Hello Guys,

I have a 2013 XKR with 17,000 miles on it and I am looking to replace the tires. The tires are in good shape but the back tires are worn due to wheel spin.
What is the best replacement tires I have Dunlop Sport Maxx now.

Thanks

 

The only tires the majority agree on are "black and round"... other than that you'll get the same opinions if you ask which is the best oil. the best radar detector, the best religion, best color, best gasoline, best oil filter, etc. Use the search the button and peruse the MANY threads on tires. Some will say a certain tire is the "best" others will chime in stating they are the "worst ever". Lastly it all depends on so many factors (budget? all season? summer only? track ready or purely freeway cruising? etc) no one can answer your question with any degree of accuracy. Also suggest looking at TireRacks reviews

 

I agree with black and round. Past that their isn't much agreement on tires.

 

20" Nevis Rims on XKR
Previous Tires = Sumitomo HTR Z III; OK, handled in dry well, but wee bit squirrelly in the rain. Treadwear OK, but rears went to wear bar at 15k.
Current Tires = Michelin Pilot AS3+; Excellent handling wet or dry, track very true, and seem to be wearing very slowly. Stiffer sidewall = slightly harsh ride, but worth the tradeoff for good handling.

 

well I'm going with Raelism as best religion.

 

Absolutely ANYTHING that is not (vomit) Michelin. Horrible, horrible tires.

 

I have Michelin Pilot SS on mines and I don't have any complaints other than the wear. If you go that route, be prepared to buy new tires every 12 to 15k miles. I haven't turned off traction control and other than taking off briskly and a few sharp corners, I drive her "nicely"....well, sort of. Even still my baby needs new shoes on the rear and they ones I have on there are less than a year...maybe 10 months old...

 

Is price an issue? Had a set of Hankooks that were very inexpensive but extremely noisy on the freeway, so noisy on the back tires that I had to get rid of them. I have Nexens now as I also have on my 2002 XKR, and while not the most agressive tread pattern, they handle well, ride well, and are very reasonably priced. I would, however, stay away from any Chinese sourced tires. I had two sidewalls separate on virtually new tires within two weeks. After the second one failed with exactly the same problem where the inner side wall came apart from the tread (a big enough separation to put my hand through it), I pulled them off and threw them away.

 

Continental Extremecontact DW. Best performance for the lowest price. Ranked #4 of 29 tires on Tirerack, for Max Performance Summer tires, and much cheaper than the first 3. Not for winter use. Quiet too.
Check out Tirerack, Hancook tires are rated very low compared to other summer tires.
Good luck,

 

The Michelins will definitely be longer wearing than the Dunlops. They do have a beautiful thread pattern. Makes it difficult to go to sedan looking tires even if they were better. I am going to take White Bear's advice and go with the Conti they have a 540 threadwear number, Thats twice that of Dunlop's 240. The Bridgestone is also a solid contender.
Hankook, do you really want your $100k ride to have the same tires as the civics.

 

Ok, you only tell your best friends about this. For those who dont buy tire for the track and just looking to get 3 years out of it. The bridgestone potenza re970 has 40,000 mile warranty without stipulation. I.e they dont cut the mileage in half if you have staggered wheels like we do. And 3 years free replacement, i.e. not prorated for defects. I read the entire warranty fine print- its the best warranty!!

The conti for instance has 50k warranty, but cut n half if you have different size on rears and completely disqualified if you get a repair. And just 1 year replacement on defects.

 

As mentioned it depends on what your need is for tires. In my case I wanted a good all around tire with smooth , quiet ride and some longevity. I had found that the higher mileage tires were usually a more harsh ride. Being I use the car for cruises or to take it to the golf course and also a few 300 mile trips I needed something with those qualities. I ended up with the Conti DWS tires and in the same size as OEM. The tread design doesn't look to aggressive but suits my need. I have no intention of track driving and overly aggressive street driving.

 

Has anyone ever tried the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+? Are they quiet and decent mileage wear?

 

That is what I have on the car now. Its fantastic. Great traction and wear. And I love the way the thread pattern looks. Cant be confused for anything but sport. However without changing the name they changed the thread pattern. See pic below. Mine is the one on the right. The new thread pattern looks like the old pilot super sport.

 

I find it kind of funny that many people's deciding factor in tires is how they look... how aggressive the patterns appears.

 

I totally agree. I have a new Corvette C7 and just replaced the OEM Michelin run-flat tires with the Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 tires. The ride is very smooth and quiet and as member "White Bear" has stated these tires are highly rated near the top of it's most competitive tire.

My cost was right $810 for the set, 19" front and 20" rear after a rebate from Discount Tire. The cost to mount was just $16.00 each. I have absolutely NO disappointments with this selection. Excellent thread design compared to the Michelin's.

Click the image to expand the view and once again for full screen shot.

 

As I mentioned I put the conti's on the back last year and just put them on the front to replace my worn Dunlops. I'll have DWS all around and will see how they perform. I liked the tread design but also read some of the reports on the tire.

 

Conti's would be my choice based on performance alone. But warranty is full of caveats. First repair and all 6 years of warranty is null and void.

Bridgestone has similar performance and thread wear with bulletproof warranty. Effectively for full 6 years. Important on for dry rot considerations.

The Michelin is sunflower oil based (as opposed to silica) and biodegradable. lol

 

Thanks for the input, very helpful I went with the Continental extreme Contact DWS. So far so good.

 

+1 on the Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06. I recently replaced all 4 of the OEM Dunlop Sport Maxx GT tires on my 2013 XJ 5.0L SC with the Conti's and have no complaints. Good value.

Still have the Hankook Ventus V12 Evos on my 2009 XKR. They've held up well; smooth ride, good handling and I have no complaints.

Would I buy either one again? Too soon to know. Both are good values with no surprises.