Winter is around the corner

[Wat]

I have owned my lovely x type Jaguar now for almost three years and enjoyed every minute of it.Ihave also enjoyed my visits to this website and have learned something nearly ever time.However I was confined to the house on four occasions last winter because living off road my Jaguar could not cope with two feet snow drifts and black ice on the road.So reluctantly I have had to trade her in for a 4x4.I hope her new owner lives in a more civilised environment where she can resume her true purpose in life swooping along motorways sneering at krautmobiles and Volvo driving lawyers.

[Rowley_1812]

I'm surprised that the AWD option plus winter tyres combination didn't please you Walter, then you would have had the best of both worlds!

[Manniewinaename]

Whilst realising that the awd x type is not a grand cherokee, I am hoping it copes reasonably well in the white stuff.

[Old Peter]

Deep snow can see off many  4x4s and there are times when lorries have to be dug out. I lived in North Wales and Derbyshire for quite a few years and had to abandon my car several times, thankfully not far from home.

My solution to big drifts and deep snow was simple.  I would stay home!

Peter.

[toastkid]

My AWD Volvo XC70 with winter tyres allowed me to get going through all of the weather last year but AWD does only help you get going - it doesn't prevent the brown trouser moments when trying to stop. You still only have the same 4 patches of rubber on the ground.

I think @Old Peter has the right idea. Stay home and have a brew.

[Old Peter]

Hi Dave,

The first bad winter motoring I had was when I had a Triumph Herald, quite a light car, equipped with Town and Country tyres on the rear wheels.  I was still living in Lancashire and working in North Wales and managed the snow quite well.  Never lost a day's work.

When I moved to Derbyshire right on the edge of the peak district I had a company car, a Ford Escort, and while living quite high up and doing at least 500 miles a week I carried a shovel in the boot in winter and used it, together with a piece of carpet. It kept me going.

When the snow got too heavy I stayed at home and worked from there.

I now live in the Midlands where people use chains on their Range Rovers when there is an inch of snow!!

Regards,

Peter. 

[Wat]

Like I have already said I am most reluctant to sell the x type which is front wheel drive only by the way.However at almost 86 years old I have no wish to spend another winter down my drive while manhandling a 25 kilo bag of road salt and a pick and shovel trying to clear ice and frozen snow.

 

 

 

 

 

at almost 86 years old

[Guest]

Hi Walter,

Sorry to hear that you will be losing the grin but understand that sometimes function has to win out over form. In your part of the world a 4x4 does indeed make more sense but I agree with Peter that even they can be defeated by the kind of weather you must see more often than most of us.

I am fortunate to live on the Shropshire / Herefordshire border and whilst sometimes the white stuff can get a little heavy its nothing compared to some of my experiences North of the Border. Nevertheless Black Bess spends most of the winter months under cover and my Quattro equipped krautmobile - I will not mention the maker as this sometimes draws flack from some members of this forum, can't think why - has to keep me mobile out here in the sticks.

I have though a minor disagreement with Dave concerning the matter of stopping. A couple of years back I met a tractor, not an infrequent event around here, coming the other way on a narrow lane. He had the advantage of coming up the hill whilst I was on the down-slope. Initially I was quite impressed with my Quattros handling of this circumstance but was slightly distressed by the fact that having come to a full stop in a very controlled fashion the weight of the front end - mine is one of the larger models with an all aluminium body - conspired with roads camber to gently slide into the ditch!⛸️  This unhappy circumstance was only marginally ameliorated by a similar fate befalling the offending tractor but compounded my dismay as said tractor could not then be used to tow me out.

Take care Walter and, if you cannot keep grinning, at least try to keep smiling. (I've never believed that stuff about dour Scots)

All the best,

Steve

[Manniewinaename]

On 8/16/2018 at 3:57 PM, Old Peter said:

Hi Dave,

The first bad winter motoring I had was when I had a Triumph Herald, quite a light car, equipped with Town and Country Tyres on the rear wheels.  I was still living in Lancashire and working in North Wales and managed the snow quite well.  Never lost a day's work.

When I moved to Derbyshire right on the edge of the peak district I had a company car, a Ford Escort, and while living quite high up and doing at least 500 miles a week I carried a shovel in the boot in winter and used it, together with a piece of carpet. It kept me going.

When the snow got too heavy I stayed at home and worked from there.

I now live in the Midlands where people use chains on their Range Rovers when there is an inch of snow!!

Regards,

Peter. 

Wow, Town and Country tyres!! Thats a blast from the past.But I seem to remember almost all the cars had them on the rears.

[Leo]

4 x 4 is far from being the simple answer to winter snow conditions.

I have had 4 x 4s for over 30 years, and also done a fair bit of off-roading. My first was one of the original Range Rovers: Two door, and plastic inside so that you could hose it out. In those days the tyres were uncompromising off road tyres, and very narrow too. I took that through snowdrifts up to 5 feet deep, and up 1 in 1 slopes covered in snow. It could cope with just about anything. I did once get into difficulty off-road in deep snow when It wouldn’t make it back up a steep incline, but I managed to get up by turning it around and going up in reverse. Better weight distribution I guess.

Winding the clock forward 30 years, present day 4 x 4s have far more electronic systems to deal with snow etc, but are virtually all clad with totally unsuitable wheels and tyres for these conditions. The result is that they are nothing like as capable. Just about the only exception was the Land Rover Defender, which didn’t try to be fashionable. I had one of the last model built, and it was still as capable as my first Range Rover. I loved that car, and only sold it because I was offered silly money, which enabled a straight swap to a rather nice XF 3.0D S Portfolio, thus starting me on my Jaguar journey.

Proper winter tyres on a two wheel drive are incredibly effective: We have Michelin Crossclimates on my wife’s car all year round, and they are fantastic.

Obviously, the best of all would be a proper 4 x 4 with narrow wheels and off road tyres, but very few people would be prepared to compromise the looks of their posh 4 x 4 by specifying such wheels and tyres.

4 x 4 is not a solution in itself: The right wheels and tyres are just as important.

[Wat]

Absolutely correct Leo I ain't interested in looks I am interested in getting home

[Jerry Brett]

Has anyone tried snow socks?  I've heard that they're really effective and you can get by with a pair on the driven wheels only.  I have contemplated getting them on the rare occasions when hot flat Suffolk gets snowy. If they work it might save you the expense of a Chelsea tractor.

[bmcl6]

I used to have a 2.5 v6 X-Type and the AWD system coped very well with heavy snow over the winters we had while I owned it, It was replaced by a Nissen XTrail which, while also coping with the snow did not have the comfort of the X-Type,  I remember one particular night in the X-Type approaching the hill up to our street in heavy falling snow coming across a queue of around five cars that had attempted and failed to climb the hill.  I was approached by the driver of a small FWD car who actually started laughing when I pulled out to overtake him and still remember the expression on his face in my rearview mirror as I disappeared from him on my way slowly but steadily up the hill.  The Xtrail was replaced by a Volvo XC90 and it was tremendous in the snow.  I am now happy to be back with Jaguar with an XF and am not too concerned as over the fifteen years of 4x4 ownership, in reality, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I really needed it.