We don’t advocate summer tires in cold conditions. We never have and we never will. However all-seasons are different. But can they get through a Chicago winter? For the first time we ran a MINI with all-seasons all winter long. In the dead of winter. In Chicago. How did we survive? Read on.

I’m in the minority by saying that I’ll always prefer rear wheel drive cars with snow tires over just about anything else. Plenty of control with on-demand oversteer equals success in my book. But let’s be honest. All wheel drive and MINI’s All4 system is a better choice for 99% of drivers out there. And what we found is that the system can mask the inadequacies of all-seasons in most scenarios.

Our Pirelli Cinturato P7s were soldiers through most everything we through at them. And the All4 system was incredibly adaptable in most cases. That said we did have issues in two case. One was deep snow – over a foot of it. The tires simply couldn’t bit into the fresh powder and very careful driving (with DSC off) was required to get us through. But the worst experience was undoubtedly an ice alley where the Pirelli’s simply couldn’t get bite at all.

We came away feeling confident about the tires and the All4 system in almost every scenario. That said Chicago doesn’t get as much snow as it used to and if you live in a true snow-belt, there’s only so much all-seasons and All4 can do. We’d still recommend winter tires in those cases.