X-Type Snowchains?

[chucksch]

Does anyone out there in Jaguar-land have experience with X-Type snow chains? Wheel clearance is minimal on my 2002 which leads me to believe regular chains are not a possibility. Has anyone used cable-chains? Should they go front or rear wheels given the car is all-wheel drive? Your experienced comments are appreciated!

[MurrayXT30]

I used chains last year, with somewhat questionable results.

I have the 2003 3.0 with the sport package. I don't know if the clearance is better without the sport package, but I suppose it might be. Anyway I will write this assuming you have the same minimal clearance as me:

Forget about regular chains. Definitely not enough room.

I seem to remember that the manual says you can't use chains, but I called a Jag dealership and they said I can use low-clearance cable chains, but only on the front.

So I got SCC Super Z6. They were something like $130 (I didn't have time to shop around though, so I had to pay full retail). These are the lowest clearance chains available from SCC.

SCC has good info about limited clearance issues.

I have 17 inch rims with 225 R45 tires. The Super Z6 model for these tires is SZ133.

Putting the chains on was not easy, but I guess that's good because they need to be very tight. The hard part for me was fitting the tighteners (I'm not a strong guy).

The good news is they do work.

The bad news is that if I got over about 15mph I would hear them contacting something in the wheel well. At least, that's what I think I was hearing. There was definitely a sound that I wasn't comfortable with.

Maybe they weren't tight enough, but there's no way to make them any tighter. It took all my strength to apply the provided tighteners. I did notice that they didn't sit completely flat across the middle of the tire.

Still, better than nothing.

So if you're happy staying under about 15mph (or listening to the rubbing sound), then I do recommend these chains. Do practice fitting them dry as soon as you get them, so you know how to do it when you need to, and you know if they fit properly.

If you find any different chains that work, let us know.

Murray