Could someone please explain to me the differences between the Dynamic Stability Control equipped models and those without. I just recently purchased a 2004 X-type 3.0 automatic black on black. Iof course bought this car for it's gorgeous looks, but also in large part for it's AWD capabilities. After reading through the manual I realized that my car doesn't have Dynamic Stability Control feature, and it worries me immensely. After making this startling discovery I did some Googling and came across several different posts that mentioned how the front wheels don't engage until 20 mph!!!??? I live East of Cleveland Ohio and our winters are horrendous when it comes to deep snow for a solid 3-4 months out of the year. If my car is strictly RWD at low speeds under 20 mph then I won't be making it out of my driveway ever. Please tell me I'm wrong, I just bought my Jag this week and I thought it was the perfect car for me.

 

I think I may be a bit farther north then you and have not had a problem with my X-type in the snow. I do not have the mentioned DSC feature and would consider it to be unnecessary for winter driving as far as my experience goes. The car as far as I am concerned is like a snow plow in the winter. Nothing stops it!

 

Welcome to the forum MeowMeister! I think you will find a lot of people here that are knowledgeable about the cars and will help you out. But, we do ask that you stop by the new member section and tell us a little bit about yourself. This gets you introduced to the movers and shakers of the site. We are a friendly bunch here and as you will find, we are a quite active group. Besides, you may find it beneficial yourself.

Possibly the most useful tool on this forum is the seach engine. The advanced search is even better. I searched for DSC traction in the X-Type section & came up with four recent threads that should answer your questions;

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-wheels-32637/
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-my-awd-48579/
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...l-drive-47039/
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...control-36023/

 

meow, first off, welcome to the club. As is mentioned above, please introduce yourself in the "New Member" section. We are a friendly bunch and like to get to know each other. I think you will also find it very interesting as you will figure out who the movers and shakers are here.

As for your question about the DSC and having it/not having it. The DSC works simply by applying the brakes slightly to the wheel that is spinning faster than the rest, limiting its maximum speed. It isn't going to prevent your car from loosing traction, just makes it a little more difficult. I grew up in Toledo, so, I know the weather that you are talking about. You are not going to have any problems with this car and not having DSC. I have driven my car in bad weather in MD (where I live now) and I can get much further than other cars.

As for the front wheels not getting any power, that is a quazi wrong statement (European diesel cars are RWD, but these are not sold in the US). THe front wheels don't get as much power (more of a 40/60 split) as the rear wheels. But, they always get power. But, there is a bias to the rear of the car. The differentials are open, so, if you break a front wheel and a rear wheel loose, you will be slipping like you had a FWD or RWD vehicle. But, now you need both a front and rear tire that is slipping. Be mindful of the gas and you will not have a problem.

If you have more questions, please feel free to keep asking. We will get get you taken care of. All we ask is as you learn more about your car, you share that information with the fellow members.

 

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful responses, I really appreciate the time you took to answer my questions. I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am to to hear that my car is suitable for driving in the East Cleveland winters. The snowbelt region I live in is no joke, like clockwork we get heavy lake effect snow that really piles up by the foot. So as you can imagine a solid snow performer is a must. I plan on going ahead and purchasing a good set snow tires as well, suggestions are welcome.

I'll be making my way over the the newbie section where I can properly introduce myself. Thanks again, and I look forward to making my own contributions to this fine community.

 

I am a novice Jaguar owner... 2004 X-type. I don't believe I have DSC.... have the button on the center column, lights up red at the start, but can't turn anything on or off.


Anyway, my back end is really whipping and skidding on turns... also a bit of a skid on slick snow. Normal for the light back end?

 

Our 05 Xtype manual without any of those electronic cheating devices absolutely sucks in the snow until you learn to drive it. It is not like an audi or subie with their fwd bias sure-footed feeling instead the rear likes to pass the front. Once you learn this and have determined the limits you can go out an have a freaking blast with it. I can literally drive down a snow covered road at a 45 degree angle. Granted an auto wouldn't do this nearly as well. I've never gotten it stuck, nor has my wife but you will want to go play in a parking lot or some back roads first it will solve the white knuckled drive

 

I have DSC and viscous coupling, really nice thing to have when on ice, helps with turning alot and overtaking is a lot less dramatic. But turn it off and you have a real fun machine. I like how it goes sideways like a rwd car with low rpm's and when you floor it it collects speed like a true 4x4.

 

What kind of tires do you have and what condition are they in? If you have high performance summer tires and especially if they are somewhat worn you will have a hard time in the snow, DSC or not. If they are worn either get a good set of all season tires or even better, dedicated snow tires. I use Continental all season tires on mine and they have been fine in Wisconsin winters.

 

my 2002 also could put a snow plow on the front ,best awd car ive driven,
i have a 2009 lexus gs350 also which does not compare to my jag
my x-type is a beast in the snow, with the stock tires



the police got stuck up my hill with chains on i cruised right by them

 

With the hilly winding roads where I live, in the snow these AWD cars aren't very good without DSC. I know that when I turn it off I don't get very far. Much better with DSC.

 

Just to add to the good things about our cars, we got dumped on as you know in michigan the last few weeks. I do not have a plow service. My driveway us a "bowl" so it is up hill anyway you look at it. I regret not taking a picture of the front of my car in the garage. I had snow up to the hood from my driveway. I had no clue it was that deep due to the car's lack of struggle with the snow!!

When leaving the driveway for the first time, I went to fast (I was used to a pontiac sunfire) and almost slid into the ditch on the other side of the road!

I do not have DSC, and this car takes off like a bat out of hell and stops straight and true. I own a grand cherokee, 4x4 dodge ram, and this car is faster taking off then they are. I'll take the SUV or truck in the really deep stuff though.

 

I am glad to have found this thread as I am shopping around for X-Types right now. Someone had previously mentioned that it would be necessary to have DSC, otherwise I would find the AWD not very helpful in the snow (live in the D.C. area and dive to PA from time to time).


But from the discussion here, it seems that is not necessarily the case? If so, this is a game changer because finding ones with DSC has been the limiting factor for me. Plenty of good options without DSC abound.


So, should I be ok to get one without DSC?

 

JMG, you need to pay attention to what year car you are looking at. You have a few different "flavors" of drive systems for the X-Type.

While this only applies to markets outside of the US, there are 2WD versions. As you can imagine, this is not any better than other cars that are 2WD.

Then you have the cars that are AWD that were made from 2001 thru early 2004 (March 2004 is the cutoff point). These have a viscous coupling in the transfer case. This will garantee that you have power to atleast 2 wheels at all time (1 in the front, 1 in the rear). So, as long as you are not high centering the car on opposing wheels, you will be able to move.

You also have the post early 2004 cars with DSC. The transfer case does not have a viscous coupling in it. So, it will attempt to send all the power to which ever wheel is moving the fastest (of the 4). The DSC computer looks at the wheel speeds and decides if it needs to step in and apply the brake caliper to the wheel that is spinning the fastest. If it does, this brings the wheel speed down and forces the power to go to a different wheel (one that should have traction). Then over time, the DSC computer will ease off on the braking of the one wheel to see if it has regained traction and therefore no longer needs to be limited.

You finally have the post early 2004 cars without DSC. The transfer cases do not have a viscous coupling in them and therefore you have power being transferred to the wheel that spins the fastest. Once one wheel looses traction, its speed dramatically increases and takes the power from the other 3 wheels, leaving you pretty much dead in one spot.

So, there is some truth in what you are reading. You have to pay attention to what version of drive system you are talking about.

 

Thanks for the breakdown! I had no idea it was quite that complicated. This info will surely help though. If I understand correctly then, as I am only looking at 2004 and later models, an early 2004 or a post-early 2004 w/ DSC is what I would probably want.


Is there a way to use the vin decoder to figure out exactly which type of system a car has? For instance, one 2004 I looked that does not have DSC, has this in the Equipment section: Jaguar "Traction 4" full-time all-wheel-drive. I don't see anywhere in the vin decoder where it give the exact manufacture date so I can't see if it is early 2004 or post-early 2004.


I'll lay off the questions for a bit now.....

 

Open the driver's door and look at the sticker next to the door latch. On this sticker, it will give you the build date. You want something from April 2004 to present.

 

'Traction 4' is Jaguar's trade name for their X Type AWD system. It does not mean there is any electronic control system, DSC or other! They used that name for AWD both with and without a viscous coupling. The viscous coupling was not used after VIN D56272

 

Looking at a 2004 now. The sticker has the manufacture date at 10/03, but it has DSC. This doesn't fit into any of the categories you mention, but I assume it should be good.

 

Then it has viscous coupling and DSC, it gets power to the ground a bit better than post 2004 cars.

 

Indeed; DSC was available as an option before 2004 as well. A car with both VC and DSC is probably the holy AWD grail of X-Types.

Btw, to anyone looking at early VC-equipped X-Types; bear in mind that the transfer case may have been replaced with a later non-VC unit at some point over the lifetime of the vehicle.