So I just got my 20" snows put on my 2011 XFSC and they are Pirelli sotto zero's(free might I add). My question is why dont they use Pirelli's as their performance tires for summer? I noticed the XJ's all have Pirelli's regardless of level. One other question what kind of difference should I expect from the Pirelli snows and my Conti's performance tires? Thanks

 

Some XF came with Pirelli summer tires.

Conti has just released a set of industry leading tires. However, Michelin and Pirelli will release their latest rubber shortly.

In colder weather the Sottozeros will handle much better than the summer tires in the same colder weather. Summer tires use rubber compounds designed to stay hard until they warm up. They are "sticky" only when warm.

Winter tires are compounded to stay soft when cold, especially when very cold. The high performance Sottozeros will not stay as soft as a Q or R rated snow tire so will not grip as well as a full winter tire when temperatures drop below minus 20C or so.

The trade off is the Sottozeros will still work when heated by high speeds or warmer temperatures. The wear rate will rise alarmingly if you try to drive them hard when the ambient temperature rises much above zero C (32 F). However, their speed rating guarantees that they will still work even at summertime temperatures.

On ice or in snow the Sottozero will be light years ahead of the summer tires. However, they are not as good as a full winter tire with a speed rating of Q or R (or even T).

For your location they will work fine. I recommend using the "winter" setting on the transmission when driving on ice or in snow and adding the that the TRAC setting if the snow gets loose (or is fresh) or if you are driving on loosepack or fresh snow over ice or hardpack. Actually, Jaguar recommends this in the Handbook and I can confirm that Jaguar's recommendation is correct under the wide variety of winter driving conditions that I have to drive in.

If you get stuck you can try switching DSC "off" (select and hold the DSC button for 11 seconds). If you leave the "winter" setting "on" at the same time then the traction control will still limit wheelspin even with DSC "off".

If you switch "winter" and DSC "off" together you will get all the wheelspin you wish.....

 

Wow thanks for the great answer! greatly appreciated. I will probably use the snows until march or april to try and conserve them. So the summers should last longer?

 

Performance summer tires have limited tread life. I'd be surprised if the summers go further than the winters.

 

So let me get this straight -- if you buy a 2011 you get free snow tires AND the jag dealer installs them?

What do they do w/ the tires on my car? do they store them or do I need to get them home

 

That is correct. i just got mine on right before the storm. I talked to the GM at the dealership I got my car from and I was one of the first to get my tires through this program(at their dealership). Apparently Jaguar is doing it because of all of the backlash about not having an AWD version of the XF and that most (if not all) of their direct competitors have some sort of AWD version. I was told by the dealer that if they had the room they would store my summers, but they didnt, so they gave them back to me and I have them stored in my shed. And yes every bit of it was free from the tires to the install to the balancing. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

 

Wow -- that's awesome!! This is the first I've heard of this program! i will call my dealer tomorrow to figure out..

Not that my car will ever go in the snow -- but it's a free set of tires!

Thanks for the info

 

Where can I get information on this program? Is it still running? Lastly is it available in Canada?

 

I called my dealer in MD and they indicated that the program was only for dealers in the "snow belt" and cars purchased between like Nov '10 to Jan '11. I think he was full of crap but I don't drive my car in the winter anyway so it was more of a hastle for me to take advantage of this than it was worth...

 

Like Ultblkxf said just contact your local dealer and ask about the program. Not sure about in Canada sorry, but I'm sure you guys get enough snow up there to qualify