Tires BRIDGESTONE or NANKANG

If you want to increase traction you need to get top tier quality such as blizzak ws90 or michelin ice-x

If you end up choosing real winters then Blizzaks or X-Ice genuinely transform the car as I ran Blizzaks on my old RWD coupe when I lived near Ann Arbor and it went from borderline undriveable to genuinely confident on unplowed roads.

Bridgestone ecopia 300 is really quiet compared to my stock maxiss tires

I strongly recommend proper winter tires. At a minimum, at least get winter rated all weather tires. We had a lot of slushy bullshit build up today. The only reason I was able to get out of my neighborhood & make it to a Dr's appointment was because I run Blizzaks on my ND1.

Also lift kit, 14” rims and nankang AT tires so I can get to more remote job sites.

I have Bridgestones in my GTI in 17s with 215/50r17 and obviously don't feel as sporty as 19s but they're great for winter.

I like Blizzaks, been using them for over 15yrs. I tried the X-ice last year and am kind of disappointed in them for snow performance. They are great otherwise.

Nannkang NS20 is the cheapest tire that's good enough you won't think about it

I don’t drive my Mini much, sub 100 miles a year. I had Nankangs but they started to split after 18 months. Not sure if lack of movement didn’t help but it was annoying.

I had a nail in my tire with a very slow leak and went to a random tire shop. They did a crappy plug that was not designed for the Elite's self healing tires so I ended up with a very FAST leak instead.