How will my XJS do in snow if I put snow tires on?

 

try it out see what happens!

just take it easy.

 

I wrecked an XJS in a snow storm with snow tires. Still doesn’t stop me from doing it but I usually take the pickup truck instead. What these cars aren’t good at is defrosting a windshield in a timely manner.

 

I forgot... the pre ‘92 version rusts fast.

 

My plan is to take the Saturn any day it snows or is wet and slushy. Minnesota has a lot of really cold bone dry days in the winter and life is too short to have Jaguar withdrawals until April. If I wreck it, I got more of them. ;-)

 

The rear breaks away very easily on ice and packed snow. Chains or "socks" - which are like shower caps and go over the wheel - make a very big difference, but if you have a mix of tarmac and ice/snow removing and refitting them is a pain.

 

Driving an XJ-S in snow, ice, slush & salt ????Ya gotta love the thought! If the body isn't a mess after a few years driving in that crap, the IRS and suspension will. Anyone try working on a well rusted IRS or weld patch's in an XJS floor ?

 

And, in my opinion, admittedly very biased: :


1. Jaguars are like any other rear wheel drive cars. Limited in snow.


2. Unladen 2wd pickups in snow do not fare well. Loaded or 4wd, much better.


3. Chain up, snow tires not good enough .


Carl

 

I "drove" down a hill in Princeton MA many years ago in my XJS coupe in the snow.

Rear wheels basically slid all the way down even in neutral. No one else on the road otherwise I certainly would have crashed.I could not stop.

 

I drive my XJ40 3.2 in snow, and with good winter tyres it's quite stable and pretty quick from the lights compared to fwd cars.
I know it probably has a larger percentage of the weight on the rear wheels and is 100 bhp down compared to an XJ-S. I would give it a try, but good winter tyres is really a must.

 

It all depends on how good the tires are and how relaxed you drive.

I drive my X308 as a daily and that all year. Snow, rain, storm, ... Just get good tires and be ready to drive relaxed. Tires won't defy the rules of physics. They will help but won't make the car drive like in summer.

My 89 was used as a daily driver all year long in the London area. Sure, not much snow amd ice there, but it still saw some bad weather useage. I doubt it is a bad body...

 

Although I've never driven my XJS in the snow, the relationship between "snow" and "XJS performance" is, in my humble opinion, one of mutual exclusivity.

 

I drove a Series III V12 saloon through snow and it was actually very good with proper snow tires. As the XJS is a shortened version of the Series III I can't see why it would be much different.

The X300 saloon was quite inferior in snow to the Series III.

 

X350 was the worst for me!

4.0 XJS with the first gear lockout was the best of the bunch. Starting in second really cut down the tire spinning. Wish the X350 had that. All it had was traction control, which you had to turn off or you’d be really stuck. Used to drive it home up a hill sideways sometimes. The thing I would hate the most would be people with Subaru’s slowly creeping up the unplowed snow on a hill.... I would need some serious speed to have enough momentum to get that car up the hill and these slow people would screw me up. I’d wait at the top of one hill for the, to get up the next hill so I could do it all without stopping.

Now I have an F250 with locking axle and a big Boss V-Plow. Would try an AWD X350 but they’re very rare. I love the thought of aluminum bodies on salty roads.

 

Never heard of an AWD X350... The X Type was the first Jag with AWD and that was followed by the current line up... But X350 AWD? I doubt even the platform allows for it!

 

Maybe he means the X351? In Canada the XJ from 2013 onward was AWD only (XF too). Only the XJR/XFR is available as RWD.

 

Thank you for bailing me out Jagboi .

 

First 89.5 I had, drove it in the snows of Amarillo the next morning after purchase. Yeah, probably won't do that again. Granted it had some admittedly horrible Dunlop D40s at the time.

I'd be inclined to have a winter truck, or better yet, never move anywhere that snows again!

 

Been there, done that. My '67 Buick was better in the snow. Once the XJs gets loose, just sit back and let it go... on a positive note, it is the very best car I have owned for doing donuts... just be sure there is nothing else around you! ;-)

 

Rain,sleet,snow it stays in garage.