMW’s X5 and X6 vehicles wear protective cloth bags that are reused. On newer cars you can sometimes see during the hot summer wax like drips coming out of the door seams.
Oct 13th, 2009
This week’s Ask MF comes from Matt Bentley and deals with an issue we’ve heard quite lot about from a few readers:
I was wondering if you could shine some light on the current state of the iPod/iPhone integration for R56 vehicles. I own a 3g iPhone. My phone will only charge intermittently, and additionally, there’s no way (other than simply unplugging the USB cable from the vehicle) to enable the use of the iPhone’s iPod app screen, as it’s locked out by default by the ‘Accessory Connected’ screen. continued →
Oct 1st, 2009
Since myself and a few other MF contributors will be heading over to Ohio to compete in the latest round of the 24 Hours of LeMons, we’re handing over the keys to DB and Todd. We’re also clearing out our mailbox and in the process we’ll be posting a series of new Ask MotoringFile posts. The first comes from Kim:
Hi guys,
I’m brand new to Mini (June ‘09) and to autocross. For someone just getting
started with learning the car as well as trying out autocross, what
sites/information can you recommend? continued →
Aug 7th, 2009
This week’s Ask MF comes courtesy of Lisa:
I want to purchase a roof rack for my 2005 Mini Cooper. Please point me in the
right direction. Should I buy Thule, Yakima, or other? Which is best/ easiest
to work with? Which foot packs, etc do I need? I want to haul kayaks and
bikes. I’m sorry for all the questions but I keep getting different answers
from different websites and distributors. Thanks for any help that you can give
me.
We’ve had experience with Yakima and the OEM rack but would like to throw this out o our readers. Let’s hear it MINI owners, sound of below…
Related:
+ MF Quick Reivew: Yakima Rack / MotoringFile
