For a 60-mile drive to a family Christmas gathering I had 5 vehicles to choose from: 3 with AWD and all-season tires, 1 with 4WD and AT tires, and the SuperV8 with RWD and summer tires. Almost all of the snow is off of the roads here in the mid-Atlantic area, but knowing that my destination is down an unpaved road, which is likely to be icy, and at at the top of a very steep and long driveway, I plan to take the Jeep. My passengers think it will be cool to take the SuperV8 and totally dismiss my protestations. So I call my host who is quite a car guy. (He has 12.) He assures me that while his road and driveway are slushy and icy, I'll absolutely be fine with my summer tires. I've been out voted. We head out in the Jaguar.

Loooong story short: NEVER before in my life have I been stuck in snow or ice, until tonight. Forget the steep driveway. Those summer tires wouldn't even propel me on the level, slushy/icy unpaved road. I mean, the car just wouldn't move. I've never experienced anything like this before, but I've never been dumb enough before to take a RWD car with summer tires on ice. It took 8 large men to push me 2/10 of a mile down the road, where I was then going to turn into the driveway and leave the car at the bottom. But as soon as I turned onto the hill the car started to slide backward, even though I still had it in 2nd gear! Yikes!

We abandoned ship and walked up the long driveway in anticipation of a glass of warm Christmas cheer. As we rounded the bend at the top of the driveway I had a clear view of all the other cars that had made it down the country road and up the driveway ahead of me, all drivers later claiming they had no trouble whatsoever: 4 Saabs, 5 Audis, 1 S-Class, 1 5 series, 3 3 series, 1 Volvo, 1 Suburban, 1 Camry and 2 Honda Fits. None of them had summer tires.

I know better, I really do. I will never again be pressured into taking summer tires out in sloppy winter weather just because a couple of nostalgic family members think it would be really cool to spend a rare white Christmas drive watching a Bing Crosby DVD in the back seat. Never. Ever.

I hope all of you are enjoying a safe, sane and restful holiday.

 

Thank heavens you didn't ding it. You just found out the hard way that these big auto RWD cats, do not do ice on summer rubber.

Not only can you not go forward, they are impossible to stop when going down hill, unless you can find and use some "friendly" obstacle. (experience speaking).

Bet that, was a welcome glass.

Take care.

 

(First post!)
I had a FWD sport coupe long ago and with summer tires it was absolutely atrocious in slushy, snowy or icy weather. RWD (+ front weight bias) definitely doesn't help, but summer tires... If winter tires are a 10/10, good all-seasons a 7/10, summer tires are a 1/10. They are quite terrifying if the conditions are poor. Even just the cold/cool weather can reduce their coefficient of friction enough to make dry roads much more slippery than you might expect!

Mike

 

That's a funny story. I can totally relate. I had a set of "all season" performance tires on my XJ one time in the snow and I won't ever do it again. I can't imagine how scary the summer tires were. I once had a Saab 9-5 with Goodyear F-1's on it and tried to move it on my driveway with not even a half-an-inch on the ground. It slid backward until it met the street. The brakes couldn't stop it. Not fun.

 

Would like winter tyres on mine but cheapest (well only ones) are GB£268 per tyre!
No way am I spending over a grand on tyres which will probably only get used for 4 weeks a year.
Insurance excess is only £250 with protected No Claims in the event of an accident!

 

I've purchased winter tires for my XJ. They are well worth the money if you get caught out in the snow.

 

Xistnn,

I had a similar problem over Christmas and when I read your post I thought I had written it. We took a 1734 mile round trip from Fla to Ashburn VA and return with Summer performance tires. The snow was gone from the roads but when I got into a shopping center with a few ice patches we got dead stuck. It was embrassing. I really had no idea that Summer tires were this poor.
Aside from that, this was the first long trip with the 05 XJR and it met all expectations. No oil used and 26.1 mpg up and 27.1 mpg back on mid grade gas according to the trip computer. And the intermittant steering wheel shake I've been having went away and has not returned. I begining to think it relates to tire temprature.
O yes. The left side of the sound system went away in all modes. I think it is covered buy the Select Eddition warranty. At least it looks like it in the booklet.