I "upgraded" the OEM Pirelli tires to Michelin PS 4S, AND spent the extra money on four wheel alignment and load force balance. My XKR-S is vastly improved in ride, handling and SPG (smiles per gallon)!

 

I made the same tyre choice on my XJ. More responsive, bettter feel, same ride, same tire noise.

 

Michelins are magnificent, great choice, had on my 2017 SVR to replace the terrible Pirellis. Have new 2020 SVR can't wait to wear out Pirellis to replace with Michelins. In Chicago gets a little cold in the winter and below 40 the Pirellis turn into useless hockey pucks and the Michelins perform beautifully, last longer and handle better as I drive it like I stole it....

 

A lot of references to Pirellis and degraded performance in the cold in this thread... I assume this refers to the OEM 'summer' p-zeros and not the the also-OEM-option 'all-season' p-zeros. Anyone able to speak to the performance difference in the cold? My XK8 will hopefully never see snow, but here in Montana you'd miss a lot of driving opportunities if you never took it out when the temperature dipped...

 

Wait! A state with no sales tax? What is that?

 

Yes, Michelin Pilot Sports are nice tires, but they are needlessly expensive. I spent several years contemplating and searching for a replacement set of tires fro my '97 that matched my actual needs, and not what I thought I might do with the car "IF".
Since I only drive my vert with the top down unless it's hot outside or on a long highway speed trip, I wanted QUIET tires. The performance aspects were almost the same for all good tires.
So, after many, many reviews and ratings explored, I chose Sumitomo PO2s. They have been excellent in every way, however, I do not drive my car hard or aggressively much anymore, and I have not been able to put many miles on them. They are quiet and cost half what the "big name" brands cost.

 

Nuff said!

 

"Wait! A state with no sales tax? What is that?"

Road trip!!!

 

I don't know if this would help, but you may want to check on Coker Tires. I read a recent article on Classic Cars - Coker bought old tire molds and "obtained deals to produce tires bearing such brands as BFGoodrich, Firestone, Michelin and others, they brought modern radial tire technology to tires with vintage designs, thus offering customers period-correct appearance, including white sidewalls, with contemporary tire technology."

After I read this, I realized I had purchased Michelin XAS for my 1952 MGTD. Although I'm running Vredesteins on the E Type, I would definitely look to see what their offerings are for future

 

Oops - I just read the full post, instead of a snapshot. Sorry - I thought this request was for a more vintage Jaguar...

 

I went from those Michelin's to Continental ExtremeContact Sport earlier this year. Outstanding performance in wet or dry, and slightly improved ride overall.

 

Another vote for the Falken FK510s here. I switched out the P-Zeros that the car came with at about 7,000 mile for a track day and was going to switch back to the P-Zeros because they had plenty of tread on them. I will never run those P-Zeros again. The Falkens are light years better, much more affordable and had unending grip while pushing the car at the track. I've had the Falkens on for a little more than 10,000 miles now and they are still exceptional.

 

Quite literally just had two Pilot Sports replaced on my car after putting on ~40k miles on them (rear tires). Bought the car 6 years ago with 50k miles having on the same 4 tires since purchase. I think the previous owner put them on at 40k. So, they have lasted quite a while and I am putting Pilot Sports back on. I've not had an issue with tread or traction wearing down. The reason I am replacing is because one got a nail in it and the other a bulge in the sidewall. I suspect they dried out a bit so it was time for two new rear tires anyway.

Regardless, they are definitely worth the money and are very very sticky. Tread will last a while if you stay light footed 5 out of the 7 days a week.

 

I listened to Discount Tire and replaced the Pirelli tires with Pilot Sports on my A8. Got a price break too.
Loved them, ride, noise, traction all great. Happy camper.
Looked after 10,000 miles and all four were slick. No edge wear, no tread left.
Discount said they were not rotated enough. Only once in 10,000.
And being a “performance” tire no. Mileage warranty.
Replaced with Yokohama Advan Sport tires and they still look new at 10,000 miles. Drive as nice as the Pilot Sports.
Have a set of Continental Control Contact Sports on a XJR. They are great and have almost 10,000 miles. Look good.
Even the Michelin Defenders on a SUV we have are worn out at 30,000.
Done with Michelin.

 

The Pirrelis were positively dangerous on mine, I couldn’t enjoy the car at all. Changing to Michelin’s transformed the car and made it fun again

 

I had PS4s on a brand new mustang gt. The problem I had was that most of the time the traction was great, but when driving in the rain, they are very unpredictable. I was passing a car at 50mph, and when the back tires spun, the car went out of control. I totaled that car, all because of the unpredictable nature of those tires. I now have another mustang gt, with pzeros, and I like them much better. They aren't quite as grippy when dry, but are much better in the rain.

 

O e m is the thing

 

I don’t get it. A daily driver and tires are shot. I got 28,000 + on my PZeros before a tire change.

 

I am always shocked at the variance in mileage and condition when the p-zeros are discussed. I bought my car used with 13k and although worn evenly, the pirelli’s did not have a ton of tread left. They also rode rough and lacked traction. I bought the car sight unseen and it arrived better than expected - high quality tint job etc so no need for fix-it’s - I immediately ordered new tires. Michelin’s were a bit of a nightmare, but once I got the final set of Firestones on and balanced, I haven’t looked back. Surprising how many manufacturers use the p-zero though; been looking at the new Bentley GT and they are all fitted with p-zeros- perplexing...

 

A lot of it also depends on the road materials. Roads are made using materials which suit the climate. With that, there will be a lot of variance of harshness of the road surfaces which will cause variance of wear.