I have a base '11 XJ with stock all season tires. I am contemplating a two-year work assignment that would relocate me near Syracuse, New York. I now live in Charleston, South Carolina. I would greatly appreciate the advice of northern XJ owners to help me prepare the car for driving in snow and ice. I will probably drive about ten miles a day on city streets (but not necessarily plowed ones). Am I going to be OK with my present tires, do I need to substitute front and back winter tires or do I have to trade in my beloved XJ for an AWD one? Perhaps there are other options I have missed.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Just remember, your XJ has a ground clearance of only 4.1 inches, so if the snow is much deeper than that you could get hung up with the wheels dangling, regardless of tires or drive system type.
Syracuse has the most annual snowfall of any major city in the U.S., nearly ten feet a year.
On the other hand, in Charleston, SC the annual snowfall is 0.5 inches, so your driving skills in the snow may be somewhat limited.
Regardless, South Carolina drivers are rated the second worst of all fifty states, even though they don't have to deal with snow.

 

Hey Ralph -
Seriously, if I were you I would buy or lease a Subaru Outback or XV Crosstrek, or a Volvo XC70T6 AWD, all of which are far more suitable for snow conditions than the XJ. These have all-wheel drive, plus over twice the road clearance as your XJ, plus nifty things like heated windshield and washer nozzles. In addition I would fit them with the highest rated winter tires available. Good luck. Oh, by the way, I'm a Yankee that spent over 40 years in New Hampshire, which boarders Canada, and who retired to NC to escape the snow, so I have driven through all kinds of unbelievable snow/ice conditions for most of my life.

 

Ralph--I agree w/ johndahlheimer. I'm a native of PA but lived in Florida before coming back north. Also lived in Canton, NY for couple year--it's 120+ miles north of Syracuse.
In these wintry days with snow on the ground the XJL stays garaged. I use the GMC 1500 or the wife's Enclave all-wheel drive. If snow is couple inches or more we only travel in the truck. My truck is '99 w/ 155,000+ miles, still runs/looks good. So, maybe an older truck (big or small) for winter and hauling stuff and keep the Jaguar for road work on nicer days.

 

My opinion is that your XJ is very driveable in winter snow with winter (not "all season") tires. Modern winter tires are amazing. But if you have 20" wheels suggest you find 19" wheels for winter. Check with TireRack. 19" have a much broader selection. Ground clearance may be a problem on unplowed streets, which could make you snowbound for a day or so. They use lots of salt on roads, so it is essential to have your XJ washed, and washed often.

 

Hey Rey, with all due respect, Salem, OR has a mean annual temperature of 53.0 °F (11.7 °C); and although its annual precipitation is 39.64 inches (1,007 mm), it's average snowfall is only 3.5 inches (8.9 cm) and over a quarter of years receive no snowfall whatsoever. So your entire average yearly snowfall in Salem, even if it all fell on one day, would be less than the ground clearance of a Jaguar XJ(L). A little bit different than almost ten feet of annual snowfall in Syracuse, correct?

 

This turned out to be a very helpful exchange. First it caused me to want to find out just how much annual snowfall there is in that area which turns out to be in the top five in the nation. That caused me to wonder if I really wanted to go there if even on a temporary basis. Putting that aside, I agree with johndahlheimer and retriever-007 that I need alternate wheels....maybe the new Land Rover Discovery on a short lease basis. Whatever, thanks so much to all responders!

 

John,
Thanks for the confirmation of Salem, OR's comparatively mild winters. I'm a geezer and Salem is my retirement home. I sought "climatic asylum" here.
I was raised in Minnesota with plenty of winter road experience, including some ice racing. Salt rust was the big issue then; and many of us drove winter "beaters". Friends drove XK140s and E Jags year around to their eventual regret. I "restored" my two year old Austin Healey's rust damage from salt rust between steel and aluminum panels. Modern cars are much better protected.
Low clearance was rarely a problem as high centering was usually in fresh light weight snow. High centering is more of a problem here in OR where they do not plow some Interstates - period, relying mostly on snow melting. These condition are infrequent.
Have driven in one of Syracuse's legendary snow storms. Snow accumulation rate was much greater than most Midwest storms. Interstates were closing and snowplows could not keep up. It was fairly easy to navigate to a hotel. Thought Syracuse drivers were very experienced with winter conditions, better than Minnesotans.

 

Ralph,
The key here is your statement "Beloved XJ". if you truly care for your car you won't drive it in snow, even once. While modern cars offer better rust through protection, the underside will take a beating. Rusted nuts and bolts make any diy project 10 times harder and an experienced purchaser will crawl under your car and reject it quickly. Store your Jag in the winter and in two years time you will still have a lovely Jag.

I would purchase a nice used Subaru, CRV, 4Runner, etc, etc. Put on a set of Blizzacks and drive the hell out of it, in winter, for 2 years. They have high resale value in snow country, dumping them is easy. Cost will be 1/10 of a Discovery lease. Keep your money for green fees and Single Malt.

That's my nickel, can't give 2 cents any more as we eliminated the penny.

 

At one time, the great majority of cars, save the Corvair, were big, heavy RWD.

People got around just fine as long as their brains remained engaged.

Even a 70's GM F-body on wide summer tires can handle the biggest
blizzard you can imagine. So long as it has LSD.

Only the two FWD vehicles I have owned have tried to kill me on ice.
One had ABS, the other did not.

The multitude of RWD vehicles have been fine and only the current
one has ABS.

The TRAC system is actually pretty good in deep snow once you
learn to ignore the light coming on. Hard on rear rotors and pads
though. DSC is another story altogether. It makes the car twitchy
on rutted ice.

A good snow driver in a RWD will find lots of opportunities to pass
4WD and FWD vehicles sitting in the ditch due to overconfidence
or incompetence.

++

 

As someone who lives in Scotland, I know that snow is much less about the car and much more about the person driving it.

I intend to change brand of tyre when my Dunlops are worn out, because they simply don't switch on to the road below about +7 deg C (44 deg F). If you're expecting to be snowbound for three or four months of the year, then a set of 19" wheels with full winter tyres would be a sensible investment. That's part 1 of my answer.

So why haven't I gone that route? Well, now for part 2 of my answer...

I have an ageing minivan, for which I have winter and summer tyres (the Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres are even worse in the cold than the Dunlop Sport Maxx GT Js). I use it as my winter beater. The total value of that car is somewhere around £4k. If I crash it (or, more likely, if someone crashes into it) I'm not that stressed about it. Whereas I would be very upset if my Jaguar was damaged. So, part 2 of my answer is to spend a couple of thousand on a car that you can use as a beater. Doesn't necessarily have to be AWD or an SUV, it just needs to be something you can tyre properly and then not care about.

Sadly, I agree with plums. Over the 25-or-so years I've been driving, I have noticed a significant decline in driving standards. The number of people who drive without the appropriate levels of concentration, anticipation, judgement and planning is really depressing. All at a time when there are more and more cars on the road.

 

Ralph,

I've just changed my cadillac SUV SRX 4X4 for a brand new XJL AWD last autumn.

The Jag is much more fun to drive in The snow then my former cady. I have to confess that I have always prefer the rear wheel drive than the FWD... The Jag AWD system is a RWD which will use the front if needed. I suspect that yours is RWD, but I would'tu be concerned with the performance and the clearance of the XJ. Obviously, you'll need 4 good winter tires. Mine are Bridgstone and I've put then in 20s. They are great...
I live up in the mountain up North in Canada and snow is really not a problem. Jags loves snow...
Guy