Got the car tucked away for winter in my garage. They salted the roads for the first time a few days ago. This was a good year
Plus , over the summer I insulated the garage and installed electric so I can work without freezing during the winter. Think I will tackle the valley hoses this winter and maybe replace the top latch hoses

 

Haven't had really any snow or salt over here in the Boston area, so the car is still out to play. Took some searching to find somewhere to put it for the winter, though (we have 4 cars for 3 slots, and don't like to leave anything out during the winter, so the Jag goes away, and the plucky 2003 Audi A4 that normally lives outside comes inside for the winter).

Makes me a bit sad...hope you got in some good drives beforehand!

 

As some countries use road salt in the winter, I totally understand your actions. RD’s ongoing bodywork welding, to fix rust, is not for the faint hearted.

Plus our V8 isn’t really set up for winter driving. Driving it through snow and ice must be a real challenge.

Here in Bahrain, a sunny desert climate, we have none of the above. In fact, it’s the time of year where it has cooled down enough for top down cruising. Nice to have no need for AC noise in the cabin now.

I’m lucky enough here to have the XK8 for daily driving all year round. We only have approx 9 days of rain per annum, so even the windscreen wipers go bad through lack of use and the rubber get baked hard.

I prefer my problems to those caused by road salts.

 

Year-round driving here in our neck of the woods as well. While the XK8 is indeed driven less during the winter months, I have been known to drop the top in 20-degree weather and hit the road for an exhilarating cruise. My wife bundles up in coats and blankets while shorts and a T-shirt remain my year-round attire. We certainly draw some puzzled looks from other motorists....

 

I would go nuts having to store the Mistress for winter!!! Luckily, like Jon and David - I get to enjoy year-round, top down cruising with the biggest smile on my face.

 

Lucky guys, no much space in here during winter.

 

^^ Now THAT is the epitome of using every square inch of a garage....

 

it really helps one's winter driving skills to have learned them when first learning to drive as a teenager.

In my youth (the Stone Age era) we'd never heard of front wheel drive cars. Most everyone learned to drive in V-8's which were light over the rear driving wheels. A light touch on the accelerator was mandatory. Not too difficult overall if the hills weren't too steep. In those cases the chains were hauled out and put on. Great fun

Fast forward 50 years and I'm looking for daily driver to replace my vintage Shelbys and vîntage Mustangs. I needed a somewhat modern daily driver car due to my bad back and also my clutch leg was giving out. Getting old isn't for sissies I've been told.

Initially I wasn't looking for a Jaguar, or any particular make. I just wanted the "best" car I could find for $10,000 or less. My only requirements demanded that the car have some style, some class, decent power, and not so commonplace that I'd be seeing the same car every time I went anywhere. You'd be surprised how FEW cars satisfy those conditions. And I was looking far and wide, across the entire USA.

After every searching session on the computer I kept coming back to the Jaguar X-100 series. We all know the X-100 styling is addicting. The longer one looks at that captivating shape, other cars seem a distant 2nd place.

Once that decision had been made, I googled "known faults of the Jaguar X-100, XKR AND XK8”. Some scary reading ensued, but I soon came across this forum, and found out how one could peacefully and essentially frugally coexist with an X-100. Thank god for the members here who are always interested in helping out.

Which leads me back to winter driving. The date was January 2, 2018 and the best X-100 value I found was 400 miles away De Moines, Iowa. Every one of those 400 miles was ice and scow covered.

What to do ?

Easy answer; rent an SUV and take off for Iowa, admittedly with stars in my eyes. In less that 12 hours, I was grinning like a baboon, behind the wheel of a superfine '02 XKR, and headed back south, homeward bound.

Yes there were some white knuckle moments on the snowy roads. There was just enough ice to keep me on my toes, mainly on the bridges and overpasses. Prior to taking off for home I had the seller drive me over to Wal-Mart hoping to purchase some 50 lb. bags of sand. Luck was with me and they had two 50 lb. bags of sand left in stock. Ever the gentleman, the seller insisted on paying for the sand bags. 50 lbs. of consentrated weight over each rear wheel does wonders for traction when one must drive in the snow and ice. The trip home was pretty swell overall. Not a single hiccup from the car, just smooth power and capable handling. Just what we all expect from a fine GT car.

While I don't recommend winter driving for everyone, but when conditions aren't too severe, it's absolutely doable.

Z

 

Z,
Loved the anecdote. Thanks for sharing.
No risk of any salt on the road here anytime soon - south coast 'motorway' excepted - so I'll get the odd day over the next few months in between PM and if the rain ever stops (49 wet days out of the last 51)

 

This ended up as an embarrassing incident, it too 5 minutes to get the car rolling again after stopping on this very slight incline.

 

Here in Sweden the weather and road conditions are not suitable for old jaguars, here in the west coast temperatures are not freezing but November has been constantly damp roads and 5-8 degrees celcius. So I keep the Xkr in the garage.

Winter projects are started, the first already finished as well with the air filter box in aluminium being ready now. Started with cardboard mockups, made a few versions before moving on to aluminium. The main part being made from one piece, and the bottom makes up the second and last piece. Rubber seals and K&N filter from Ebay





Next project is renewal of all components that wear in the rear end of the suspension, all bushings and joints. Another project is creation of an infotainment system, I have started a bit and have logged can bus messages, now analyzing to find the data I want to work with. Sat nav, back up camera and audio streaming is in the todo list. All in one unit is the plan