Been a while since I last posted, The snow fell this weekend, and the salt trucks came out. I has been raining ever since, so I proceeded this morning to take the car for a final or close to final run. I was below freezing this a.m. in New Brunswick. I have had my xj6 vdp since July, no trouble, nothing out of the ordinary, 4 and half months of no trouble driving, wife is coming around, loves the comfortable seats. I have decided that today is the last run, terrible weather tonight, I am going to post more often. Need to replace some bushings and shocks, find a new rear view mirror, New Brunswick is foggy enough, need a new aerial cable and a good set of tires, there is a brand new p4000 in the trunk but 3 are too expensive. The funniest thing, my right front blinker had a rock come through it. These are the thing I am looking forward to this winter, I have a great garage and a neighbor with a lift, any suggestions on what else to look for would be appreciated, especially the tire issue. I read almost all posting and enjoy this site, love the tramlining comments. Thanks to all.

James
Baxter's Corner, N.B. Canada
1996 Vanden Plas BRG 71K miles

 

Umm well you seem to be on the right track. Since its the final run and storage time you can start by doing these.

1. Stabalizer in Fuel, Full tank of gas to prevent any condensation drom building up in the tank.
2. Top up all fluid eliminate condensation.
3. Since you have a lift, shake all your tires check for wheel bearing then brake pads.
4. Check for Leaks while your down there.
5. You can take out your battery if you please, and put it on charge.
6. Wash and cover!

 

I guess your winter climate must present a few challenges for you guys, even to the point of hibernating your car. However it seems like a great opportunity to get all the maintenance done while she's laid up, whereas those of us driving them all year might find excuses to put things off!

As for tyres, I find Pirelli's overpriced and IMO rather overrated. I've had a set of Toyo teo eco's on mine for nearly 3 years, they were cheaper to buy and are wearing very well. I've experienced no tramlining (which I used to get with Pirelli's), no flat spots, a quiet ride on good roads and great handling - very grippy. They were recommended to me by a tyre expert, and he was right.

In fact I'm no fan of either Pirelli's or Michelin's, particularly given their premium pricing. The latter I had awful problems with on a Volvo, poor wear and very noisy. So if you're not worried about brand image, there are good alternatives.

BTW, I'm not a Toyo salesman and have no commercial interest in them!

 

Greetings fellow Canuck!

My XJR is sitting outside with a light dusting of snow right now. It's going to drop to -14C so winter is definitely here. The XJR still has it's summer tires on. I'm in the home stretch of drywalling my garage so all the vehicles are outside at the moment. I've got the front mount snowblower installed on my John Deere, the cars will be back inside soon, each one has a snow brush and block heater cord in the back: I'm ready!

BTW, I'm very happy with my Continental Extreme Contact DW tires. The wet and dry grip is excellent, they're very quiet, comfortable, and have reasonable tread wear so far. I bought the summer DW's as I have Yokohama winter tires on 16" XJ6 wheels for the winter, as I do drive the Jag when the weather is reasonable. For your Maritime climate you might look into the Extreme Contact DWS, as they're the all season variety.

 

I just installed the Conti ExtremeContact DWS (all-weather) on my XJR that I purchased over the weekend.

Broke them in with an 800mi trip home that included temps fluctuating from 40s to the teens, rain, snow, ice and some dry roads.

Must say I'm very impressed with how the car handled the weather. Mind you the snow was light, just starting to pack on the highway, but the traction control never even engaged once. Can't speak to how they'll handle deep snow, as I have an LR3 with winter tires on for the serious stuff.

I bought these with the intention of being able to use them all year round, and to be able to handle light snow if I got caught out in it, and so far they've exceeded my expectations.