I saw a video of Jay Leno discussing that he needs to buy new tires for many of his classic cars after nearly having an accident because of an old tire. So, I checked the DOT date codes on my Kumho tires and was really surprised to discover that they were 17 years old. Time flies and all that.

My XJS originally came with 235/60r15 tires, but I had switched to 225/60r15 when I bought the Kumho tires which actually fit and looked better on the 15" Dayton wire wheels. I knew the pickings where getting slim in those sizes, but had no idea how sparse the choices had become. I can see why so many on the forum have moved to 16" wheels for a better selection, but the Dayton's were dealer installed when the car was first purchased so are "original" to car and I want to keep them.

I found only two V rated tires in either size, and both are made by the same Indonesian company, but one of them seems more for small SUV/CUVs. Many of the lower speed rated tires have raised white letters which for me is a "never" even mounted on the inside. I was so frustrated with the selection I could find locally or online, I was contemplating maybe waiting until next summer to replace the tires. However, when I had the car in the air when I replaced the intermediate exhaust pipes, my eye caught a small bulge on the inside sidewall of a front tire. So it seemed unwise to put off replacing the tires even though they looked nearly new.

I remember when I first bought a set of Kumho tires, it was conventional wisdom that it was risky to buy "cheap" Korean tires, but they turned out to be excellent tires. Decided to try a similar risk on the Indonesian made tire: Foreceum Hena in 225/60r15 96V rated.

Pros: Tire is rated as High Performance, All Season, and has a sporty and attractive tread pattern that looks great on the car. So far, they are impressively "sticky" and surefooted. Very quiet.
Cons: Sidewall has a ribbed pattern that made putting a tire dressing on tedious and doesn't serve any purpose. Tread wear rating is on the low side, but is likely a trade off for the performance and quiet mentioned above. Lots of manufacturing "nibs" and artifacts that needed to be trimmed off. Since I never drive the car with the top up, I can't report on wet traction.

Overall, so far they are an upgrade in performance and quiet over the Kumho tires and would recommend them. However, I will report back if I experience any issues.

 

Pretty much my experience with Madame's Ford estate car. Last time we bought the cheapest correctly rated tyres and they are the best set we have ever had. I have used Kuhmos (16 inch though) for over 10 years now, excellent tyres and under half price of the top European marques like Michelin or Pirelli.

 

I have had good experiences with TOYO tires for years. For the winter Toyo Snowprox S943 and for the summer Toyo Proxes T1R which is unfortunately no longer available.

 

I have Cooper Cobras on my car. They're fine for how I use it, but they only have a T speed rating. When they age out I think I'm going to fit Vredestein Sprint Classics, but 215/70 is the only appropriate size available.

 

I recently put a set of Cooper Endeavor tires on my XJ-S, and after 4000 miles am happy with them. Made in the US (Tupelo, MS) and V-rated 215/70-15 original size. Available through TireRack, Discount Tire, and others and not expensive.

 

I put some Hankooks on my 911 years ago and it really woke it up for a nice price. I've got Toyo Proxes on my Austin Healey right now and no complaints. PIrellis on the XJS and they are great too. Price more so about size and availability etc more so than brand it seems lately. FWIW I put Michelins (Premiers?) on my wife's ML and they wore out in about a year (~12,000 miles). I was told that tire has since been discontinued, because well it is a piece of crap obviously, but one would not expect that from premium-priced tires, but indeed they were junk. So you never know and you takes your chances.

 

I know it's US-recommendations you want, but I have Hankooks on my 4.0 Convertible on 225/55 16" size and they have been great.

Paul

 

Thats why i went to 17" rims on many of my classic cars, good V rated tires are readily available and inexpensive in 17" compared to 14" and 15" quality tire offerings. The 17" doesn't look out of place, but its about as large as you can go without starting to get the rubber band tire look. I typically use Continentals CS5 (IIRC), V-rated.

Doug

 

My '95 XJS was offered with either 225/60R16 or 225/55r16 sizes. I need to replace the tires and found a lot more selection in the 55 sidewall. What are the advantages to one Vs. the other?

 

55 is going to be shorter and ride harder.

Doug

 

Why not let us in on the brand, price, and where you found them?

 

Forceum Hena All-Season Passenger Car Performance Radial Tire-225/60R15 purchased on Amazon. Price dropped recently to $81 per tire.

 

I struggle to see any disadvantages with running 225/55s. After all, they were standard equipment on late UK Coupes and optional on late UK 4.0 Convertibles.

They may ride slightly firmer than 225/60s, but they still give the great Jaguar ride. I suspect most owners won't feel any difference.

With the demise of 225/60s, I think most UK late XJS owners will have moved over to 225/55s some years ago. I made the switch over 10 years ago.

Cheers

Paul

 

A year ago at the British car show here in Oakville, Ontario, I went along all the XJS in the show and checked the tires. There were eleven different manufacturers of tires and they ranged mainly from 215/65R15 (2) to 225/60R16 (7). Those are 9 out of 20 tire sets. For example, for the 225 there were 50R16, 55R16 and 60R16. There was one 245/45ZR17.
I was surprised in the wide range of manufacturers and variations in sizes.
Bill

 

I just got the Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 plus 225/55R16. They rate really well on Tirerack.com. Hope they work\k well for me. My old tires were also 17 years old.