Hello,

I'm currently driving my 2005 VDP with snow tires (and with the weather in Toronto this year, probably will be for another 6 weeks) but with spring on the horizon I am looking at getting a set of new summer tires (not all season as I use winter tires in the winter).

The tire that tops the high performance summer categories in many online tests is the Michelin Pilot Super Sport. I am considering this, and also thinking of the Continental ExtremeContact DW. Does anyone use either of this two summer tires on their Jag?

My main worry is that tire noise might be too high on longer highway drives with the Pilot Super Sport tires. How much noise am I willing to accept to get the better handling is the question.

I had the more sedate Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 on last summer, but they are in need of replacement. I asked someone in the tire business that deals with Michelin and he said that the Pilot HX MXM4 are for highway coasting, but with a Jag something more sporty is in order, and that I should consider the Pilot A/S 3 instead of the Pilot HX MXM4 as it has much better handling. I thought though no need for an all season tire, so why not the Pilot Super Sport in 235/50R18 size. (101Y and XL). The Continental ExtremeContact DW is not available in my exact size, but I could get it in 255/45ZR18 (103Y XL) which will still fit on my OEM 18x8 wheels no problem as the tires are only 5mm wider.

Thanks for any help or advice.

 

The Michelin Pilot Super Sports are the best tire I have ever had on any car. The grip is tremendous but it does not sacrifice ride comfort at all. Re: longer highway drives, not an issue, I have driven to and from LA (640 mi) and to and from Scottsdale, AZ (1,400 mi) twice within a year and it has been nothing but pleasant.


I have Michelin Pilot Super Sports on both my XKR and Super V8, both on 20" wheels so keep that in mind as they have a lot less sidewall than an 18" would have. The ride is great and the noise is not noticeable, yet. I say yet as I "only" have 10K miles on the Super V8 since the change from the Hankook Ventus V12s that were on the car when I bought it. I can tell you it is huge improvement in handling, comfort and noise over those but its my experience that noise increases as tires wear so I can not give you a definite answer.


My XKR has almost 15K on the tires and I can tell you these are the best and quietest tires I have ever put on my XK. For reference I have had the car since new and had the following:


Pirelli P Zero Rosso
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S
Falken 452
Yokohama S-Drive (2 sets)

 

Thanks for the review and advice. I have ordered a set of Michelin Super Sports and will put them on the car once the outside temp here stays above 50F day and night (late in April probably).

 

I (obviously) have the Michelin Pilot super sports on mine with 20in rims. I LOVE these tires. They are perfectly quiet, and they don't get flat spots when sitting for longer periods of time which I experienced with the original Pirelli tires and Dunlop tires. The Dunlop tires also had an extremely stiff sidewall that made the ride significant harder and had more road noise. In the end, still Loving the Michelins after 10 months, no problems with them.

 

I don't have them on an X350, but I'll chime in. I love these tires. I bought a set for my X308 XJR and they were so wonderful that I bought a set for my little turbo MINI Cooper S, too.

They are nice and grippy, very quiet, very predictable, and they ride wonderfully. And yesterday, it was apparently monsoon season and I never lost grip for a moment in the pouring, pouring rain. Standing water? No problem. Rushing tides flooding the street? Easy. Turn the traction control off and try to do donuts in the wet parking lot? Actually, surprisingly difficult because even on the wet pavement, the tires didn't want to let go.
On the Pilot A/Ss that were on this car before, I could spin it around at will. Not so on the SSs.
They are far superior to the PIlot Sport 2s and cheaper, too. I haven't tried the Bridgestone S04s yet but Have run the S03s and these blow them away.
Wet and dry grip are very, very impressive for a street tire. Noise levels are far better than expected. We'll see how they wear, since both cars' sets of these are new this month. For the price, they have monstrous levels of grip. Thumbs up from me.

 

I have them on my 04 X350 and they're hands down the best tire I've ever had. The grip is unreal both wet and dry, through corners, and wnyehre else you'll need it. I never get road noise from them either.


Edit: I've been running them for about 6000-7000 miles so far and I've noticed little to no wear at all.