Hi all, here’s a small report on XJ’s winter performance from Moscow/Russia. Hopefully someone will find it useful.
So I have a 2010 5L (naturally aspirated) white XJ. Bought in April 2011 so this is it’s first winter.

1. Tyres. For winter season I have installed Sottozeroes II on OEM 19’ rims. Although these tires are made for softer “European” winters their snow performance can be described as ”as good as it possibly gets” for non-spiked tyres. No problems what so ever on ploughed streets, reasonable performance in the snowy countryside. (on weekends I go to my “dacha” and generally have no problems; do keep a small shovel in the trunk though). Electronics do a wonderful job keeping the car stable. The winter mode is overhyped, just makes it slightly easier to avoid tire-spin when starting from standstill. Now what the tires can not handle is icy uphill sections (better not stop on those). And trying to park in snowy/icy heaps is out of the question.

2. Front windshield heater is a great thing, However the sprinklers on the front wipers simply stop working when its colder than -10 C (naturally we use winter liquid). From my experience it’s a design blunder and I don’t think it can be fixed, all my friends who have jaguars with similar sprinkler system (inc. xf models) have this problem. Annoying.

3. Have an issue with doors locks freezing and doors not locking (not shutting) after car wash when its colder than -5C. can be fixed by the dealer by properly cleaning and oiling the locks.
4. This is the first week this year when the temperatures went below -15C. It can get as cold as -23C in the next few days. The car started ok this morning (it was -16C). I have heard lots of complaints about jag’s 3l diesels not starting in such temperatures though.

Overall I’m very happy with the car, the handling is superb and the design is a real break from bleak Mercedes’ and Audis’, abundant to the point of annoyance bmw’s 7 series’ and arguable Panamera’s.