Nope...the XKR and SL65 AMG are stored in the winter. Learned my lesson when I drove my previous Supra Turbo over a icey bridge and slid off the guard rail damaging the entire side of the car. I did have snow tires on my previous Corvette but it's still no fun with traction control constantly going on in cold pavement or snow. I now drive either my 2 mercedes with 4matic or Rover wth awd. So much more fun driving awd vehicles in the snow.

There is a video on FWD with snow tires vs. AWD with all season tires. Interesting that the FWD with snow tires did everything better except straight line accelleration in this recent test:

 

I drive mine all winter. However xkr Is resting now as I'm way over my miles on my lease after a year.

 

Although I wouldn't dare compare our wintery conditions to what some of you in Northern America and beyond experience we've had plenty of snow and sleet this winter, and I've driven my XK throughout.

I do have winter tires and I keep on "winter mode" pretty much all the time. This was my first winter with the XK but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, never had any issues and overall it didn't seem to perform worse than any of the other rear-wheel driven cars on the road.

Obviously these vehicles are not ideal in wintery conditions (but mine is a 'working gal', what can I say), but in my experience it's definitely doable.

 

I've been quite happy with my Pilot Sport AS Plus tires this winter. No dicey moments so far.

 

I've put the same tires through the paces since I got my car, and they don't get a thumbs up from me.
The cornering grip is so numb that finding and controlling their limit is nearly impossible. Your first clue they have let go is when you are about a foot off your line wondering why......

For basic driving, they may do OK, but you sure can't push them.

 

I am in Switzerland with my XKR-S on Pirelli winter tyres. Winter tyres are required in Switzerland or any shunt is considered your fault. The car performs well and I feel that it can be trusted. Most mornings there is 2 or 4 inches of snow on the car to clean off. I have had issues with the door latch saying that the door is open. From another thread I purchase 6 micro switches, but in the last week the temperature has come up to above freezing and the issues with the door have gone away.
These tyres I have had on the car all year and this is my second winter and I have some confidence in the car and tyres driving across Europe in Winter and I have been up some interesting mountain roads without any problems.

 

Hmmm you people don't understand that there are a lot of regions (like UK), where Winter Tires are something SF!

I have Winter tires on my 2010 XKR, but I rarely use the car in Winter because I lose grip to often and to easy; and I don't speak about snow... I speak about -2, 0, 2 C

XKR has a Winter mode that can be useful, but I prefer my X6m for winter...

 

Exactly.

On the last drive home after New Years, there were plenty of semi's, suv's and cars that decided the nice even pace I and the Jeep behind me were keeping was too slow for them. The smarter ones pulled out to pass in the slush and quickly chickened out. Even semi's who have enough weight for their tire width's to cut down to the pavement. The dullards pressed on regardless.

Found some of them later littering the ditch. No doubt by the time they got hauled out, did the paperwork and got going again any time savings was long gone. Not just cars. Semi's and suv's too. The first sign of trouble was a semi completely off the highway nose to a cliff wall.

The Jeep driver was nice, he wasn't tailgating .. he just stayed a nice distance behind and kept his chosen gap. Nice to have a well lit gatekeeper in the rear when there is limited visibility.

 

I agree Plum, just take a look at some of those Russian car crash video's to see what happens when you try to change lanes and go too fast on snow covered roads in the winter!

 

I drive my 2010 XK convertible (and I drove my 2007 also) all winter in WI. With winter tires!! Only issue is deep snow as it sits so low. Nothing handles well on ice. We have a couple tricky hills in our area and I've had to drive around other cars that couldn't deal with the incline. Is a big truck better? Sure.

 

I live in the Chicago area and I do drive my XKR175 in the winter, but not too often. I hate all-season tires, so I run winter and summer tires on all my cars (on the XKR, Blizzaks in the winter and Michelin Pilot Super Sports in the summer). I like to keep the Jag looking perfect, so I don't like driving it when the roads are salted...but sometimes I just can't resist.

 

DGL, I have the same question, though mine is a base 2008 XK with new M+S tires (Brigstone Potenzas). Would like to hear from someone who has actually driven an XK with M+S tires in the snow and ice. Growing up we always drove rear wheel drives in the winter and got around ok, though FWD/AWD is better for sure. But people have driven RWD cars in the snow for years, so is the base XK so different? Would like to hear how the car does from someone who has been behind the wheel in wintery conditions. Thanks!

PS--See attached photo. Not the Jags fault I would guess, but definitely want to avoid this situation!

 

The doors closing when cold (or lack of closing) is a bigger concern than driving RWD car through the winter in an XK.

 

Yes, I am not thrilled with the Brigstone Potenzas on dry pavement. I tried Michelin M+S tires first and got the tire shop to take them back (they were really soft!) and give me be the Brigs but they are only a tad better. I had Goodyear F1s on my previous X-Type and they were great in summer and winter, almost like a summer tire in warm weather. But alas GY stopped making them. I guess they rode to hard for most M+S folks.

 

So which "Potenzas" are you running?

I'm not a great fan of All Seasons (Jack of all trades, but master of none), but the RE960's were a great tire if you have mild to moderate driving manors. Amazing stable wet or dry.... For me, the mid blocks (center tread) just didn't hold up to to my aggressive style.
With the release of the newer RE970 series, Bridgestone seems to have addressed that issue with stouter block design while keeping the same great A/S compound.
From there the only other tire I would look at for an All Season is the Continental DWS series.... One heck of a tire for year-round service and owners of it are absolutely dedicated to it as their year round tire.

 

If this is an indication, before I purchased my car, the search for 2010 or newer XKs showed the lowest mileage cars originating up North. Southern cars had considerably higher miles.

 

Nope!
Insurance comes off the car (except storage) from Oct 20 to March 20
Same as my Vette

 

Yes I drive my car all year round! Of course I live in Maui though! Sorry I couldn't resist!!

 

Here comes another winter in Switzerland and I am still driving on the same Pirelli winter tyres that I put on some time ago. This will be the third winter and the same tyres all year round for two full years and there looks like plenty of tread for this winter. They are a little noisy in dry summer roads across Europe, and they are very good in wet, snow and ICE conditions. The XKR-S seems to behave very well, but I suppose it is more about how gently we handle them in the poor conditions.

 

What color XKRS do u have? Coupe or convertible?!?