How do you people out there think a rear wheel drive XF will perform in the snow.

My 2009 XF even has this snow setting allegedly for traction, which I am extremely skeptical about.

Can anyone share their experiences driving the XF in the snow with only rear wheel drive?

thank you

 

Winter tyres and don't stomp it.

 

"winter mode" simply makes the gas pedal dull so you dont give it too much power. and tinkers with traction control.

i highly recommend winter tires, the car is crappy without it

 

I'm driving from NYC boroughs to Westchester, using the Hutchinson River and 684.

I think I'm in deep sheee-it!

Thank you!

 

How much snow in England compared to New England?

These tires are all season. I'm definitely worried.

Thank you for your reply!

 

I would agree with the above. I use my 2010 XF SC 5.0 in the snow. Rear wheel drive. I have winter tires and that makes all the difference. The winter mode does help too - it changes up gears sooner, starts in second and as mentioned above reduces sensitivity of the accelerator pedal so easier to control

If you take it easy and have winter tires it should be ok

 

An XF is essentially an S-Type with some tweaks and my STR was OK-ish in snow even with summer tyres. However, it wasn't good (as you'd expect with the wrong tyres, RWD and 400HP).

People with winter tyres have reported it changes entirely - but I never spent the money to find out.

 

Boston had that massive storm a couple of years ago - so if you survived that, I guess today's 5 inches is survivable!

 

Not so bad really, 4 to 5 inches today and still getting that dusting of snowfall.
This is north Birmingham, UK

 

As others have said... winter tyres (tires ) are essential. I have a manual gearbox, sorry - stick shift, and when unexpected snow hit last year I got to try the snow setting... it definitely makes a difference especially when getting up the local hills around my home. To be honest with the manual gearbox I was not expecting this and had assumed that I would just need to use the traditional approach of using as high a gear as possible. The snow setting ratios the power, it is not simply a cutoff.

 

>This is north Birmingham, UK

Great picture! Thanks.

It looks, so..., New England like :-)

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My karma just ran over your dogma
Current Hers: '13 Lexus ES350
Current Mine: '08 Jaguar S-Type 4.2 "Satin Edition" (250.06 whp / 259.67 torque)

 

Well I have 2015 Xf 2t RWD and its terrible in snow. Winter tires installed but that will not make any difference. I regret to owned RWD.

 

I don't see why that would be worse than an S-Type R - several people have reported they're OK in those conditions (e.g. WinterJag if I got the name right).

 

I'm in MN. Michelin X-Ice, AWD and a snow mode will do wonders. It's very stable on the slippery roads. Of course driving on snow/slush is better than on ice, but that's where you winter tires will play the role. Because AWD or no AWD you won't stop on ice with the sh*tty rubber...

 

North Birmingham? Wow, I never knew you guys got that much.

I drove in snow, sleet, ice, etc , Friday night (the 15th.) I had the snow setting on ready for a white knuckle ride from NYC to 50 miles north.

The car performed very well, actually - despite only all season "tyres" and rwd! I'm not ready for a storm over 5", but 1-3" seems achievable if you are careful. Thanks everyone!

 

I had just put on a set of Ultra High Performance Summer tires on my XF 5.0 the day before getting caught driving through the country in the freak snow storm that hit Austin. You know the kind of tires that have a big warning saying "DO NOT USE IN SNOW."

It was a once in 10 year event, and the snow did stick to the road so that I was no longer driving directly on cement.

I used the winter setting, and the car did ok, but after seeing too many cars flying off the road around me, I decided to get off and have dinner until it stopped snowing and it melted. It was just a matter of time before someone ran into me...

 

So you had a little taste of terror. I probably worry more about others hitting me , as well. Thank you.