Winter Tyres for XF Sportbrake

[Rick Cutler]

I have just had look at the option of getting winter tyres for my 2013 Jag XF Sportbrake Premium Luxury. (245/40R19)

Currently I run the standard issue Dunlop's. The Rating is E (Fuel) B (Braking).

We are moving to a house on a steep hill and before I get stuck coming up or worse loose control on the way down I want to look at my options.

A. Winter Tyres
B. Summer Tyres and Snow Socks
C. Winter Tyres and Snow Socks
D. Summer Tyres and Snow Chains
E. Winter Tyres and Snow Chains

I have looked at the Winter Dunlop tyre and noticed that it's ratings are E for Fuel and E for Braking! Surely the winter tyres should be better on braking??

I have a commute of 70miles that is mainly on the M4. The main issue is the hill up to the house.

I can't get a 4x4 as the Jag is on lease and is too early to pull out.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks.

[Perik Omo]

I use Nokian WR G3 tyres on 18" Cygnus rims on my XF for the winter, my summer wheels are 20" Selena with Dunlop Sportmaxx. I think the Nokians are classed as all-weather with a winter bias and I've had no trouble with the (admittedly only mildly steep) hills out of my place. On my other car I have Vredestein Sport Trac for summer and full winter Pirelli snow tyres for winter. If the hill is fairly steep then I would certainly opt for full winter Nokian rather than the all-weather G3s if you can get them. I've run the Dunlop/Nokian combination for four years now without problems, changing over in November and April.

[V88Dicky]

For the wife's XF, I bought a cheap set of Jaguar 18" Venus rims off eBay and fitted a set of Petlas Snowmasters on them. Only got a few days of snow last winter, but nevertheless they performed excellently. They get good reviews for a budget / midrange winter tyre.

Her previous S-Type never got stuck in the severe winters of 2009 and 2010 on Vredestein Wintrac Xtremes.

It's quite amusing ploughing up hills while people are digging out their FWD hatchbacks.

[GilesGuthrie]

Rick Cutler said:

I have looked at the Winter Dunlop tyre and noticed that it's ratings are E for Fuel and E for Braking! Surely the winter tyres should be better on braking??

The braking performance would be dependent on the temperature at which the tyre was tested. The cutover point for winter/summer tyres is around +7 deg C. Driving a car on winter tyres at more than +14 deg C can lead to some quite entertaining handling!

If you put on a set of winter tyres, you shouldn't need any snow socks, as you will have sufficient grip from the tyres themselves. Your commute on the M4 won't lunch the tyres because of the low ambient temperature putting the tyres right into their operating window.

Although I'm not running winters on my Jag (I have a beater people carrier on winters that I tend to prefer to use), you should definitely do it. My winters are made by Marangoni, and are very good. Also check out Pirelli P-Zero Sottozeros

[8bit]

I've got Pirelli Sotto Zeros on another set of wheels for my XKR, I don't really rate them tbh. I think they're made for Italian winters, not Scottish ones. I haven't had to use them in the snow but I don't find they're very grippy even in light frost around 0C.

[jamieduff1981]

I've got a set of Nokian WR A3s for my S-Type in 245/40R18 size. They're good. I've managed ok on summer tyres for most winters though. The Nokians just made normal winter conditions a non-issue. I didn't get any snow this winter past in Aberdeenshire but the car has worked in snow on summer tyres fine and on icey roads the Nokians were great.