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Performance in snow/ice with OEM tires?

9056 Views 18 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  sgtpeper
How have your experiences been with the OEM tires when driving in wintery conditions? Assuming "snow mode" is on, is that enough, or do the OEM tires still need help on hills etc.

Please answer including your rim size, as the OEM tires are different makes between sizes.
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Which wheels?

I have the 22" wheels and the P-Zeros were obviously horribly. I had to get larger all-season tires that seem to do a great job.
How have your experiences been with the OEM tires when driving in wintery conditions? Assuming "snow mode" is on, is that enough, or do the OEM tires still need help on hills etc.

Please answer including your rim size, as the OEM tires are different makes between sizes.
I have the GoodYear All Season. Definitely not the best nor the worst tire I have had. I would rate them ‘average’. I have not had any problems driving when/where I want. Traction insnow is average to good, traction on well packed snow and ice is average to poor
I have a 20" Continental winter tire and often drive in snowy conditions and set the Snow/Ice/Rain mode. Both my wife and I feel that the IPace is much more stable and 'stuck' to the road then our previous car (jeep) was. I am not sure what the default OEM tires are but I guess this varies between the S, SE, HSE models as well and the country of purchase.
How have your experiences been with the OEM tires when driving in wintery conditions? Assuming "snow mode" is on, is that enough, or do the OEM tires still need help on hills etc.

Please answer including your rim size, as the OEM tires are different makes between sizes.
I have the 22” P-Zeros and they are pretty much useless in slush/snow. I live in Canada and am hoping they come out with an all-season for that rim soon. So far nothing is available and the thought of putting ugly wheels on for 6 months of the year doesn’t seem like much of an option.

The weather has been brutally cold and my iPace has been sitting in the garage for over a week while I slum in a pickup to get to work. ...sigh...

The ride is compromised when the temp drops and the rubber gets hard and unresponsive not to mention the lack of grip. Just praying for spring...
Timbo - There are a bunch of options if you jump up to a 265 40 22 vs the stock 255 40 22. I was able to get Continental DWS to fit nicely and they seem to work very well in snow/slush/ice here in Denver.
I was repeatedly warned by the dealer not to alter the tires as a small percentage difference in rotational distance can mess with the computers. Another guy who bought his at the same time put on a nice set of 19s off (I think) his F-Pace which looked sharp. Here is the thing—the dealer made him sign off that he was warned about installing unapproved wheels and tires. I think that will protect them against a warranty claim in the future maybe.

From the way they describe it, the car is constantly measuring and adjusting the motors from front to rear and left to right and if you start messing with the size of the wheel you can cause problems. Specifically what problems, I am not sure. It would be nice if you could access the computer and type in what size wheel/tire combo you have so it can make the adjustments.

The other theory could be that they just wanted me to buy their snow tire package on those horrific 18” wheels. No thank-you.
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That makes sense but shouldn't be the issue here. The 265 40 22 is SO close overall it shouldn't cause any issues. I think the bigger problem would be if they were significantly wider or taller and rubbed or if you did a non-square setup.

Either way, it was the best option I had to not kill myself while driving around town.
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I was really impressed that my 22’s were working in the cold and snow until around the fourth day I slid into a curb at about 1 mph and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop. Yes I might have made it through this winter, but I would have probably wrecked a few very expensive wheels.
I was repeatedly warned by the dealer not to alter the tires as a small percentage difference in rotational distance can mess with the computers. .

Common dealer "buy only our wheels" tactic / positioning. Has same experience with BMW.
To briefly complete the thought:


If all 4 wheels / tires are the same size, what difficulty would that pose to the computational system?


As we all know, the car's system can cope with varying wheel / tire size (so long as they're uniform between all 4 wheels) as those varying sizes are offered by JLR.
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I was repeatedly warned by the dealer not to alter the tires as a small percentage difference in rotational distance can mess with the computers.

From the way they describe it, the car is constantly measuring and adjusting the motors from front to rear and left to right and if you start messing with the size of the wheel you can cause problems.
Common dealer "buy only our wheels" tactic / positioning. Has same experience with BMW.
Exactly. If the tires are all the same size (they better be) but different from stock there is no issue except the inferred distance traveled.

If you get tires with a larger diameter, your actual distance traveled will be greater than what the car 'thinks'. Therefore your consumption will show higher. If you get tires with a smaller diameter, it's the opposite. That's it. Nothing else.
Also, check the UK forum, where owners are already posting pictures of their very cool non-Jaguar wheels.
Trivia - Racing tires are not uniform in diameter. They mark the circumference on them with grease pencil so you pick a matching pair for the rear.
I would estimate there are differences in street tires too. The temperature of the mold and the injected rubber cause this. The hotter the injected 'rubber' is, the smaller the tire it produces. It shrinks when it cools. So workshift changes and unheated/cooled factories produce inconsistencies.

If a tire loses 1/8" of tread, the circumference drops about 1%. But hot/cold weather and pressure can change that even more.

And the Weird Factor. Tread squirm and centripetal expansion. The faster the tire spins the larger the dia. BUT, the more torque that is applied, the smaller the effective diameter.
Rubber stretches. When torque is applied, the area behind the contact patch is stretched, and the area in front is compressed. Some folk think this is 'slip' but it's not. It happens even when you have slicks glued to the track with VHT.

So small differences in circumference on tires is expected.
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How well does the traction control actually work? My limited experience with vehicles that use braking for traction control are weak compared to my 4WD truck with limited slip differentials in the front and rear.
How well does the traction control actually work? My limited experience with vehicles that use braking for traction control are weak compared to my 4WD truck with limited slip differentials in the front and rear.
Seems to work fine on wet and dry pavement. It doesn't 'put out the fire' very much at all. But you will go faster with it off. Typical truck will chop the throttle into granny mode when cornering with TC active.

It does not suffer the lag that FWD electrics do on tight corner exits. Or the massive oversteer you will see in RWD cars, whether or not TC is enabled.
Even with a square setup, you get different tire pressures front to rear if you're using the factory settings. It's just FUD to sell wheels. I wouldn't go with a staggered setup, but that's mainly because the car is great as is and rotating is a good thing for tires.
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22” Winter Tires

It’s my experience and practise to have separate winter tires/rims; all season tires are a compromise in performance -they’re better than having summer tires on the winter but not the greatest to have them in the summer. I live in Chicago where they do a good job plowing but having winter tires sure gives me the secure footing necessary to drive through smaller streets. So in my case I chose winter tires because: 1 - it mitigates the dilemma of having the limited selections and increased cost to find 22” winter tires. 2 - it eliminates the necessity to get the winter tires swapped out from the summer tires, which has a cost to them; aside from the cost to have them swapped out your also paying for a probable rebalance, every time. 3 - optimal winter driving is achieved by using smaller diameter and narrower wheels, so in my case I settled with a set of 20” winter tires and rims from Tire Rack - they tried to talk me into 18” but they wouldn’t looki as cool with the 20’s on my new iPace. The local Jag dealer also told me that by going with the 20” it would NOT hinder nor affect nor require any type of adjustment on the motors......no ill effect at all.

All I need is a one time balance and I simply have the tires “marked” so when the winter season arrives I know where they were mounted last season so they are rotated to optimize wear. If your lucky ask the tire store if they store tires - I get mine stored for $175 USD per year ( 2 swaps) - may sound pricy but it eliminates me having to carry them in my garage attic and it also allows my wife to have the tires mounted if I’m out of town.

..........Just a thought to consider
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We've had a bunch of snow here in Denver over the last month or so. My 22" Continental DWS have been fantastic. I had to upsize the tires to fine some that fit but I'm super happy with them. The car handles very well and I feel quite surefooted in the snow.

If you do go with a 2nd setup, go to Discount Tire - they will swap tires or rims/tires for free each time.
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