I bought my '11 with 11K mi on it and the factory tires are the Conti ProContact. I feel like the side walls aren't stiff enough especially when cornering or driving fast through a twisty. And I don't find it super quiet either.

I'm considering changing them and wondering what other owner's experience has been with these or the other OEM tires. And if anyone has replaced their tires what did you buy?

I'd like to sell my used tires and maybe bu the Conti ExremeContact DWS which gets very good reviews on tirerack.com.

I'm usually a Michelin guy but the only affordable one was the Primacy and is a grand touring all-season. The DWS is an "high performance all-season" which probably suits the XF better since this car can drive/act like a sports car.

I personally feel Jag put a cheap tire on there.

 

I am sorry to hear about your poor experience with Conti but this is one of the best tires according to customer reviews and car tests . New faced up C Class and E Class also come with these and they claim they could stop shorter up to 2 meters compared to their rivals in wet driving conditions .
I am also a Michelin guy but there could be better tires around

 

I have the dunlop tires on my SC....low profile, 20 inch..awesome tires.

 

I replaced the Contis at 3K miles on my 2011XF Premium for the Michelin Primacy MXMV4 Touring and couldn't be more pleased......quieter, smoother, better ride, and no loss of handling. Plus after 17K miles still have 9/32 of tread left out of 10/32.

 

I am very impressed by the Conti ProContact all season tire on the XF. I am used to much higher performance tires such as the Pirelli PZero and the Michelin PS2. The handling, ride comfort and noise level of the Conti are all excellent. The relative lack of grip compared to higher performance tires just underlines the excellence of the chassis.

However, I am also keen to move up to a higher performance all season when the factory tires wear out. I run Pirelli Sottozeros in winter and they are superior to the stock Conti all seasons.

The ProContact is a soft riding tire deliberately chosen by Jaguar for our market conditions. It is not a cheapo tire.

Moving up to a Pirelli PZero Nero A/S or a Michelin Pilot A/S would likely improve the handling albeit at some expense and reduction in ride comfort. Noise levels go up with performance with Pirelli generally being quieter than other brands.

 

I'd agree the Conti ExtremeContact DWS gets good reviews but the ProContact doesn't. At least from what I've seen on tirerack.com and they have a lot of reviews.

DWS rates about 8.5 and ProContact rates a 5.8 I think

 

What did you do with the OEM tires? Do the Michelins handle any better thru turns and corners?

 

I think you will like the ExtremeContact DWS. I have the summer (not all season) version on my other car (an M3) and the grip is great, and the ride quiet and relatively smooth for a performance tire. The OP lives in Dallas and I don't know whether it gets cold enough to need all season tires, but generally, if you don't need them, go with the summer version instead. Contrary to popular belief, the main advantage of all season tires is that they maintain grip at low temperatures. They are NOT necessarily any better in the rain or wet conditions than summers, and often the summers are better in the wet than their all season counterparts. All season tires are a compromise to enable low temperature grip.

 

I definitely did not know this. I certainly assumed all season meant it could channel water better than the max perf summer tires. It hasn't rained much here but when it does I want to know my tires are getting good grip/

 

It depends on the all season tire. The tread design has to have more voids (lower land/sea ratio) if it is to provide traction in snow or slush. Some all season tires are excellent rain tires, especially if it is also cold out However, there is no performance standard. Winter tires have to meet a performance specification based on actual snow and ice traction.

High performance all season tires are less good in snow than "lesser" models.

Summer tires are also designed for rain. Again, there is no standard so each manufacturer decides how much rain performance is desirable as dry grip and wet grip are opposing requirements.

If your ambient temperatures never go below 7 C (about 45F) then fit summer tires.

The better all season tires are better by far than summer tires of 20 years ago so if you have any cold weather, especially cold wet weather, then fit high performance all season tires if only one set is to be used.

Don't try to rely on all season tires for real winter they do not work in snow nor very cold conditions.

 

Continental Sport contact, last 3 times longer that sport contact 2

 

Michelin super sports...awesome rubber, great ride, less noise, outstanding handling!