Snowed In - Can Mini Countryman All4 Get Us Out With Standard Tyres?

We got Snowed In and needed to get out of the house, but we weren't sure if our Mini Countryman All4 would make it.
First things first, we have to de-snow and de-ice it.
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[@IanandJo]

Not sure if we tried this because we were sick of being snowed in, or because we were just curious to see if it would do it. Probably both.

[@JoshuaTarvin]

I was kinda shocked until I reread the title, "STANDARD tires." Even some good all season tires would have made a dramatic difference...I can agree about clearance, though. That could be an issue lol. I just got a '13 Countryman JCW and can't wait to test it in the snow, so thanks for the video! I've been driving WRXs for the last 10 years, so it has a lot of expectations to live up to lol. Cheers

[@pdtech4524]

Interesting video! Tip for removing snow from a car - Let the engine run for a few minutes before you start to clear off any snow, put the heater on and blast the windscreen, put your front and rear heated windows on. After a few minutes you'll find most of the snow on the bonnet, roof and windscreen will just run off very easily, any snow on the side windows should slide off easily also. 😎👍 Also tyre choice is crucial for driving in snow, generally road tyres have a compound and tread pattern more suitable for summer driving on dry roads! Winter tyres are more suitable for the colder temps and have a tread pattern which disperses rain and cuts through snow, in the UK we don't really get enough snow to need snow chains or studded tyres! I drive a Fiat Panda 4x4 and have fitted all season tyres, which I feel give a good compromise for good dry weather grip and extra wet weather grip and that reassurance that they'll cope well in snowy conditions or on a loose surface or green lane. 😎👍

[@IanandJo]

Couldn't agree more but it's a bit noisy if you are making a video so we didn't start it until we had the thick of it off. 😀

[@gasguzzler5551]

Proper winter tyres make all the difference, my wife has the 2018 cooper SD all 4 , got through our local lanes where my Merc gave up .. good video

[@IanandJo]

Thank you for watching :) Hopefully, that will be the last of the winter for a good long while. I think we'll keep a weather eye out for next year, it's the first snow we've seen for a good few years, so not wanting to get winter tyres if that's going to be it for snow for a while. Mind you, the mini does really well on normal tyres. Jo

[@K_halmiland]

Are other models of mini a good car for a country like sweden? Like mini cooper S.

[@GeoZeppelin1979]

i have a 2013 s all4 and its surprisingly good off road unbeknown to me it has an automatic rear diff lock and it got me out of situations that ML/rav4s were stuck in

[@benjibatch]

OMG a brush, I had to cover my eyes, your paint work, oh dear

[@IanandJo]

Don’t worry, it’s a very soft brush, and no paintwork was harmed in the making of this film. - Jo

[@benjibatch]

Something Vloggy 😂😂 thank god, love the vlogs by the way, the quality is definitely up there!

[@alandoran5428]

Benjamin Batchelor I couldn’t watch either......why not start the car help defrost. Then when a scraper was used, I really got worried

[@odgie9915]

Don't complain about winter tyres. It's 1 expense, that's it. You don't just throw them away after each winter. When the temperature drops below 7°c, normal summer tyres almost turn solid. Winter tyres stay soft all the time, plus they will dramatically reduce stopping distance in the rain, again when temps are below 7°c. I live in West Yorkshire, I always put a set on, because I don't want to be a danger to other people. Everyone is so naive about winter tyres, saying we don't get enough snow to warrant them. It's temperatures and the road surface. I choose my safety over a few hundred quid, and you get to save 5 months of mileage on your summer tyres.

[@IanandJo]

How right you are.

[@freddythefrog70]

Did he complain????

[@AcesnEights698]

Thanks for doing a proper ALL4 video.

[@IanandJo]

Thank you for watching :)

[@adammachin]

Snow tyres and there’s a snow mode in the traction system if you read the manual ;)

[@IanandJo]

I had been thinking about snow tires but if we only have a short period of snow it seems like a lot to shell out when we could just as easily stay at home by the fire. I did not know about the snow mode thing. I must try that out.

[@adammachin]

Something Vloggy maybe something like Michelin crossclimates are good for you best of both worlds. That’s a serious amount of snow in your video.

[@IanandJo]

Fortunately, we don't get that much snow too often and it doesn't last too long when we do. Thanks for the tip on the tyres. 🙂

[@dazdrum3390]

fit winter or allseason tyres you will really notice the difference in the snow, ice and rain.

[@IanandJo]

Quite possibly, but where's the fun in that? OK, admittedly it will go better in the snow and whatnot but then we won't have all the fun of digging the drive out every time it snows. Wait a minute! That doesn't sound like fun at all!

[@CharllesC78]

All season tyres aren't good for ice roads. I have used them here in the south of Finland but they are almost useless in the North.

[@MrAndrew941]

Did you have winter tires on because that makes a massive difference, even the best 4 by 4 can be rubbish with the wrong tires.

[@IanandJo]

We normally at most a couple of wintery days here each year so having winter tyres would be a bit of a waste, besides most of the roads are cleared of snow pretty quickly with ploughs and gritters. Even the tiny country lanes get cleared pretty quickly.

[@александрпапуга]

Something Vloggy In this case you need couple of wheel chains. That will really help you to get to cleaned road!

[@jimsteele2072]

Put a couple of tarps over your car before the storm starts or when you park it for the night. You will thank me the next morning. 👍✌

[@IanandJo]

Fab suggestion, thanks 😊

[@ArchstantonsMTgrave]

Didn’t realize the UK got that much snow.....still have a long way to go to beat the northern US 👍🏼

[@IanandJo]

It doesn’t do it frequently, but it was a good test of the mini’s capabilities. And no, we definitely don’t beat certain parts of the US and Canada 🙂 -Jo

[@heyby8764]

Standard tires whats that all season or summers? Don't you have to have winters tires on by law?

[@tedd7028]

Turn off your stability and traction control to enable electronic diff lock

[@IanandJo]

Thank you Houston! we heard you retrospectively 😁

[@icenberg6658]

Don't you have winter tires in the UK? Doesn't matter if you have AWD if you don't have winter tires on.

[@CharllesC78]

Useless to have an AWD car in the winter if you don't have a proper winter tyres.

[@IanandJo]

We don’t get snow that badly very often, so it’s an expense we don’t need.

[@mjq1602]

Thinking of getting one of these so that was really helpful!

[@IanandJo]

Excellent. Glad we could be of help. So are you for or against getting one now?

[@mjq1602]

@@IanandJo it's definitely at top of list. I have the mini SD hatch at that moment but looking for something a bit bigger and more of an all rounder to get my German shepherd in with the added safety of awd.

[@IanandJo]

This is definitely the mini for a German Shepherd. Plenty of boot space, especially if you put the seats forward. It's not exactly mini. It's quite often the tallest car in the car park. Even though it's big the awd means it keeps that gocart feeling if you want it, but it grips the road brilliantly. I really love driving it. 😀So much fun and yet really comfortable. Make sure you go for the right seats though. There are options and some of them are downright uncomfortable.

[@mjq1602]

@@IanandJo good to know thanks for info, much appreciated.

[@IanandJo]

You are very welcome Michael. 🙂

[@devconk]

What part of the UK did it snow this much?

[@IanandJo]

This is Wales. The weather mans it here.

[@miodragpetrovici3821]

Nice video ! It would probably be even more helpful if you could specify in the description what tires the car is on.

[@IanandJo]

True. It's just a bog standard Mini Countryman, and the tyres are the standard road tyres.

[@guyrichard98]

More efficient with winter tyres

[@imtheonehero9305]

you guys barely tried getting it up. My civic type r went up a steeper hill and with more snow.

[@iceland1919]

So, a four wheel drive can not get up a small incline, that’s pretty crap.

[@IanandJo]

It can. it’s just that it’s an icy snowy incline, and we have normal tyres on, because it doesn’t snow enough in the uk to make it worth getting snow tyres. Once it had something it could grip ahold of it was fine. Had we been able to approach with any speed it probably wouldn’t have been an issue either.

[@tomehCanada]

He doesn't know how to drive. He wouldn't make it out of his lanway in Canada while the old ladies were driving around him giving him the finger for blocking the lane. ha ha kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3LSpJVunLqga7c

[@Papa_Romeo]

Should have used black subtitles against that white background with the snow.

[@IanandJo]

Ah sorry, we thought putting a stroke and drop shadow on it would be enough. - Jo

[@TheVba1982]

Where are the winter tires?

[@IanandJo]

We don't get enough winter to warrant winter tyres. It hasn't snowed at all here this winter and there's no suggestion that it will.

[@CharllesC78]

@@IanandJo But you can get all season tyres . They make a lot of difference. They are perfect for snow but not so good if is icy ⛐.

[@jamal6509]

RIP paint

[@Yavhyo]

If you change your tires to snow tires it would be much more convenient

[@IanandJo]

We could, but it only snows here maybe once or twice a year so it's hardly worth it. Besides, there are other things that we have to spend money on, like petrol to allow us to drive to visit lots of castles. In our Mini of course. 🙂

[@ShenryRNBSN]

OMG THE PAINT!! I cringe.

[@IanandJo]

The paint was fine, we didn’t use anything harmful on it.

[@BIGDRONEFLYER77RC]

Now how the heck you get out of there? Wow

[@IanandJo]

A bit of digging and a really good car. It handled it so well. Really chuffed with it.

[@Car1750]

Mmm we have one I think I will use the mini one instead

[@IanandJo]

I am confused, one what?

[@Car1750]

Something Vloggy Normal mini, thanks for replying

[@IanandJo]

Happy to reply. Oh, a Mini One as opposed to a mini one. Isn't the English language a wonderful way of confusing people?

[@Car1750]

Nice house

[@IanandJo]

Thanks. We've rented it for a couple of years now so we are just about settled in. 😊

[@donein60secondsnow]

You should have winter tyres regardless of snow. 👍

[@IanandJo]

Winter tyres are not cheap and they do degrade, so ultimately not worth it for us. These tyres did the job splendidly

[@angusmacdonald5300]

They don’t get much snow in England so don’t need winter tires. This is a dreadful video! Not informative at all, just this guy shoveling snow and rambling on about snow.

[@leebarrett9581]

I’ve got an all4 and will probably never feel the benefit of it. Oh well

[@tolychinn5781]

If you had better tires it would of made it

[@IanandJo]

How right you are, but where's the fun in that? We got out eventually and by the sweat of our own brow, although why having a sweaty head helps I have no idea.

[@tharpeaddy]

Mani would leave the snow on top i on of the car by in it ocd

[@IanandJo]

Ah, but if you do that at some point it’s going to fall off the car and either onto your windscreen or fly off into the windscreen of the car behind you

[@Car1750]

Still nice house 😀

[@IanandJo]

Thanks. It is. Occasionally bits drop off which can be slightly nervewracking. 😀

[@allosaurusfragilis7782]

Lovely spot. Yorkshire?

[@IanandJo]

Close. It's South Wales.

[@allosaurusfragilis7782]

@@IanandJo haha. Well, looks bit similar. Cheers.

[@IanandJo]

It does. Some of Wales is remarkably similar to Yorkshire. Of course, under a layer of snow, it could be anywhere.

[@allosaurusfragilis7782]

@@IanandJo I'm up in Scotland but I can always tell it's not here. Think you prob get more snow these days as well.

[@IanandJo]

It does seem that way, although we haven't had any snow yet this year when we had already been snowed in by this point last year. I know that they have had some on the highest points of the Brecons so I expect if this cold snap continues it won't be long now.

[@WendyWalters-ng6cv]

Omg , your not driving the car properly anyway for those conditions, I could get any car out of that driveway in snow , if you know how to drive in the snow , the All 4 is to assist you in doing that . 😮

[@robfrye4664]

WTF??? Obviously you don't care about destroying your paintwork! Good lord!

[@IanandJo]

It's tough stuff. Not a mark on it.

[@tedd7028]

You clean that car like a 12 year old girl

[@IanandJo]

I know you are, but what am I? 😝

[@kylebandet7934]

You have shit tires on ur car ... I can tell ... so do a video and put better tires please