For those of you who had the opportunity to test drive the XE S with 20" wheels did you feel that the 20" wheels (with such low profile tires) compromised ride quality too much?

 

FWIW, I purchased a base F-Type w/ 18" wheels and after 2K miles, switched to 20" OEM JLR wheels. I was a bit surprised that ride quality did not suffer all that much, although the ride is a bit more firm, which I prefer. In addition, turn-in was significantly crisper, and grip was improved. Overall, the car feels more planted on the 20"s.

I suspect the results would be similar since the XE suspension and weight are comparable.

 

I'm going with the 19' black venoms, just liked the look better than the 20' propeller design. They will be cheaper to replace, but their staggered, so I can't rotate them. I'm curious what the price differences for replacement of 18, 19 and 20 inch tires?

 

I do agree with you that the 19" Venoms are far more attractive than the only 20" option (Propeller) for the XE. I'd order the car as an R-Sport exactly as you did, but perhaps go with IRR.

 

I actually prefer the Propeller, but wish they came in 19's

The Venom looks too much like my 335i Sport model wheels (18").

 

Decisions, decisions... You guys are making this hard. I am caught between the 20" propellers and the 19"s Venoms; but even with the 19"s I am torn between silver and black. The one thing that I am certain of is ordering my XE R-Sport in IRR. If I go with the black Venoms do you think that I should also get the black design package?

 

Check out this review - has pics of IRR + black Venoms + black pack.
Looks pretty mean in this combo.
Jaguar XE design | Autocar

I want Bluefire but not sure how the black pack will look.

 

I've got the 19" silver Venoms (would have preferred the 20" Propellers) and the ride is awesome.

Personally I preferred the silver venoms because they have the graphite inner bits anyway and sometimes all black wheels look to me like they are just dirty silver ones, especially if there are lots of spokes. But if you have nice big rotors and bright painted calipers behind the black ones, they'd look great.

Havent made up my mind about the black pack on IRR. I'd have had it, my missus didnt like it, and now that I've seen it more I prefer it without. It is only the grill surround and the side vents, and I quite like the metal around the grill and for the side vents I'd rather carbon once something aftermarket comes out. But they all look good.

 

The R-Sport already has black window surrounds, so not a huge change. It also includes black "blades" in the fascia.

I'm considering a 25t, which doesn't come in R-Sport trim in the States for some reason, so more likely to go black pack with that in order to get the black window surrounds.
I'm really hoping we'll get the 25t in R-Sport trim once the Ingenium petrol gets here.

 

I had an IRR XE wih the all black 19's for the extended test drive. The ride was firm (coming from my XFR) but very sporty. So I can't imagine 20's being much firmer.

One thing I would caution is that the all black 19's seem to disappear in the wheel wells when they are all black. When I picked up the car they had another XE with the machined accents that looked better to my eye.

The one thing with the black pack that I didn't understand in the one I drove is the side vent was still silver and the exhaust was still chrome as were the badges. So it's not a real black pack.

 

Ahhh, that's right. That is why I wanted the black pack - I dont like the chrome blades. But my wife and daughters did, and I know my place. Anyway very quietly I figured I could wrap them, but I havent bothered.

The 25t is a great car to drive. It is quite quick, especially over about 40kph. With the current engine the exhaust note sounds a bit weak and buzzy from the inside, but strangely enough it sounds really good from the outside. I think you'll be getting the new engine though.

 

I must be the minority, I'm hoping the fad of black wheels goes away, they're just so unattractive to my eyes and I feel they just hide the design, and when in motion it just looks like a big blob--alloys give a nice contrast.

As far as ride quality goes, I have 20s on my XF--it's not the most comfortable ride but I wouldn't call it unbearable by any stretch.

 

I just can't get my head wrapped around the Propellers....so the Venoms have to be it. Now black vs silver? It depends. Black car, black rims. Red car? Silver rims. Silver car...black or red. And so on.

Silver rims will still look awesome on all the builds. If you're going for a blacked out look then black pack, black rims, etc... is the way to go.

 

Sorry to post this again for those of you who have seen it before, but here is ours - red with silver venoms.

. The wheels are pretty easy to clean, too.

 

Sweet ride Bruce! Do you have any close ups of the wheels that you can share? While you are at it, it would be great to see any other pics that you have. Thanks!

 

Really, it comes down to personal preference. I think the black rims look meaner/ more aggressive imo. One thing I always take into consideration, are they easy to clean? I would say yes for both the venoms, and the propeller design. Nothing makes me more annoyed than trying to clean a 20 + spoke rim with lots of nooks and crannies that just break your knuckles. The black rims will obviously hide brake dust incredibly well. I hate the look of so many BMW's, Infiniti's, Lexus etc. on the road with just horrible brake dust all over the front rims.

 

Thanks Jake. I posted some pics in the "pulled the trigger" thread, and a fellow Aussie Fair2 did also, I think in that thread. He has an IRR as well with a few differences to ours, and the wheels were 18's I think.

Taking some snaps of the wheels this morning I noticed that both back wheels had kerb rash. That happens I suppose, but it isnt as noticeable on the silver.

I mentioned above that they are very easy to keep clean. Being new helps I suppose. The pics I took this morning, and I dont think that I have washed the car in the last 2 - 3 weeks.





ouch!

 

From what I can see, the shock absorber manufacturers have taken some time to catch up on the market demand for large wheels and low profile tyres on sporty cars.

Previous shocks worked OK, but let through the higher frequency, low amplitude, road-generated vibration that normally the tyres would absorb. Unfortunately, low profile tyres are not so good at absorbing this stuff.

I noticed on looking through the XE literature that the Bilsteins on the car have valving to better handle this sort of vibration thus giving a compliant ride but keeping the car well under control. I suspect this new valving set-up will be on all recent Jaguars not just the XE. I may have misunderstood the information, of course, but the road tests of XEs all comment on how good the ride is.

 

were there some rim options that got deleted?

 

Thanks Bruce,just reposted to show difference.
Robert