I always love a car picture in the snow - I am glad I am not the only one who takes photos of the cars when the snow comes!

 

Thanks Chris, I like taking pictures of my cars in the snow, in the sunshine, in the dark, in fluorescent light, in the rain, on holidays…

Hope things are good with you and that Aston is back home in good spirits and not having to play “light detective” in the Daimler’s boot.

 

Yes he's home and causing mischief. Not locked him in the boot yet...

I'm embarrassed to admit that after a couple of frustrating attempts to fix it, I cowered out and booked the Daimler into an Auto-electricuan. It goes in on Monday 14th Nov.

 

Came across what would make a lovely new old (old new?) home for the XJR this morning. They say to live is to dream and to dream is to live so perhaps in another life we would be able to afford it…

 

Great photos of a beautiful car.

 

Looks like it’s going to be a little on the cool side for a while…sure is nice to have heated seats! At least we’ll get a bit of a break from the snow.

 

It warmed up about 20 degrees Celsius from yesterday morning’s minus 33 but it brought a few centimetres of snow for the morning commute which starts with a bit of a hill:






This is looking back down that same hill in slightly better weather/road conditions:

 

Here in Tennessee, we get snow once in a while and it seldom amounts to much more
than a few inches. Your pictures reminds me of the times snow would fall often and
sometimes n the several feet zone while I was up north. I think I will stay put for a while.

 

That poor old Jag, all that snow and grime

But it is lovely to see how you drive it whatever the weather; a Jag is born to be used, not stored away in a garage like my poor Daimler I shoudl take a leaf from your book and give my Daimler a run or two this winter...

Here's looking forward to the fairer weather!

 

The worst thing about snow and ice is when the community uses salt for safety issues.
I can handle snow and ice....but I have a real problem with salt on the roads.

 

I agree 100% Randy. I drove to work this morning in what I would describe as cold rain and PennDOT was overly-salting the roads as usual like it was going to snow 12". It is now 40 degrees and raining, but I will get plenty of salt all over the Jag on the way home. It's absolutely idiotic if you ask me. I can only surmise that whoever owns the salt company is friends/relatives with a politician in the state. I can't think of any other rational reason to put so much of that junk on the roads.

 

Not sure how the parking lot patrol attendants are supposed to see the pass on the dash - maybe we just get a pass for being out in the first place…

 

One of my very first drives of an XJR was in icey conditions...it also had a stability control/asc/abs fault....I can only thank the inbuilt drift gene saving it and me that morning. As the car and I approached another vehicle sideways out of a 90 degree junction, that drivers face must have reflected the horror in mine - narrowly avoided righting both cars off by inches. That night I changed 4 wheel speed sensors, the rear tires, ABS pump and battery, thanks to this very forum! I don't know how you guys manage these conditions, is it tires, experience and forementioned drift gene? mine stays at home come the frosts!

 

“Is it tires, experience and forementioned drift gene?”

It’s probably all three combined in equal measure with awareness (what some call defensive driving), anticipation, and enjoyment.

To start, you have to enjoy knowing that these cars were designed to be driven year round and enjoy using them as designed.

Driving with awareness and anticipation starts with assuming other drivers don’t know what they’re doing, can’t see you, and are going to do something stupid that they shouldn’t. Driving a Fiat 124 Spyder year round in truck country is good training.

Tires can be everything - we’re moving two tons of metal around on four rubber contract patches not much larger than a handprint. It’s also not just about the tread - the colder it gets the more important the compound itself gets. At the end of the day it’s about physics and chemistry and not exceeding their limits.

Experience is key, particularly if you are in a rear wheel drive beast like ours. If you don’t have it or want to pass it on to someone who doesn’t have it, don’t use public roads alone to get it. Find an industrial park with some big loading areas or a shopping centre early on a Sunday morning and find out what the limits are and what to do when you’ve exceeded them. You can’t respond to what the car is telling you if you don’t know what it’s telling you and you can’t tell it what to do if you don’t know what or how to tell it that.

And then there is “the drift gene”… it’s real and can be your friend. ASC is not always your friend. There are hills where it will not allow you to generate enough wheel spin to keep the car moving and coming to a stop means you better be able to back down and find an alternate route or option or wait for a tow. There are streets that can be so greasy that it will impede your ability to accelerate smoothly. There are also the corners where it’s simply a bit more fun to exercise some rear wheel steering as long as you know what the limits are.

Driving in the winter isn’t that much different than driving the rest of the year as long as you’re appropriately prepared, properly cautious and not afraid.

 

I am enjoying this thread. There are clearly folks here with more gumption than I. I have driven an XJ40 and an X300 in the snow when there was little traffic about and the snow was a few inches, say 2-4, and with all-season tires. I've driven an XJR while shopping for a vehicle and one thing is clear: I both do not need, and have no business having, roughly 400hp. And I don't need 400 hp in the snow.I have my hands full with roughly 300. I've found the base engine can launch drinks into the backseat very well, thank you very much, let along break traction in the snow.

In my dotage (73), my practice is to not drive the Jag with salt on the roads, i.e. I generally wait a week to let rains or traffic get rid of the stuff, and to not take it out in the snow of any kind. I've got a thoroughly disposable Prius I'll sacrifice to the weather gods before putting GUD KITY at risk.

Cheers to all at the holiday season.

 

^

At 72 we have a pretty similar dotage eliotb.

As noted previously, for 15 years my year round daily driver was one of my two 1992 Series 3 V12 VDP’s. Although she was fully restored, she had previously experienced winter and I never felt guilty about continuing that tradition. The other I still have and, like your XJ8, never saw “the light of winter” before we brought her home and never will.

Both the Series 3 and the XJR get smiles and nods and if anything that increases in the winter where they are least expected.

Best of the season to you as well - I hope dry roads and spring come early for you!

 

Speaking of “the light of winter”, I just might try and stay home today.



As for the “middle of winter”:

Happy Chanukah...

Grateful Kwanza...

Joyful Solstice...

Merry Christmas...

Whatever you choose to celebrate or not celebrate, may you and your families and your friends each enjoy the holiday season and have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023.

 

Good luck Ken. I honestly don't think I could deal with temperatures like that. It's started getting into the high 20s - low 30s here at night and I'm freexing already...

 

I suspect temperatures such as those would require some serious planning. Planning that
I am overjoyed not to have to do. It gets a little chilly here in the Great Smokey Mountains but
nothing compared to that.

 

I can't imagine a car could be left outside in those conditions could it?

Do you have a heated garage?