Was over at our mainstay tire store, tirerack.com, and noted this tire for the XKR costing just 742 a set. Anybody have any experience with these tires? Are they junk?!? I see some of the most expensive are the Dunlops....and man are they noisy compared to the Pirelli P Zero's!! Wondered what everyone was driving, why, and how they liked them?

Loth

 

Ryan:

I just put these tires on the 2009 Jag XKR (400 miles ago) for about the same price. In my opinion they are a very good tire for the price. There has been posts here reference these tires. Some like them, some don't.

I have owned them in the past and they held up great. For the price they are a great value. I used to race my Formula F1000 with the Hankook Ventus slicks and they ended up being the best tire for racing, other than the Goodyear Eagle.

At this price, you can get 2 sets for the price of the Michelin or Dunlops.

 

Thanks Rich! I saw the price of these and my mouth about dropped.. That online site for tires has the dunlops being more pricey than the pirelli P zero's on my XKR-S!! What the heck!?!?! I thought the Pirelli P Zero was a better tire than the dunlop??? Was thinking of switching to sets around till I found the feel and road noise I wanted. The Dunlops have a TON of road noise.. So much so that the XKR is much noisier in cabin then the XKR-S in my humble opinion when on the freeway going 80mph... The road noise on the Dunlops is undeniable and the Pirelli's seem much quieter!!

 

I don't know what the deal was with my Hankook K110s when I got rid of them. Maybe they were worn out. Switching to my Sumitomo HTR Z IIIs have yielded MUCH improvement in grip and responsiveness. Ride quality is about the same (flatspotting in colder weather is expected with a summer tire). The Sumitomos are even cheaper than the Hankooks, and Sumitomo is a subsidiary of Dunlop (or something like that), so they may share some of the same engineering.

With my Hankook Evos, I can rarely remember accelerating fully from a stop without the traction control intervening. The Sumitomos don't give me that trouble!

But again, the Hankook tires may have been very worn...

 

I find the ride with the Hankooks to be quiet and smooth. Of course allot depends on the road surface.

 

I have the factory original set of Dunlops on my car with around 5500 miles on them. It is true they are quite noisy and I noticed the front inside treads had some feathering. Knowing they are asymmetrical, during my last service I had front and rears swapped to the opposite sides. Of course it could be my imagination, but the noise level definitely diminished. It's still there but not at the levels I first experienced. With the very little driving I do each year I might very well have these dunlops for years to come, and yes I'm aware they are noisy , but handling, and stopping are adequate. If I were to change, I would probably go for the Michelin Pilot A/S regardless of price due to their excellent rating.

 

Michelins Pilot A/S were on my 07 when I bought her two years ago.... Certainly one of the worst tires for a spirited driver like myself. If your operating in grandpa mode they will do fine.
I still cant see the Hankook as an option when Bridgestones S-04's rank #2 over the V12 at #9 for only a few hundred more...

 

Just reaching 25k miles on my Hankooks. 6/32 left on the fronts and 5/32 on the rears. Will replace them soon as 4/32 is my limit and I am on 20s.

I have a boatload of fun using my car as a dd but I am not a tire expert.

The Hankooks work for me. Quiet ride, good bite for the average aggressive driver and a fair price point.

 

Hankook ventus v12 were the worst summer tires I've Ever had on a car- had them on a previous 911 turbo and they were not good. Long break in and they still felt as if the road had verticals grooves. I have p0's now, but will move on to Michelin PSS, since i think they make the best performance tires and I had ps2's previously and they were great.

 

I'm pleased with my Hankook V12 Evos so far with around 2K miles. Quiet, comfortable ride, virtually no wear yet, quick turn-in. Can't evaluate wet grip as I never drive it in the rain. I think it's a good value, unless you're into driving near the limits and ultimate grip - then spend more for a higher performance tire.

 

Aggressive Driver

Dunlop OEM, lasted 13k, made the most smoke.

Hankook V12, lasted 17k, made a lot of smoke

Michelin PSS, so far 3k, minimal smoke, loads of grip, forced me to relearn handling characteristics of the car.

Now if the PSS last for 30k plus miles I'll say they are worth it (as my driving style has remained constant) otherwise I was very happy with the Hankooks despite the short life. The dunlops were a disappointment in grip, lifespan way too short for the money but left a nice cloud of smoke at will .

 

P.S. My username pic are the Dunlops.

 

Had Hankooks Vetus on my Cayman, the tire was definitely harder than the Pirellis I had prior to that.
I also will switch to Michelin Sports on my XKR-S when time comes. Had them on my 911 turbo and also on my Cayman. tire has very good grip for a street tire but is soft and certainly wears faster than the Hankook. Even on my 911 AWD turbo I did not get mor ethan 15K out of them.

My XF SC, which I believe comes with the same tire size as the R models came with Contis, which were absolutely atrocious, very noisy. I replaced them with Bridgestone Potenzas Pole Position, so far maybe 2-300 miles on them and compared to the Contis they are very quiet and a much better tire for the car.

 

I have the Hancocks on the coupe. I am not an aggresive driver. Ride is very good. They are a slight bit harder feeling than the continental dws on the convert. Unless you are a smokin' aggressive driver I think spending more on tires is unneeded. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

sorry Hankooks not Hancocks, should have proofread it first!

 

I had the Hankooks on 3 Jags. My '05XK that I purchased used from a dealer came with a new set. Than, I bought it for my '08XK because I liked it on the '05. Finally, I replaced the Pirelli Zero Neros on my '12 XJL after only 2K miles with the Hankooks.

Conclusion; they worked well on the XKs but, not so well on the XJL. These tires are relatively quiet riding and have plenty good handling characteristics for most street driving applications. In the case of my XJL their stiff performance sidewalls simply amplify the suspension issue that I am having with that car, since new. So, I would not hesitate to purchase them for the XK(R) but, would not recommend them for the XJL.

 

Ryan, please do not compromise on tires for your beautiful XKR-S. Get the best. Pilot Super Sports. Newer/better technology and tons of grip.

Here is another thread with a post from a guy going from v12's to PSS. Read post #6.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-tires-114049/

 

My new Handkook's ride great: smooth and quite so far (50 miles!!) seem better than the Dunlop's. Think they will outlast me! 79 years old..................had a 4 way alignment at Firestone ($80); only needed a minor toe in tweek; we used the USA Dynamic Mode Specs.

Hard to beat, for the price; got them shipped from Tire Rack in 1 day!; sent to local wheel shop for mounting, truing and balance. Way to go.....

Cheers, Adrian




Adrian

 

On my 2007 XK the Pirellis lasted 13K, front and rear wore out about equally .

On my 2008 XKR I replaced Dunlops at 11,000, rears were pretty bad, fronts not quite as bad, probably could have gotten a couple thousand miles out of them but was taking a 2K road trip so I replaced them a bit early.

I replaced the Dunlops on the 2008 XKR with Michelin Super Sports. I have 11,000 miles on them and the rears are about due, maybe 2K left. Fronts are not as bad, maybe 6K left. The problem is when I replace them I will do all four anyway so I'm looking at about 13K for the Michelins also.

The biggest difference for me is the handling. The Dunlops and the Pirellis were about the same. As someone else put it, "grip-grip-scarey let go".

The Michelins handle so much better, you can feel when they are getting loose and adjust power so you don't get whipped when powering around a corner. They also turn in so much better.

The biggest problem with all of these is the price tag. Those $742 Hankooks are looking tempting.

 

I am using V12s for the first time ever since last year. Smooth ride, took a while but traction is finally decent, I find them noisy and wear fast. I would guess I have 50% or less after around 5K miles. Never tired on wet surfaces as I never take the car out in any bad weather.

I have had mostly Michelins because everytime I try something else, Pirelli, Dunlop, Continental, I always come back to them. Michelins for me have had the best comfort, traction, wear & low noise. They have also always outlasted other brands 2-4 times for wear so at the end of the day, they are around the same price or even cheaper than the low cost brands.

You get what you pay for.