Best Tires for the XJ8?
 

I was hoping for some tire recommendations for the XJ8L. Looking for ones with the best wear and quiet ride. Not concerned about speed rating. Are there any better options than Michelin or Continental?

In my experience (trying many brands) Michelin is the way to go. When I replaced the OEM Conti's on my '06 XJ8 VDP with Michelin Pilot Sports it became a different car...all for the better.

I've had the same experience with Michelin's on my other cars...they just seem to do everything better than most other brands.

I agree. Michelin's are in a class of their own. I have yet to find anyone who recommends a tire other than Pilot Sport 2's when they've actually driven on PS2's. I've tried the Conti's, Bridgestone, and Dunlops...no comparison. Better grip, smoother ride, better cornering....best tire out there, period.

I have Michelin sports on mine. I think I will try Hankooks next. I have heard good things about them and they are alot cheaper. I know the Michelin last a long time, but are exspensive. If you don't drive the car enough the tires will dry rot and thats a waste of money.

I HIGHLY recommend the Hankooks. Ventus V12 Evo 110s. These are a summer tire but Hankook also offers a high performance all season version. I recently put a set of the Ventus V12 on my XJ8 and find them every bit as good as the Michelin's they replaced. And, though this is NOT the reason I purchased them they are almost half the price of a set of Michelins. The reason I wanted to try Hankook was because of the great reviews they are receiving including Road & Track magazine.

I purchased mine from Gripston. (www.gripston.com) They had the lowest price and shipped directly to my installer. They also offer free shipping and provided me GREAT customer service (Alex). I have no relationship to Gripston or Hankook. I'm just a VERY satisfied customer.

I like these tires so much that when the Michelins wear out on my Mercedes SL550 I plan to try a set of Hankooks on it. That's how good I think they are.

I just threw away a pair of new (2000 miles) 20" Michelin Pilot Sport AS off the front of my XKR, they were chunking tread and unbalanceable. I replaced them with Sumitomo HTR ZIII, which has no problems and has been great so far after 4,000 miles. I had a set of All Season Sumitomos that also were excellent tires, quiet and good handling on my 96 XJ6.
I have the OEM Pirelli P6's on the XJ8, they get noisy as they age but they seem to be good tires. They also last forever, the first set had 55,000 on them and I changed them to new ones just because they were over 5 years old and had some cracking on the sidewalls, they still had a lot of tread left.

+++++1 on the Hankook Evo v12's......going on 5k miles, and a HUGE improvement over the crap P-zero's that came with the car. Search "Hankook" on this site for lots of discussion on these tyres.

I don't like michelin,I think the x350 and x 358 need to be guided and the best tires I had were the P zero assymetric Pirelli,even if they can become a bit noisy ,they are far the best to be use for me.Michelin has no caracter,they are medium everywhere and last but I simply don't like them.Pirelli assymetric are incredibly linear compare with other brands.

Here are a couple of links for you. Keep in mind that the tirerack survey has a couple of bugs to it. First, the car that the tire is on makes a big difference. You might love a tire on a Porsche 911, but find the sidewall too mushy for a 4,000 lb sedan. I sold my Goodyear Eagle GSD3's after 200 miles for that very reason...could actually push in the tire sidewall with my thumb. So, read the individual reviews of the tires for more useful details. Second, tires generally score better until the "newness factor" wears off. Just as an example, the zero pressure PS2's are scoring the same comfort rating as the original PS2's...that will certainly change as more testing mileage is accumulated. RF or ZP tire will never score as well on comfort. If you get a chance to test the difference in RF/ZP vs. traditional tires, you'll know why.

The second link has some nice resources (under the "our sources" section), including links to a car and driver and motortrend tire comparison test.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ay.jsp?type=MP

http://www.consumersearch.com/tires/...ilot-sport-ps2

Regarding your requirements of "Looking for ones with the best wear and quiet ride" I would consider some Toyo tires. I have the T1R Proxes on the 19" summer rims and 18" Versado LX all seasons for the winter. I can't yet vouch for the longevity of either but they are definitely the smoothest and quietest tires I have ever had.

Many thanks to those that have responded to my inquiry. I am familiar with all brands but the Hankook. That will give me one to research further. Thanks again!

Hankooks are good but of course they can not beat the quality of Kumho, I put over 20k on my kumhos and they still look brand new no joke, they are very balanced tires and I must say it lasts long and you are confident that your tires wont blow while you are goin 100+ mph.

here take a look at it, its a couple dollars expensive than the hankook but sure it is worth it

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....L&autoModClar=

And whatever you do ,do not buy summer bridgestones if you are living in a rainy place. Not all the summer tires will be good on slippery asphalt, but those kumhos sure handle it

And yes I ve had v12s before they are good tires but If I had to buy new tires I'd go with kumho.

Thanks JagMaster, I will look closely at Kumho as well.

No problem , and please use nitrogen not regular air to fill them up

I don't know if they come in sizes suitable for any Jag but I had Yoko AVS DB on my Infinity Q for summer and Michelin Alpine Pilot Sport for winter. I recommend both for those respective uses.

The Yokos are listed as all-weather. On my Q they were quiet, good grip in summer dry, and a suicide attempt in a few inches of snow. YMMV.

For what its worth, I just purchased an 04 XJR with newer Sumitomo HTR ZIII and they run quite nicely.

I've got Dunlop Sports 2000 on mine. They are far better than the contis (which wore out at 30K miles). Tougher too!

I see this is an older discussion, but I think an update would not hurt. I just put Good Year Eagle Sport A/S on my car. They seem very quiet and give a smooth ride. I'll update as mileage accrues. Cheers. John
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...fc25717426.jpg

GoodYear Eagle Sport A/S

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...2fafd5a3e6.jpg

GoodYear Eagle Sport A/S

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...bbcb33d3ac.jpg

GoodYear Eagle Sport A/S

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.jag...59e6c7a570.jpg

GoodYear Eagle Sport A/S

Since they originally came with Pirelli P-Zeros, when the time came, I replaced them with Pirellis.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the 19" P-Zero all-season Scorpions were even reasonably priced at about $160 each. Happy.

I hear the new tread compound in the Pirelli P-Zero All Season Plus is quiet, has a AA wet traction rating, pulls better than .9 on the g-skid, and is one of the better handling. Has 50,000 mile rating. I'll be placing a set on mine in spring.