Hello everyone,

I have had a F-Type R on my radar for a while but have moved from the islands/beach to Colorado and was wondering if this car is still suitable for this environment. So far it seems it snows very little down in the plains where we live compared to what my expectations were and when it does snow it melts fairly quickly. That being said, I am looking at this car for a daily driver and wondering if anyone could share their experiences and opinions about daily driving an F-Type R with AWD (2016 or newer) in a snowy climate. Would you recommend against this for a woman who does not really drive aggressively/confidently?

 

You'll find members here from Boston and even Canada, so there are those who'd go for it. I'm retired in NC, but formerly in CT/NY/PA/MD. Personally, I wouldn't choose a F-Type as a daily driver in snow country. It's not just the power/handling, but also the height. At a minimum, you'd need the AWD and rotate winter/summer tires. As a daily driver, I'd think about the F-Pace. Obviously, it's not the beauty of a F-Type, but great for a SUV. Same engine/drive train. And, if you're not a really an aggressive driver, you could opt for the V6-S models - you'll only lose about 1 sec on 0-60. Of course, the BEST answer is one of each (See below).

 

Agreed. AWD and winter tires and you'll have traction as good as anything else you would drive. But you don't get much ground clearance for snowy conditions and a lot of the edges of the car are pretty exposed once you get snowy/ice buildup that could scrape the sides

Do you have a backup car option that you could use on snowy days if not frequent?

FWIW I drive my rear wheel drive XF SC sedan year round in the Boston area incl in snowstorms. With winter tires. It does ok in the snow but the AWD would be a lot better
I don't drive the F Type here in the winter

 

I have a designated winter car so the others, including the R, are driven when roads are clear to circulate fluids etc, but no snow driving for me. That said, I ran into a guy at the dealership who drives his year round as a daily and said it does great in all weather and he has no problem using it in snow, I agree with the previous remark, it’s likely as good as anything else with the appropriate tires of course, but clearance could be an issue.

 

I will check out the V6-S models as well. I really want the V8 exhaust note I have heard from videos though. I appreciate the inputs and points from everyone bringing up that clearance will be the issue. That is something I had not thought about. I have only been here a 1.5 winters now but so far it seems that where we live gets considerably less dumps of snow than surrounding towns and it is usually melted in a day or two. I still have yet to see a FTR in CO so I hope to be able to find one and bring one more to the state.

 

And, you could go with all-season performance tires, rather than swapping summer tires for winter tires. My sister lives in Boulder, which has some pretty crazy weather. More tame on the Plains, but don’t assume you won’t get dumped on!

 

I'm in the northeast and we have touch and go winters (this one being a full go!). I mostly daily drive my F Type, but as others have said clearance is your biggest issue. Doesn't take much ice/snow buildup to be scraping things. It gets scraped up enough just leaving parking lots and whatnot. I mostly use one of my SUVs if there is any snow or ice out or in the forecast.

 

We live in Colorado Springs. Yes most of the snow stays in the mountains where it belongs but we do get snow. Sometimes a lot. It can stay around for a few days too. Only main roads get plowed. Side streets can stay covered and icy for a while. The other thing that stays after a snow is sand on the roads. I won’t drive my F Type until the roads are clear but I have the choice not to. I have a Tacoma for winter. My wife has an E Pace and that has the ground clearance and AWD to handle winter and it does pretty well in the snow. If you want a Jaguar and only one the F Type would not be my first choice. I’d go for the E or F Pace for this area. Both are really fun to drive and can handle almost any conditions.

 

I've always thought of all-season as doing everything equally poorly... If you really HAVE to go with this option, the only tires I'd consider would be Nokian WR-G4s, as they are legitimate traction tires that can be used year-round, and these are only available for the 18" and 19" wheel and tire package. I think these cars beg for two sets, assuming your winters are bad enough to merit (they aren't in the Puget Sound - you can basically use summer tires for about 11 months out of the year).

 

Northern Utah driver here with an AWD R that gets driven year round. I put on snow tires during the winter months and it's fine. As said above, clearance is the problem when things approach 6" deep and on the days where it's just outright sketchy I drive my other car. I'm not afraid of the F-Type's abilities, but if some bonehead on bald tires sharing the roads with me is going to hit one of my vehicles I'd rather it be that one. If you're in an area with less traffic that may not even be an issue.

The AWD is great in the snow and very predictable. I've been using Sottozeros by Pirelli and as much as I don't like their summer P-Zero tires, these are great for snowy months. On the plus side, they can do about 80% of what the P-Zeros will do in the warmer months if you feel like having a little fun on the dry days.

My experience with other cars has been all season tires are fine if you stay out of the mountains and don't live in an area that gets frequent heavy snow/ice. If you're not trying to maximize performance in every season it'll save the hassle of switching wheels, too.

 

That is very reassuring. I should of brought up that we have an offroad worthy SUV for the cases that of severe winter storms but I was curious if could be driven in typical snowy conditions or rainy conditions confidently. Your answer and everyone else's is basically very reassuring that as long we have winter tires we should be good.

 

Fair enough. We feel that North east winters are overall worse than the winters out here. Plus they don't salt the roads here which is why we are considering a nicer car again.

 

Nokian WR-G4's are a fan favorite on SwedeSpeed but I didn't like them at all in the dry. Too squiggy like Hakkapeliitta's.

I prefer the Pirelli Sottozero's and really like the Pirelli Ice and Snows but the cost on the rear tire size for an R is just whack if you're not going to drive it in a snow storm.

We went with the Bridgestone RE980's for a cold/wet weather set up and like them very much.

That being said, I'm tired of this winter BS. Can't wait to get into PS 4S season!