Good Afternoon,

I don’t remember any car dealer asking what type of tires we wanted. We have always had all-season tires which have worked fine during winters in western New York, USA. Our 2019 4-cylinder Jaguar F-Type arrived with Continental SportContact 2 tires which are summer tires. They will not be a good choice for the winter months.The F-Type is my daily driver, all year long. I may drive it 2000 to 3000 miles per year.

I looked at some other "tire threads". Let me know if there are any other options that I did not think of and I will then pick one.

Option #1: Do nothing. Drive carefully through the winter.

The streets are not covered with snow every day during the winter. When there is snow, the streets are plowed early or within 24 hours. If there is more than an inch of snow on unplowed streets, I will stay home

Cost: $0.00

Option #2: Buy snow tires, unmounting/mounting tires when the seasons change.

I suppose that this can be rough on a tire’s bead, the part of the tire touching the wheel. We will need to drive a second car carrying the 4 tires to the tire dealer at the change of the season to have the tires unmounted/mounted, beating up the beads.

Cost: a set of snow tires + yearly cost of unmounting/mounting

Option #3: Buy snow tires and a set of wheels.Cost: a set of snow tires and wheels + yearly cost of uninstalling/installing wheels/tires or the cost of a low profile jack and torque wrench.

Option #4: Discard summer tires and buy all-season tires.
.
Discard the new set of summer tires, now, and buy a set of all season tires. Car life is now what we are used to.

Cost: set of all season tires

Option #5: Combination of option #1 and #4
Thanks for your ideas,
Bill

 

There are more effective methods of suicide than Option 1, and less likely to take others down with you.

Go with Option 2 or 3.

 

 

Hi SinF and Suaro,

I appreciate your senses of humor

With moving we run the risk of hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, mud slides, earthquakes or floods. None of which our baby F-Type would like.

Bill

 

 

Agree with Suaro, Option #6. Move to South Texas, where it's summer year round.

Actually, I'll like run-flat tires

 

The good news about hurricanes, forest fires, mud slides, earthquakes, and floods .... they don't happen every winter. I've lived through most of those, as well as NE winters, before landing where it gets a bit too hot in the summer, a bit too cold in the winter, rarely snows a significant amount (and generally melts on its own), and far enough inland to limit the hurricane threat.

Seriously, in your locale, I'd either go ahead and buy the All-Season now, so you can (hopefully) sell the Summer tires as essentially new. They won't have a lot of market, but you could some off-set some of the cost. If they don't sell at all, you can still swap them on your current rims next year.

Be careful if the wife advocates Option 1; it would be a reasonably effective way to cash in on the life insurance.

 

Hey Bill, the issue is not the snow. The issue is that when it is cold, your summer performance tires will turn into hard blocks with no grip whatsoever and slide on anything. I live around NYC and discovered this at my expense during my first winter with such tires (I thought, why spend the money, I'll drive slowly on snow). After leaving my car parked for a few hours in a lot on a day when it was cold, I started to drive it in reverse very slowly... lo and behold, the car started to slide across the parking lot (which had a slight incline) and I ended up with my car on a sidewalk all the way across the lot. I was fortunate not to hurt anyone or anything along the way. There was not much snow, and I must not have reversed at more than 5mph... but my tires had turned into skis in the cold and would not grip at all. You would do better with traditional tires but the summer performance (which I suspect you have) are truly dangerous in cold weather, snow or no snow.

 

Just sell your continentals and buy all-season. Based on your description, this is the most economical and easiest to maintain.

 

Low profile all seasons compromise both seasons. But that's probably your best option. I went with a second set of wheels because I wanted great snow tires.

 

 

At least with fires, earthquakes, floods you don't need to worry what tires you have. Since I live in the desert and have none of them , tires are a no brainer. When it does rain it might flood for 2-3 minutes!

 

I live in CT too. I never drive my high performance cars in the winter anymore (I drive one of my SUVs instead) because they are usually not that great in the snow even with proper snow tires and most importantly to avoid road sand pitting of the paint - although not as much sand is used anymore. A new hazard is the new salt formulation they use instead of sand or salt/sand that eats cars here - its amazing how corrosive the stuff is. Before I started doing this I always used an extra set of wheels with snow tires (usually Bridgestone Blizzaks). I originally used studded snow tires but they are not a good choice on a high performance car as they can be a hazard themselves due to the studs if you forget about them and drive too aggressively.

 

 

Good set of options. If I were in your shoes...

Option A: All seasons now, sell "as new" summers
Option B: Summers on original wheels for "driving season", winter tires on less expensive but still attractive wheels for the salty road season.
Option C: If within budget considerations, buy or lease a small SUV. Great utility all year and in winter have fun plowing through the snow and doing some Ken Block style sliding around.

Summer performance tires become Flintstone's rock tires when it is cold. Below about 50 degrees F performance starts to fail. As it gets colder the structural integrity of the tire will suffer over a fairly short time creating a dangerous situation. Like dry rot, the tire might look fine, however...

 

Hi Hayabusa and Brock,

In parallel with you writing your replies, I sent an email to Continental and they said the same thing including that their summer tires are prone to cracking below 45 degrees. That eliminates my Option #5.

We are leaning towards your Option A, buy all seasons now, sell "as new" summers ... to another F-Type owner with 18" wheels ?

Thanks,
Bill

 

absolutely DO NOT do Option #1. the people telling you this are all people that have lived to tell the tale...its not a fun experience.

the most logical option is to just buy winter tires and swap out seasonally, but it can get annoying.
I've gone the all-season tire route....so far no severe issues. just be extra careful and you'll be fine

 

You didn't say what diameter wheels you have. If your F-type came with the standard 18" wheels, there is no snow tire fitment available for the original wheels. I've looked. Also I haven't found any "approved" recommendation for an after market 18" wheel + snow tire set. There are original wheel snow tire options for the 19"s though.

If you're on 18"s I have the same tires as you. For now, when there is snow and salt I drive my Saab but otherwise I do drive the F-type in winter. Eventually I'll replace the original tires with all seasons, probably Continental Extreme Contact DWS06.

-Jim

 

Jim,

Sorry for the tire size omission.

Front:

 

So many different opinions, suspect it comes down to personal preference.

Some countries in EU mandate snow tyres be fitted in October onwards I believe.

I live in UK, it's a choice left to owner's discretion. Where I live we can get snow especially on higher ground but at lower levels it doesn't occur every year.

My personal choice has been option one but I accept this may not be right for your circumstances. I haven't been out in my RWD type R in snow as it didn't snow last winter, although I am aware summer compound tyres aren't ideal especially below 7°C I found the grip to be adequate if caution is exercised even on less than ideal P Zeros. The rain / snow setting on ESP / traction control will also help.

A previous car I owned was a GT-R with 580bhp albeit via AWD, I drove all year round including snow on summer tyres without problems.

I covered 45000 in three years, never slid off the road. I got stuck in snow on two occasions and dug myself out with help, I don't believe snow tyres would have prevented me getting stuck as on both occasions it was due to lack of ground clearance rather than lack of traction.