I do not want to make this yet another tire thread but listen out:

I am not shy in putting good tires on my Jag. Continental Pro Contact XL @ $287 a piece, less than 10K miles they were done. Switch to Michellen Sport A/S3 @ $271 each, I got 19K miles out of them. This is with proper alignment, btw.

The ride on these tires are great, no question about it but I am ready for a tire that lasts about - 40K miles lets say. I do not mind paying the price but, man, I need a few more miles on a $1200+ tire purchase. Is this achievable?? I do drive the car a lot - my daily driver + occasional out of town trips - about 12K a year.

I am getting ready to go from 19" to 20" Sepangs as well.

Let the opinions on long lasting, good tires flow in....

 

The tires you listed are 400 (40k) and 500 (50k) rated tires, so if you are going through them in half that time, it would more than likely be your driving habits. You could look for a tire like the Pirelli Cinturato P7 or P7 AS+ which is a 70k tire, but has tradeoffs from those like what you have been using, however, living in Austin 5 months of snow performance isn't going to be your issue.

 

Lagonia,

I went through this a couple of years ago. I just can't see spending $1200 on a set of tires. That said, I didn't want to but crappy tires on a perfromance XJR. I did some research online and got some recommendations at the tire shop.

I chose to go with Nitto Motivo's in size 255 / 35 / 20. Here's a link. This is the size you will need if you get 20" Sepangs.





I bought them at my local discount tire store. Two years ago, I paid $158 per tire plus installation and tire certs (lifetime replacement warranty). My total bill came to $867. I just checked their website and the price has since dropped to $140 per tire.

One of the big selling points for me was that they have a 60,000 mile warranty. If they are worn out after 15,000 miles, you would get ¾ of the original tire price back on your next set of tires.

So far, I have been really happy with them. They are wearing nicely and perform well. I've had the car up in the mountains on some twisty roads and really got on the pedal. Lots of fun! Car handled great.

I guess I'm starting to sound like a commercial, but I just figured I could pass along the info to the other members here. Why spend all that extra money needlessly? I liked these tires so much that I put a set on my wife's Genesis when it needed tires.

Just my 2¢, hope it's helpful.

 

My experience of the X350 cars is that tyres last a very long time, so I am surprised at the short life you're getting. What is your driving style ? Being elderly, I am I suppose, a lot more gentle in my driving style. If you're a press-on type who use the full performance envelope of the XJR, especially acceleration, the rears especially will not have a long life. I assume you have had the wheel alignment checke don a quality rig ?

If you go to what we in the UK call "mid-range" tyres, these tend to be OK, but can slip a bit on wet roads. My car is on Kumhos at the rear as these came with the 17" I just fitted for a better ride. They do slip if I accelerate out of our local street whilst turning left when its a bit damp. Fronts are Toyos a very similar tyre I had fitted new when the 17"s went on. I've not had these break-away yet.

 

I recently put on a set of Sumitomo HTR Z III, which are max performance summer tires, and are very grippy. I don't expect to get very good mileage out of them, but at $565, they are half the price of the tires you've been using. They aren't appropriate for winter driving, but that shouldn't be much of a problem living in TX.

I figured I'd rather have a cheaper, grippier tire than a more expensive tire that has less grip but lasts longer.

 

I see it on Tirerack for $113.68ea. I also see a Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 for $105.56 with better tread-wear and rated as all season (255/35R20)

It does not look like we will see winter in Texas this year. Still in the 70s.

 

It's not unusual for high-performance tires to have short tread life. Long tread life is not the primary design intent.

I drove an earlier generation XJR for several years and couldn't find a tire, at the time at least, that gave anything resembling decent tread life. I was driving 18k-20k miles/year and replacing tires every 9-10 months. That seemed just silly to me....especially since I seldom explored the ultimate limits of adhesion or had much opportunity to drive particularly aggressively.

I ended up down-sizing wheels and tires just to get a tire that would last. And, actually, I never felt that I lost much in terms of driving qualities.

Hopefully there are more, better, choices nowadays.

Cheers
DD

 

Just turned 20K on my Pirelli Cinturato P7 a/s. Still have plenty of tread.

 

Worn bushings will cause premature wear. I know from experience. I would check ride height and alignment as well.

 

just want to throw another hat into the ring: barum bravuris 3hm (~$400US+fees for full set) Barum Bravuris 3 Tires