Yesterday:




2 weeks ago, installed those 'winter' rims and Continental ExtremeContact DWS on the fronts and Winter Sottozero on the rears. Drove great on the wet streets yesterday, but nothing really accumulated. This should be a fun winter.

 

No choice - I don't own a fleet, so it's the XKR or the Fabia vRS, both of which have wide, low-profile, non-winter tyres. I'm not sure which would be better - 530 HP through the rear 295/20s of a heavy car (but with Winter mode available), or 180 HP through the front 205/17s of a light car. Fortunately it seldom snows in London. I've not yet driven either in snow, but drove my XJS V12 and XK8 in some pretty tricky conditions over the past 25 years.

Those of you who have grown up & learned to drive in snow & freezing conditions are better equipped than I am. I had to teach myself about snow driving, because I'm from New Zealand and it never snows appreciably in my home town. My first experience was driving the V12 down my own street in London on packed snow and just going straight ahead at the bend at the end - fortunately at a very low speed; I just drifted gently into the kerb, with the XJS's long snout neatly parked between two bollards.

 

Well, it is summer now and I am enjoying the summer tires I put back on my 2008 XK (Yokohama S-Drives--love them! Great tire for the price.) But I have to tell everyone my XK with the Brigstone Potenzas (M+S) tires was absolutely amazing in the snow this last winter. I ended up driving home from the ocean last January in a real blizzard, about a 60 km drive in heavy driving snow, at night! The car performed amazingly well and never broke traction once. The well balanced XK seemed very well suited to the snowy conditions traction wise as long as I kept my foot very light on the peddle. Thanks everyone for your advice last winter! Have a great rest of the summer, or I hope spring comes soon to a winding road near you, depending on your hemisphere. Cheers...

 

Cool, which set did you buy?

 

Read something in this thread that REALLY hit a nerve. Someone drives in the winter (very slowly) because they're too cheap to mount the proper safety equipment to vehicle (snow tires). That individual is the bain of all us prepared drivers (with snow tires) on a snow day. We are comfortable doing 50 on the highway that is treated, messy etc, but that individual is doing 30 and holding EVERYBODY else up. I've always said make winter (M&S) tires mandatory and ticket those that are unprepared, ignorant or just plain selfish at everyone else's expense. Most state police I know agree!~
Our stock Dunlops are lousy at 30 degrees, forget snow! I was shocked at how little grip they had on cool mornings when I bought the car this past March. I'm already trying to decide if I buy snows for the XK or my Evora S so I have an extra vehicle this winter. Not for snow but just for the cold!

 

On my XKR which I sold earlier this year and bought a Ftype R... I had bought a set of 'Coventry' 19 in. wheels and Yokohama snow tires and the car was good in snow. After about 4-5 inches of snow, you can end up 'high centered' as the car is fairly low, otherwise its good and I used the 'snow setting' for the transmission.
The 19 inch wheels give a bit more sidewall than the 20 inch due to the winter potholes and the Yoko's are a better snow than the Pirellis that I used in previous winters. Also, I used the same width as the fronts, all the way around as a narrower tire is better in deeper snow. As I recall the Yokos have the walnut shell pieces in the rubber that helps on ice as well.
We get a huge amount of snow around here, so snow tires are mandatory.
Lawrence

 

Jaguar offers a 'tyre hotel' service here in the UK - they swap you onto winter tyres and store your summer ones until the weather improves, then they reverse the process. A lot of people here, like me, don't have garages, so storing tyres in the off-season is an issue. Might investigate it more closely this year, though we don't get snow in London that often and I just stay home or use public transport when it does.

 

Stored mid Oct. - May 1. Special tire blocks from "Race Ramp" to prevent flat spots. Car cover. I have 3M protective film front 1/2 of hood, mirrors, door handles, rear lower quarter, and top rear bumper. Professional instal. Jag TSB shows dealer installed 3M film behind front wheels.
Volvo XC 70 AWD T6 Polestar Conti DWS great snow car.
I don't expose my car to any salt, rain it's hard enough trying to keep car looking good, without winter.

 

Ditto!

 

Some of the big tire stores do the same here if you buy from them. Gives them an opportunity twice a year to sell you something else, along with having the service. Win - win.

 

This is my 4th year on Pirelli winter tyres. I did not take them off.
I have driven to United Kingdom a number of times each year. Visited Italy a few times. Germany, South of France (just arrived back in Germany after a 9 hour trip).
In winter in Switzerland the winter tyres are essential and I am sold on these puppies. In the summer they are great in the wet and I find no problems in the summer. This weekend it was 35 c in the shade in South of France.
The tyres were supplied from Germany just prior to winter 2011 and have served me three winters already. They will last a fourth as I have a quarter inch of tread still remaining.
I travel a lot across Europe and in Switzerland the winter is severe. I had only problems with the emission canister clicking and the window micro switches stop working. But a little warmth solves those issues.
My poor XKR-S sits outside all year. I cannot fault the Pirelli Winter tyres for all year round use as long as you are not into wheel spins and doughnuts.
THey work just fine in summer and I dont see excessive wear, although I was warned, I thought I would see how they went.
Four years wear in Switzerland and surrounding countries is good for me. That's about 40,000 miles plus looking at my mileage records.

 

Mine goes into the garage when the weather starts to turn. I usually only drive it on nice days, weekends anyway.

I drive a 2005 Audi A6 as my regular driver.