I have the xfr wheels on my 2010 xf supercharged jaguar. The dealer states that the 2 front rims are bent which has caused a bubble and significant tire wear and need to be replaced. These tires are only a few months old with low mileage as I ran snow tires for 4 months. Getting the snow tires was a whole long process and were placed on in January and not in November because the dealer stated snow tires were not available?

They state that there is no warranty on the Pirelli tires. I am not happy that I have to replace the 2 front tires and have the rims straightened after only a few months.

My cocnern is that they recommend replacing the 2 front tires with Michelin tires and not pirellis like the 2 rear wheels. My understanding is that you should have the same tread on all 4 wheels for performance and wear.

Has anyone else had this issue? Any recoomendations as to which tires to place on the 2 front rims. Looking forward to the feedback. Thanks steve

 

Have that issue everytime i hit a bad pothole or curb. If you bent rims and bubbled the tire you need an alignment too cause i guarantee that was knocked out which is why you have uneven tire wear. The xfr has lower profile tires and therefore less cushion on impact, so youll end up with damage regardless of the tire you use

 

Where are you in CT? If you'd like, I have a full set of 20" Dunlop SportMaxx that would fit your XFR. You are welcome to them. I don't have my jag anymore and they are just taking up room in my garage. I'm in Mass.

 

I just had my rear tire go, if Dubz doesnt want them I would definitly be interested I have a 2011 SCXF they should fit (I think) but I know that the rears are different size than the fronts.

 

It is unlikely that there is warranty coverage for tires that fail due to road hazard damage. Since you'll be paying for the new tires, I suggest you get matching Pirellis. Michelin has a new tire, the Pilot Super Sport, which likely is better than most any other current tire that it competes with.

But mixing different brands of tires could lead to unpredictable handling, especially at the limits. Even if you don't drive the car that hard, you can't always anticipate the need for emergency handling. In that kind of situation, I would not want my car to have an unexpected tendency to oversteer or spin. Not saying this is what would result if you mixed tires, but not a risk I would want to take since you have a choice and the money is likely about the same irrespective of which tire you choose.

 

Thank you for the generous offer. I am in hartford, however, the car is now with jaguar and I am going to hold off on replacing the tires at this point. Btw are they staggered in size? Thanks dubz

 

I've never heard of any issue with having different tread-patterns front and back, however i have not seen any data proving one way or the other..
..that said, i just put Eagle GT's on the front, then a few weeks later had to put Michelins on the rear when i could not find any 285/30 Eagles... i'm not worried..

 

It is a full set so two rears (wider) and two fronts. I'm in Framingham about 60 to 90 minutes from you.

 

I've had the same problems. It irritates the hell out of me that Jaguar fitted 20" wheels and then spec'd them with the strength of used chewing gum. I really don't understand why they chose to cut corners on quality on what is a flagship model.

 

Le chef, i cant agree with you more! Dubz

 

They're probably recommending the Michelin tires because the Pirellis that came with your car are on a LONG backorder.

I planned accordingly for that backorder, so I have a couple of sets of Pirellis in stock.

 

Mixing tire brands between front and rear is a bad idea. Different handling characteristics lead to unpredictable results. I would never do it regardless of the car, but it's your life not mine.

 

Can you post any links to data that supports this?

 

Any tire manufacturer will tell you this as will any competent tire fitter. In some countries it is illegal to fit different tires front and rear.

I worried about fitting later model tires of the same brand and nominally the same model. Michelin. I contacted their service reps and they re-assured me that the updated tire was safe to use with the older tires of the same model. Mind you, I put the new tires on the front of my fwd SAAB and the car did oversteer at the limit in very wet weather.

 

Probably the same reason snow tires were not available until mid winter!

 

I have once read in Russian automotive publication about one particular test car (Alfa Romeo 164, if I recall correctly) that had 4 (FOUR!) different brands/models of tires...straight from the factory.

 

That's the problem on any car with almost any rim when you go so large you have to have such low profile tires. Ruined two out of the 4 on my car and I am extremely careful. Accidentally hit a pot hole and you will probably bend a rim. Things have gotten out of control on tire size. Also I am not rich like a lot of people who drive these type of cars and the cost of tires gets pretty crazy when you get in to 19's and 20's. I am very happy with the look of the 18's on my XKR and don't have to worry about bending a rim, at least not as easily.

 

One thing you can do to help avoid problems like this is to regularly check your tire pressures (don't depend on the TMPS to tell you a tire is low!) and keep them up to spec. Lower pressures mean softer sidewalls and less resistance to damage from potholes. When BMW first re-introduced the (e36) M3 back in the mid-90s, there were a rash of bent rims from the then ultra low profile 17" wheels/tires until people got into better habits about keeping tire pressures up to spec.

 

I can't agree with you more. One of the Tech's who serviced my brakes on my Infiniti M45 told me the exact same thing. The low Pro's 19 where a problem with bent rims. I actually keep my tires 2 PSI over. It makes for a little harder ride but I haven't had a rim problem... Knock on wood..

 

It is that short sidewall that is the problem, not the rim size. The tire is an integral part of the suspension, an undamped air spring. As for shorter springs, shorter sidewalls give less room for compliance movement and shock absorption (BTW, it is the springs that absorb the shocks not the "shock absorbers". The shock absorbers merely damp the springs, although gas pressure shocks also have a modest spring effect which is added to the spring rate.) Those short sidewalls cannot absorb the energy fast enough to protect the rims from the peak impact loads. Unlike going to a wider lower profile tire on the same sized rim which keeps the sidewall height constant, plus sizing involves physically shorter sidewalls.