Josh Wardell’s MINI Cooper S

This week I swapped out my summer tires for my new snow tires. Snow is already starting to fall in New England and I will soon be making trips north to go skiing. I barely survived last year’s blizzard conditions driving on the original all-seasons, and I don’t want to experience that again. I look forward to battling the snow this year with the right tires.

My Yokohama AVS-ES100’s served me well for the summer. Several months ago, I bought a slightly used set of MINI R81 7-hole white 15″ rims off of eBay. I then ordered snow tires. I was close to purchasing the Pirelli Winter Carving tires for $300, but instead decided to instead get Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2’s for $400 which are known to be one of the ultimate snow tires.

There is quite a difference going from 16 to 15-inch; road noise is much quieter. However, the big snow treads now make a truck-like sound, that I kind of enjoy. Steering is more spongey, and traction of course is not nearly as good as the W-rated Yokos, but the soft rubber’s traction drops off drastically in low temperatures (as I learned at last week’s autocross) so even without snow it is a good idea to do the switch to winter tires now.

After removing the summer wheels, I cleaned them inside and out, then coated all the rubber with Aerospace 303 for protection. I then placed them in TireTotes for storage in my basement, except for one which will go in my Bag Lady wheel bag as a spare tire for trips.

Today was the last autocross of the season for the Boston BMW CCA. Temperatures were only 35 degrees at the airfield this morning, making for some warm clothing and a complete lack of tire grip! I nearly spun twice, consecutively in the same spot. It really is a amazing the difference cold temperatures have on your tires’ traction.

I didn’t bother with the video today. It was yet another very fast course, with some shifting in to 3rd in sections, and another where many shifted into first; both are unusual in most courses. I’ve enjoyed the course layouts throughout the year, although the MINI has much less advantage in them than it would have in a normal parking lot course (ours is on a 3-angle airstrip). This is the first year I’ve ever regularly autocrossed, previously I did it twice a year. It means I would be eligible for a trophy, but unfortunately I’m nowhere good enough due to the stiff competition in the club. But it’s well worth the $25 price for a day of learning your car and having a ton of fun.

My snow tires (new for this year, I can’t wait to try them) will hopefully go on this week. And come late January or February, I will be back with the BMWCCA, ice racing. I’m told it’s even more fun!

On Saturday, about 40 of us ignored the eight straight days of rain and drove to southwest New Hampshire, which was making national news because of its destructive flooding. In conditions where anywhere else people wouldn’t have left their house, we spent a day driving around in nonstop soaking rain. And it was an absolute blast.

Each year the Monadnock Area Mini Association holds its “Come to MAMA” tour. Last year it was a lovely tour of fall in New England: covered bridges and colorful changing leaves. This year MAMA III was a tour of our amazing New England weather! After several days of heavy rains, parts of our starting point of Keene, NH were being evacuated. So do you think that would turn most away? No way, we were itching to go out and play!

Many roads were flooded or closed. Our MINIs had fun jumping in those huge puddles. It was an eerie feeling driving with rushing rapids on either side of the road, inches away from overtaking the street. Fields were giant ponds. Bridges seemed to be floating just above the raging water beneath them. Some of us even made our final parking lot a giant wet skidpad.

Last year was famous for its many U-Turns, this year we were split up into two smaller groups to keep things more manageable (yet I still counted four). We still worked in some sights, but the real experience was the driving. Despite the conditions, everyone was safe and had fun. I will have more photos posted in the future, but in the mean time be sure to read about the event and see photos at Ian’s and Harvey’s sites.

I’ve posted my video from the BMWCCA autocross I was in on Saturday. This time I recorded every run for myself to review immediately afterwards and it was a big help, especially at seeing what not to do. I had free time on my break to tape some other cars on the course this time so this video is a little different than the last one. Download here 23 MB, 6:51