I have the original Pirelli's on my XKR - they look to be about half gone.

I have not had good luck with the PZero run flats, aside from the price.

So what are opinions on the best tire that represents good tread life, good performance, and lower tire noise?

I just bought a pre-owned 08 with 35K miles on the clock. The dealer installed Hankook Ventus V12's
Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110

About $1000 or so.

To be honest they wouldn't have been on my short list, but I must say they perform great, are quiet and look GREAT on the XK.

How they wear and handle rain and cold are still questions to be answered, but for now I'm pleasantly surprised at these tires.

Tom

I've put Hankooks on two of my other cars and I am really happy with them. They ride very smoothly, have good grip in all conditions and are wearing well.

I have gone thru so many Dunlop Sport Max tires since I bought my XK back in 2007. Luckily I had an awesome tire warranty! The warranty replaced approximately 8 tires without any problems and without me having to pay a deductible. Once I hit 60K miles the warranty expired and I was not interested in paying $500 bucks a pop to replace them so I switched to Hankooks. I have put approximately 5K miles on my set so far and I think they are great! They are noticeably quieter than the Dunlops and grip just as well far as I can tell. In regard to cold waether, none of the SUMMER tires are designed to be used in temperatures below 40 degrees.

New set of Hankook V12 EVO on my 07 XK, love em.

When I had my 02 XKR 100, I ran Nitto 555's and they were pretty good tires.

At the tiime, the guy at the Discount Tire talked me into them. It's been a while, but I believe I had settled on The Hankook's. He said the Nitto's were better.

Anyone else have experience with Nitto's?

It anyone is interested, Hankook has a $60 rebate on the V12's Thru June 30th

Great Catch 2011

Anyone heard of these...Vredestein? I'm shopping for a new set of tires and came across them. They seem like a great buy at around $1100 a set(just for the tires).

I've always been partial to Michelin but don't really want to drop $1600-1800 for them.

I have heard of Vredestein , as I recall an unofficlalPorsche GT team used them in the races . Nitto ? Nope, never heard of it

I just installed a full set of Vredestein ULTRAC SESSANTAS on my 2008 XK. These tires are manufactured in the Netherlands. They have a really cool tread pattern, are beautiful to look at (desgned by Gugliaro), and are very reasonably priced. I paid about $200.00 per tire for 245-40-19s on the front and 275-35-19s on the rear. I don't yet know how they will work out for me, but I can tell you the customer reviews have been outstanding! Folks like them way better than Pirellis for less than 1/2 the price...

Wow - you weren't kidding on the reviews for these tires. Found them at Performanceplustire.com for about $850 minus shipping. The reviews there speak really well of the tire. They do have an interesting tread pattern, and *all* of the reviews say they are quiet. This is important for me.

I'll have to check these out when I need new tires.

I bought a full set of the Continental Extreme DWS All Seasons for my XKR from tirerack.com -- great tires, very pleased. I have about 3,500 miles on them. They are very quiet (quieter than the P-Zero), have great connection to the road, and a great look (I can send photos if you want). It's too early to determine wear life. Some of the reviews talk about the soft sidewall - I don't see or have the issue. Mine are solid and responsive; good in dry, wet (haven't pushed them in wet), and snow. Good luck..

Are the Pirelli tyres the standard fit on XKs in the US 'cos in the UK (Europe?) the standard fit is a Dunlop SP Sport Maxx 'J' spec tyre?

I wonder why the difference?

I was in a local showroom just yesterday and they had Dunlop Sportmax on the showroom 2011 XKR coupe.

I recently had to buy a set of tires and my research led me to the Continental ExtremeContact DWS. Unfortunately, they were backordered in my size from every outlet I could find. Settled on the Hankooks already mentioned and aside from a pot hole bulged sidewall (I recommend buying road hazard for 35/30 series tires), I'm happy with them so far. Nice and quiet, much more so than the Dunlops I took off. I'll still probably look for the Continentals next time.

For what it's worth, Tire Rack's current consumer feedback Tire Survey Results rating 33 Maximum Performance Summer Tires top ten are:

1-Continental ExtremeContact DW
2-Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 ZP
3-Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT
4-Michelin Pilot Sport PS2
5-Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3
6-Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position
7-Dunlop Sport Maxx TT
8-Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric
9-Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110
10-Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position RFT

Of 8 Extreme Performance Summer Tires, the top three are:
1-Bridgestone Potenza RE-11
2-Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec
3-Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08

Of 26 Ultra High Performance All-Season Tires, the top three are:
1-Continental ExtremeContact DWS
2-Michelin Pilot Sport A/S
3-Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position

(I should have listed Extreme Performance first as that is the highest "performance" rating)

Thats good stuff! I would have thought PS2s would be number one. I know people complained the short lifespan on the PS2s and also the price. Wonder how the PS3s will stack up against the Continental ExtremeContact DW.
I have a varient of the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A on my SL65 (oem tires: Potenza RE050) and they have decent grip but either they run out of tread quickly (car has 10k miles) or it's my heavy right foot. as the rears probably only has 2k miles left on them. They seem to grip better than the Nitto 555 on my Jag.

BTW....tires these days really do have safety in mind....I popped a tired on my SL65 last month as I couldn't avoid this brick like donut on the road going 45MPH. The tire popped but the car still felt very stable slowing down to a complete stop. The tire didn't disintigrate either.

Wow, that must have been quite a hit!

That's also beyond repair that reminded me of Top Gear SLS driving in the US

I must have just barely hit it while trying to swerve to the left as much as I can as there was another car next to me as the hole was on the sidwall and the lip has no scratches or damage.

I'll have to see that Top Gear episode again.....I remember they were on the 1/4 mile strip while the track was all wet and the end where they were downtown NYC trying to be first to finish.