I fitted Pirelli Sottozero's to my 2010 XF SC on the 20inch Selena wheels (staggered setup). It has been surprisingly sure-footed in the New England winter this year - and dealt with several major snow storms with no issues at all. The winter tyre plus snow mode combination works v well. My previous car was a turbo Volvo AWD with all seasons and the RWD Jag with winter tyres is at least as good in snow and ice.

 

I have experienced some tough times in my car. Audi's Quattro with winter tires proved to be a great combo in the snow for me.

Have blizzazks on my car.
2012: I have 245/45 r18's on them. So you can fit them with smaller tires.
Kinda a contradiction to get lowish profile snow tires lol.

We had a couple bad snow stoms and I got stuck good and good.
Got stuck in parking lots and stuff not on the road. So no momentum.
Problem is the clearance on the car and the light weight in the back. Gonna try addin some salt bags in the back. I am sure this will help!
Great write up!

 

Audi has very low ground clearance. My 2001 S4 is just over 3 inches off the ground.

The XF is nearly 6 inches off the ground, makes a huge difference in the deeper stuff.

Never got my Audi stuck though. I use stock sized winters 225/45x17.

 

Yeah. Never got stuck ever. Even with lots and lots of snow!
I think the 'S' line (not s-line) of Audi's might be a touch lower??
Buddy of mine has a 2011 s4 and he said that in deep deep snow he's gotten stuck.

Jagular. How goes the sale of your current car?

 

2010 SC has the same diff as XFR. I now have two Toronto and north winters on mine with 19" and Blizzacks and find it great. Has not once left me in a bad position.

 

Yes it does. The SC is an XFR without the stiff springs and with a softer supercharger tune. In many ways it is the better version. No longer available in Canada. We get the supercharged V6 and the XFR, and that's it.

 

Yes I brought it in from US. I believe the suspension is all the same as well. XFR is no stiffer. (interested if you know otherwise).

 

Don't know actually. I do know the SC is a sweet deal price wise. You get an XFR with a slightly different software tune for a lot less money. I don't know what else might be left out.

 

Yes, I wish it were easier to release the rest of the potential from the ECU. I don't think there is really a mechanical difference at all.

I continue to love the car....can't wait to get the winter grime off it and get the super sports back on.

 

There are aftermarket suppliers of smaller supercharger pulleys and a reflash to void your warranty!

Before you rush out and do that observe that the XFR and SC V8 have very little difference in torque figures. What is happening is Jaguar is allowing the engien to hold peak torque higher up the rev range to develop the extra power. Canadians can't really use that power anyway.

The new F Type has two states of tune for its V6 SC engine: 12% more peak power but only 2% increase in peak torque! Food for thought.

 

Ya, just a psychological advantage perhaps....just frustrating that the guts are the same but held back. Unleashing it would be the ultimate sleeper value. Perhaps once its off warranty....which is soon unfortunately.

 

I wonder if the difference is the exhaust? The F Type S has active exhaust whereas the base car does not. Free flowing exhausts can develop more power at high rpm without necessarily improving torque numbers, but at the expense of significant noise levels.

The XFR S has a different exhaust to the XFR.

I do note that the XFR and XFR S both have meaningfully higher torque numbers. No official difference in EPA fuel economy which means it's a full throttle difference only.

Performance numbers are also very similar, 0.2 to 0.3 seconds quicker is all you get. In the real world of traffic one wonders if the modification is truly worthwhile.

 

I know exhaust is identical. Same quad pipes and passive valves. I would agree that probably not worth it.