I wont go into a huge debate about this.. but what does everyone use for winter tires? Snow will soon be upon us and I have a second set of alloys that I can use. I was thinking going all out on american studded tires. However in the UK where I am based its appearantly against the law...

Yet strangly halfords sell studded belts to go around your tires, and chains. hmmm whats the best option. what do you guys think... I have had more trouble with my volvo s40 last year in the heavy snow than I would have expected and that was with all the bells and whistles ... so the jag is going to be a handfull I assume.. plus its auto.. now I know I can manually use it like manual car.. start off in second etc.... and be slow.. but advise please!

 

If the UK regs say 'no studs' then that's all there is to it. I use non-studded snow tires on my S-type (up here where it really snows) and have no problems.

BTW- selecting 2nd gear on your transmission doesn't mean the car starts off in 2nd- simply that this is the highest gear it can shift to. It will still start off in 1st.

 

UK Regs do prevent use of studded tyres on the highway.

The reason Halfords sell studded belts and chains is for those who are setting off by car to the Winter Ski resorts in Europe where carrying and fitting chains is mandatory.

I never consider changing to Winter tyres as we don't get sufficient snow in the North of England to need them.

I'll be interested to see how my 4.2 XK8 compares in snow against the previous 4.0 XK8. The 4.2 XK8 always starts in 2nd unless 'sport mode' is selected.

Graham

 

Mikey, first off I am from the north east of america, born and bred. well born in buffalo ny. bred in ct. so I know all about snow storms and there heavyness. the problem is that the uk is not equiped with dealing with the snow and ice which tends to be everywhere.

I appreciate the comment above but now living too in the north east of england the past 2 years we have been hammered by snow... I watched snow plows get stuck! 1079.... I am not far from there and on a few occasions I have been stuck in my own gravel drive... unable to get out. that was with my volvo s40 R design ... I got past alot of cars that couldnt move. I dont want to get stuck but I know that the jag has a tendancy to wheel spin given half a chance.

i havnt found a solution but when I do I will give it to those who might need the help too.

thanks for your replys guys.

 

Jon,

I around 100 miles north of you and the worst snow we've had here in recent years was two years ago.



After brushing this off the XK8, I drove it 700 miles down to Saumur in the Loire Valley and back the following week. Slid around a bit but never got stuck.

I did take the precaution of carrying AutoSock with me:

Car Snow Socks | Snow Socks | Auto Sock | AutoSock UK

Never needed them but was confident they would get me moving.

Graham

 

Snow, finally a subject I know a bit about, having lived the last ten years in eastern Canada with an annual snowfall of 1000+ cm (33 ft) has given me lots of experience. Putting snow tires on a Jaguar is a bit like putting Pirellis on a John Deere. High performance combined with rear wheel drive makes for poor performance on slick pavement. Your best bet is buy a beater for the winter and save the cat for fair weather missions. With that aside I put Bridgestone Blizzaks on all my vehicles. Although we can stud the tires here I think the Blizzaks perform better than any US tire with studs and don't sound like a Sherman tank on the highway. I have also had good luck with Micheln X series winter tires but not as good on ice. Just remember that all season tires are lousy in all seasons!

 

That would be considered a "moderate" snowfall in Mikey's old and new towns, causing absolutely no concern for the locals.

 

Nah ... it's the lack of LSD.

A late 80's Dodge Diplomat police special with snow tires can go just about anywhere with a little creative wheelspin. LSD was standard issue

Ditto for a early 70's Firebird Trans Am on 60 series summers. LSD was again standard issue.

On ice, you have to have a light touch on the wheel, know the car's dynamics and plan every move.

Winter is great for watching all those aggressive SUV drivers all of a sudden using the grip of death on their steering wheels as you blow by leaving a cloud of snow in the wake. All of a sudden they aren't so brave after all

BTW, for all readers with TRAC .. it is worse than useless at speed on rutted ice as it is actually fighting your corrections the whole time .. turn it off in those situations and the car becomes much more predictable.

 

In England, a lot depends on where you live, and whether town or country, because we have 1000's of miles of minor roads which the snow ploughs and gritters only get around to doing when they've done the main roads. In the North East it can get a bit bad, but usually it doesn't last very long, and here in Cheshire we usually only get a few days of snow. Only problem with England, unlike the US, is you never know when snow is going to come, it doesn't work to a calendar, I'm afraid.

Most people don't bother with winter tyres due to this unpredictability and short duration, but people in rural areas could find them useful.

 

Where I am, we don't get gritted, plowed or anything else.

It hardly ever snows, but when it does it's best just to hibernate, stoke up the Range and sit it out.

Regards the Jag, different model, but undriveable on Summer tyres, more worryingly, Unstoppable on sharp descents (have had to make 3 deliberate crashes to stop the thing before I hit the folk at the bottom).

I gather Blizzaks have a pretty good following from the guys in the Northern Wastes.

 

There used to be a steep hill with a required stop at the bottom before the last right turn on the way home. It was the only way in.

The only special technique required even with the 7.5L Firebird was to remember to throw the automatic into neutral due to the continued motive power at idle trying to overcome the rear brakes. And of course, pumping the brakes on the worst nights. That was before ABS and people actually got taught to pump the brakes properly in snow country.

The only car of the bunch over the years that was guaranteed to try to kill you at the slightest provocation was the one front wheel drive car, a Saab 900. Over the years, only the two FWD cars proved to have problems in snow. None of the many more RWD cars ever gave a spot of trouble in the same conditions. The problem with FWD cars is that the front tire grip budget is expended on steering, acceleration and braking at the same time. FWD cars are especially dangerous under accelerartion in snow on off camber corners. They like to slide off the road when the limit of adhesion is reached whereas RWD cars have the option of swinging the tail around by goosing the gas ... judiciously. Forget the handbrake, the Saab handbrake applies to the front discs making the situation even worse.

 

That's 10x more snow than any area I'm familiar with. Whereabouts are you?

 

Rural New Brunswick, north of Fredericton. Because of the river and the direction of the valley the snow piles and drifts so our snowfall is at least twice that of Fredericton which has an annual snowfall of 300cm. In February 2009 I measured 75cm in one day on our driveway. Ottawa averages 250cm yearly isn't that near you?

 

Blizzaks have a great following, as do several other dedicated performance winter tires.
When discussions like this come up with my ski buddies, the general consensus is that studded tires are now just a marketing ploy and have been for many years.
Studless snow/ice designs and compounds have proven themselves for years.

IMHO it is time to dump the 1960's tech and move into modern times.



Vince

 

Yes, we're an hour from Ottawa but just recently moved here from Montreal. I haven't been through Fredricton in years- my grandmothers family was from Woodstock originally, I still have family in Lepreau.

I think NB snowstorms are pretty well the nastiest in Canada- I bow to your experience!