Have researched the issue of having mixed brands of tires on 2007 XK with 35000 miles, XK purchased in June 2011 with 31000 miles.. dealer replaced rear tires with new Dunlap Sport 1 tires - the original equipment tires. Front tires are half worn out. All research from this form and tire dealers indicate the Continental Extreme Contact DW are very quiet. Dunlaps are reported as noisy.


Problem:
I get a noise in the cabin that sounds like a dry universal joint in the drive shaft..... The dealer Shop Manager rode with me and told me it is tire noise. Probably not the universal joint.

I am replacing the front tires with Continental Extreme Contact DW tires
on the front only... tread pattern is similar to the Dunlap Sport with 3000 miles. Do I have any risk with the Continentals in the front and Dunlap in the back with stability.

Thanks for your thoughts..... Alec

 

My advice--don't be cheap! Have four tires on your car of the same age and model, especially on a performance car.

 

I agree. That would not be the way I would do it. Perhaps on a Honda Civic - but not a Jaguar.

Of note: I recently replaced all my OEM Dunlops due to age (2011) not wear (13K mileage). The difference in ride improvement and noise reduction was dramatic. I would not doubt that your noise issue is related to tire "roar" vs. your driveline speculation.

Spend the money on a full set of same (high quality / performance) tires (they certainly do not have to be Dunlops) and you will be glad you did.

Remember these are cars that cost a lot to keep right. The purchase price tends to be the least expensive part of ownership!

 

I agree with these folks.. do all 4 tires.
On my last XJR, the Dunlops got noisy early on, and on my XKR the Pirelli tires did too, especially as they wore down... when I switched to PSS tires.. better handling and less noise.
Lawrence.

 

Dunlops are quite expensive so I am told, very few owners replaced them with the same. I would go for 4 new tires of a top brand. Do you need all seasons in your locale?

Why Jaguar would use such an expensive tire as OEM leads me to believe that Dunlop gave them a sweetheart deal that was not so sweet for their customers.

 

Go for all four!

 

PSS tires are not available for the XKR any longer... Anyone had traction issues on their continentals?! I hear Bridgestone makes a good XKR tire.... Anyone comment!?

 

I bought my '07 used a few months ago and it came with new Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 tires. They are very quiet and very responsive. They are summer only, my wife's G37x is running on Ventus S1 noble2 tires which are also very good, #1 on Tirerack.com for UHP a/s.

 

Tires depend on what you're hoping to achieve. There are those who are looking for longevity, some want "pure performance", some what price, etc. Is it sacrilege to mix tires not really but do know that there will be a difference on when one will break lose over the other. Not everyone cares about achieving the highest possible performance so NO it's not going to kill you if you are only driving at 90% or so of the cars potential.

In terms of which tires come on what cars, mfg's ALWAYS negotiate with companies for thier greatest value, not necessarily the cars best performance. I've seen Porsches come with Conti's while another same exact one come with Michelin, same goes for Mercedes and most other car companies too, depending on what deal they got. Do know that a decent percentage of people who buy those cars are going to go back to the dealership to get them replaced so the *********** will then once again make huge profits. None of this has anything to do with performance or price value.

The majority of "performance cars" are driven mildy not tracked or driven hard, same goes for SUV's that are used for soccer excursions and going to Whole foods and back not off-roaded so "performance tires" are a complete waste of money. Decide what you're going to use the car for and buy with regard to that, don't let the purist preach otherwise that somehow you're ruining the car.

One more thing - always look on the sidewall for the code of when the tires you're about to purchase were manufactured, every tire has this. I've seen places try to sell tires that were a few years old or try to sell some that were manufactured a couple years part from each other... that could be bad.

 

In almost any case, mixed compounds is a bad call. I have known serious racers that play with different front and rear compounds to alter handling and modify overstear or understear, but they had knowledge of just what they were doing and trying to accomplish. I can't see messing with this to pinch pennies as being a wise choice, especially without knowing the ramifications it will have on the overall dynamics.
I will never recommend mixed compounds for the normal driver.

Mich PSSs rightfully own the #1 slot in performance tires right now.
Contis are a great choice as you have read. A stunning tire in wet and dry, and decent wear as well.
I favor Bridgestone's. The S-04 are quite (when relatively new) and offer a ton of stable and predictable grip. Trade off is longevity. Sticky tires just don't last, and I accept that for the way I drive....
A lot of people dive for the Hankooks over price, and about 50% either like them or hate them. The aggressive drivers I know (as aggressive drivers ) are not fond of them and move on after the first try.
A point I made months ago was the the price gap between a 12th rated Hankook, and a 2nd rated S-04 was less than $200/set of 4. Seemed silly to me to pick such a lesser tire for such a minimal price difference.

BOL
Vince

 

I saw the review where they gave #1 PSS, #2 Bridgestone S-04's, and LAST WAS PIRELLI lol.

Just wondering about the S-04's....you say they were quiet when new... have they gotten louder and after how many miles???

Thanks!

Loth

 

Kinda guessing on that, as it sneaks up on you.
I just replaced my rears at 15K miles (my fronts went earlier due to a poor alignment). I'd have to say the last 2000 miles brought on a noticeable increase in volume in the cabin.
As the S-04 grips to the very end, I ran them all the way down to the wear bars. Last weekend I replaced them and was happy to have quite return to my cabin.
FWIW, I picked up my 285-19 on sale for $155ea. (A steal) Sorry to say the sale is off now, but even at $250ea, I will buy again.

Vince