I recently put Conti Extreme Contact Sports on the front. The original Dunlops still had usable tread left but they were 11 years old. I have had these Conti's on several other cars and I like them, plus they were $75 each less than Pilot Sports.They are quieter than the worn Dunlops.

 

I have been riding on cheap tires for 4 years. Currently, I have Lexani LXUHP-207 All-Season 255 & 245/45-18. These are rated very well as an all season UHP tire. Walmart...

 

Buy some new tyres on E bay, have them delivered to a (prearranged) independent fitter and pay him to fit them.

My Kumhos have been great!

 

I have had good luck with Hankook Ventus V12 on my 2006 XKR. I had the 20" BBS upgrade with the Brembo brakes and found the Hankooks to be an excellent replacement the for the Michelins, and at a much better price. To be fair they had marginally less grip on the limit but that was never a problem during normal or even "enthusiastic" driving since they are extremely predictable and offer excellent feedback.

I have since replaced the 20" BBS wheels with 19" OZ Racing forged wheels. These saved be 5lbs / wheel at the front at 7lbs per wheel at the back and also allowed me to go up a notch on profile (35. profile at the front and 40 at the rear instead of 30 and 35). The result has been a slightly more comfortable ride with no loss of handling or performance. More important I don't have to go and get my rims straightened every month when I ding one on a pothole! I've switched to Bridgestone Potenza SO-4 tyres which I absolutely love. I have been known to engage in a little "spirited" driving in the southern California mountains and have found the Bridgestones to be outstanding.

So, in summary, Bridgestone Potenza SO-4 are awesome and less expensive than Michelin or Pirelli and the Hankook Ventus V12 are excellent at a great price.

 

Here in Australia we lost our tyre industry completely about a decade ago.

Our recognised brands of tyre now come from such places of quality as Malaysia or the Phillipines (Bridgestone) or in the case of Goodyear they come out of China. Can't remember which third word backwater Dunlops come from.
Of course the prices did not drop.

Bearing that in mind I would rather put my trust in a South Korean made Kumho tyre (Ecstas are pretty good). Another brand that grip well but is a bit noisey is Maxxis. They are a Chinese brand I believe but have an established reputation for making bicycle tyres. Bang for buck they are good.

My all time favourite brand though is Toyo. Money no object I'd pick them over anything.

I bought my daily driver over a decade ago when 235 45 17's were not cheap. It had $120 each "cheapies" on it when I bought the car. I found these to be very bad value for money as they would be worn out in 30,000km so I stepped up to the ~$180 Maxxis or Kumho's. The afforementioned third world Bridgestone/Dunlop/Goodyears were around $220-$240 each.

 

I have posted this before and yes I know it is going round and round on a race circuit which the OP isn't planning on doing but the white XKR I was following trusted his local mechanic to source him some cheap Chinese tyres and he could hardly keep the car on the track.

You can hear from my engine note that we weren't pushing it and I was holding back in case he spun so waited until the long straight to go past him. No idea what tyres the guy at the end of the video had on his car but he didn't even make it round the corner!


I will stick with the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S!

 

Getting back to the OPs point... decision is yours. You know the kind of driving and conditions you are about to embark.
Just remember that your car’s traction is reliant upon 4 spots on the ground, a little larger than a hand print.
And that there are significant differences between the tire compounds and the technology/design of the tire... and it absolutely presents itself via price.

I Had this conversation once with my son and it was after his pondering that, he chose to get the appropriate tires for his fwd car: 1 set for summer, 1 set for winter, each on its own set of rims. And a little more expensive (+20%) than most would choose for his car. But he feels safe and confident on the road in all conditions he may embark.

And you don’t want to know what I spend on tires. But my vehicles are typically the most sure footed to the ground. But I like driving in all conditions, all road types, all seasons... and rumor has it... all speeds.

 

I have no loyalty to any brand. Today they slap a name on everything I replaced the Continentals with these from Amazon for $600 American with an alignment.

Nankang 24375501 NS-25 Performance Radial Tire - 245/50ZR17

 

I see a lot of people complaining about this brand and that brand, but I think most tires as they age they get harder, noisier and new rubber is always soft, comfortable and excellent grip. My car when I bought it used had Yokohama AVID's on it. I think the owner bought them as he was getting ready to sell the car. I always seem to find them a bit harsh (stiff sidewalls) and a bit noisy. The grip was good, but who want's noisy stiff tires on a luxury sports car? Not me. So When it came time to replace them I chose the Pirelli P7 Centirino II (or something like that). I find them quite comfortable and adequate amount of grip. They are quiet and that is what I was looking for. Something with a sporty heritage but yet quiet and comfortable. In the end whatever you choose I hope you are satisfied. One thing I've learned is you get what you pay for. So don't go cheap or you'll regret it. I found the P7's to be about mid priced. Now on my Honda Accord Sport I went with the Goodyear Exhilarate and bumped up the size 10mm. That too is a nice tire, but a bit on the pricy side as they are a new model. Hope they live up to their claims.

 

Hello from Toronto.
I have been using Goodyear Eagle Sport on my X308 (2001 4.0L).
It is a "V" rated tire, as opposed to "ZR".
I paid $500.00 CDN (!) for a set of good sport tires.
Dunlop, Continental, Pirelli etc, have been used on my cars.
I find these hit the "Sweet Spot" between spending a king's ransom for excellent tires and
discount garbage.
Great dry and wet performance and feel, while keeping tire noise to a minimum.
In winter, I use Gislaved NordFrost5 winter sport tires- on VandenPlas (Daimler) rims, of course.
Good luck with your decision.
Stay safe.
Tony

 

I had to get rear tires installed on my XK last year to satisfy the "safety inspection" and got backed into a corner due to timing (covid closures, had to catch a ferry, 1 day transit permit....) so I ended up getting Conti Extreme Contact DWS06 installed (only choice) I just checked a national chain that carries Conti and they are currently on sale for $Cnd255 (front) which is approx 145 pound sterling, so reasonably affordable. (note in addition to the $Cnd255, they would charge 12% sales tax, $5 enviro fee and balancing) Tire Rack website is a great source of tire info even if it's US market oriented.

 

Agree. Their ratings for noise, wet grip, dry grip, etc (going by memory here...) and user comments are very useful.

 

I have these on my XKR and positively love them. Every bit as grippy as the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S's I have on my Audi.

 

That's great to hear. I still have Barums on the front but should change them out this year as they are around 9 yrs old. I put Conti TrueContact Touring on my wife's Acura TSX and they are great and a pretty good deal when they come on sale. They softened the ride a bit as the TSX is reasonably stiffly sprung.

 

...
"And that there are significant differences between the tire compounds and the technology/design of the tire... and it absolutely presents itself via price."
...
While there undoubtedly are differences in the rubber compound, and that will express itself in different hardness and different grip and comfort, that is not necessarily something that can be classified as superior one way or another, it depends on the intended usage.

As for technology and design, I am not certain what these differences are, but I am almost certain that some Chinese designs will be right up among the best possible options. The days where American or European design and equipment were, de facto, best, are long gone! You can buy crappy quality from China, but if you buy quality, it can be some of the best available. Everything else equal, it will just be cheaper. I can see nothing wrong with that, that is a reflection of lower production cost and higher competitiveness.



Sweeping statements are not necessarily helpful or valid in this case, and it would be more instructive to back such viewpoints up with specific/ objective examples.

 

I put a set of Bridgestone Turanza Serenity's on my 99 XK8 last year, have been very impressed with the ride and handling.

 

Tire and Oil threads always get a large amount of comments and replies.

 

I'm sure you can buy Chinese-made tires that are just as good as tires made in Europe and the USA. But why would you? Just to save $100 or so? Think about it. Is it really worth it?

I now buy goods Made in China only when I have no other choice (i.e. pharmaceuticals - the active ingredients of most antibiotics and heart meds are made in China or India). China Rx.

China is a Communist country that is not a friend of the USA. There is no free enterprise, and every Chinese business operates under the watchful eye of The Party.

China has stolen our trade secrets, hacked our government and military, destroyed our steel and other manufacturing industries, oppressed minorities, used child labor, militarized the Spratly Islands, reneged on Hong Kong and suppresses free speech, threatens Taiwan, and most importantly blocked the investigation by the World Health Organization into the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-chi...ns-11616004512

When you buy from China, you're an accomplice to the above offenses. Saving a few bucks is the exact same greedy motivation of those American companies who offshored their manufacturing operations for cheap China labor, only to lose their trade secrets and jobs for Americans.

I know it's not easy, but I try to buy whatever I need that is made by Americans and our friends around the world. I see no reason to support our enemies, and most of my fellow veterans agree with me.

 

I will disagree with most of the people on this site. Unless you are competitively tracking your car you don't need name brand tires. I have a 12.2 second BMW M5 and I have $89 Milestar 295/35/20 tires on the rear. In rain and temperatures above 70 degrees they work great(The Milestar has zero grip in ambient temps in the 60s or less. Even in aggressive real world street racing they perform almost as good as a $500 Pirelli and they last 2 to 3 times longer. I have ran Pirelli PZero PZ4, Dunlop Directionals, Kumho Ecstas, Sumitomo HTR3s, Continental ExtremeContacts, Nankang NS25s, and Sentry UHPs on my 500hp 2003 XKR with upgraded pulley, polished supercharger, full exhaust and custom 4: full intake. All of the tires performed EXACTLY the same on the car, the only difference being the road noise and treadwear. If you want a great set of reasonable priced tires I highly recommend the Nankang NS25s. My friend has an 11s Tesla Model 3 Performance and we recently swapped out his brand new 225/35/20 Michelin Pilot Sport Tires(with accoustic insulation) for 235/35/20 Nankang NS25s and his car is actually faster and has better grip with the cheap tires that are 25% of the price of the Michelins and will last 3 times longer. The downside is the Nankangs are slightly louder which is noticeable as Teslas are very quiet cars

 

Nankang is not a Communist Chinese company. They are headquartered in Taiwan.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nankang_Rubber_Tire