Does anyone know if there are winter tires available for the stock wheels on the XF S/C? A few weeks ago I checked Tire Rack and they had Pirelli Winter 240 Sottozeroin the stock sizes. I had these on my S-Type R on the stock rims and they were excellent. I wanted to order them this week and it seems they are no longer available.

It would probably be a better idea to buy new wheels and tires but I am not sure what will fit. I heard the front calipers are slightly larger on the S/C so I'm not sure the factory sizes for the non-supercharged XF will fit. Does anyone (Jaguar Tech?) know what sizes will fit and what the coresponding tires size should be?

 

Just an update from the previous post. This is the official statement from Jaguar forwarded to me from my dealer.

"To all Jaguar Dealers,
As you are aware all Jaguar XF S/C models come with 20" wheels and summer performance tires as standard equipment. The Jaguar-recommended winter tire for this application is the Pirelli Winter 240 SottoZero in front and rear specific sizes. This note is to inform you that our supply of these tires has been delayed due to a worldwide shortage. This shortage is affecting all markets and any manufacturer that has specified this winter tire for use on their vehicles.
Senior Jaguar management and our tire program provider, Dealer Tire are working directly with Pirelli in the US and Italy to address this situation. We have been informed the Jaguar Tire Source Program managed by Dealer Tire will receive a very small quantity of 20" Winter 240 SottoZero tires by the first week of December. We are attempting to acquire additional stocks to support needs beyond that, however, we expect these tires to be in limited supply for the remainder of the season. Please note that some independent tire retailers may have small quantities of these tires, but we have confirmed they are leftovers from last years production. To our knowledge no wholesaler or retailer have received stocks this year.
We are working urgently to improve 20" winter tire supply and will update you as soon as we have more information."

I'm still hoping to put put 18 or 19" wheels with somewhat narrower tires on but the dealer hasn't been able to get confirmation on what will fit. I'll post updates as i recieve them.

 

I understand that the SV8 will take the 19 inch rims but not the 18 inch. Jaguar is a difficult fit aftermarket because although the 5x108 bolt circle is a Ford standard the centerbore is not as common, I think it is around 64 mm. The offsets are often wrong for this car also.

I would not bother going narrower for winter with the high performance available from the engine. I am using stock 245/45x18 winters on my XF and they are at least as good as the factory all season Contis Jag put on the Luxury model in my Canadian market.

The idea that narrower tires work better in winter is a bit of a myth. Sure they "cut" a little better but they dont grip ice as well and they don't corner nearly as well as stock widths. The rally boys use super narrow tires for winter stages but that is different technology altogether. Modern low profile tires are pretty wide even if you go "narrower" There's only 10 mm difference in width between the 245 and the 235 winter size which is just 3/8 of an inch. You won't notice any improvement in snow traction but you will notice the sloppier sidewall on the narrower tire in the corners on bare roads.

 

I contacted Tire Rack and they recommended 245/45R18 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 on 18 x 8 wheels. It required centering rings and new lugnuts as well. I also had them install new tire pressure sensors so I can easily change them spring and fall.The whole package came to $1944 with mounting, balancing, tax, and freight. The pictureis a photoshop of a picture i found on the internet. I used it to help decide which style of wheel to install since Tire Rack doesn't have an XF set up yet to see the tire/wheel combo before you purchase. I hope to get actual pictures once i'm a little more mobile.
They fit very well with no clearance issues. I haven't been able to drive it in the snow yet becauseI had foot surgery right after the first snowfall. My wife thinks it handles extremely well in the snow.The Winter setting also contributes tohow well in handles. The winter setting must allow for slightly more wheelspin than with it off.She likes to drive with it on if there is any snow and shetends to break the tires loose when accelerating away from a stoplight. It seems to me it doesn't break loose as much with the Winter mode turned off. I will have to test it more when I drive it again.

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Try the TRAC setting for the DSC if available on your SC. I find the extra wheelspin it allows in loose snow to be beneficial.

With the DSC off (eleven seconds on the DSC switch) the car is not very good in very slippery conditions. Balance is great but grip is poor compared to the torque available at low throttle openings.

For sheer ice the full DSC setting gives best results.

The XF is nowhere near as good as my X Type was in the snow, and even fwd would be better. But for a powerful rwd car it is very good in snow.