I am looking into the new "r" coupe, but up north we need all weather tires to travel in cold temperatures. Does the coupe offer this option, or is that something you have to purchase individually?

Summer performance tires are great- above 40 degrees F!

 

I've had lots of experience with winter driving up here.. about 1.5 hours north of the Toronto airport. and we live on a ranch.
My new Ftype r has not seen winter yet, however I just sold a XKR that did.
> Once the roads get much below 40 degrees F, as you mention it gets pretty slippery as far as traction is concerned, you have to get careful. Once below freezing (no snow or frost) it gets really slippery and you would consider it somewhat dangerous concerning sudden movements. All this with either the stock Pirelli's or the Michelin.
> Regarding snow, even with snow tires its only good up to about 3.5 to 4 inches, depending if its soft pack type snow (worst) or light dry type of snow. In dry snow you could push it a bit more.
> For snow tires, I bought a set of 19 inch rims (car had 20) which were ok with the calipers, regarding fitment... I believe the ftype r may be the same.
> I sized them to the front wheels as narrower snows work a bit better than wide, yet you can only feather the gas pedal without spinning. As well this size of snow if much more readily available, ie: sized to front and 19 inch. They don't look as good as the originals mainly due to size.
> I got the wheels from 'Coventry' wheels and they fit perfectly. Way cheaper than the dealer.
> I'm pretty sure the tires where Yokohomas (walnut shell dust in the rubber for ice traction) and they are definitely better than Pirelli snows in my opinion. Again, these were the same size as fronts for all 4.
> The car handled well if you took it easy, and was pretty good in the snow, as per above, and very good on dry road, if not too much power applied.
> The active differential, when set to the 'snow' setting worked really well for starting off on hills for instance.
I tended to use my Jeep or truck, if the weather was bad and did not drive the Jaguar in the winter very often. I did however, like to get it out and drive it for an hour every 3-4 weeks.

I just went out and looked at the F type R and the rear wheel appears to be really offset, more than the front, so better check out fitment carefully before paying for anything. I'm not sure my snow wheels will fit the new car and will have to check it out later this year. If not, no doubt I could find some that do.
Lawrence.

 

There's a winter driving mode - you really have to put your foot down to get any throttle response. But I put mine away for the winter.