I was getting bored with the original 18" wheels that came on my car when I bought it back in March. The Michelins barely had any meat on them, so I decided to change the look of my car a bit and make it look more aggressive. I did my research and despite crappy roads in New York, and against my own sound judgement, decided on 20" wheels all around. I really like the Sepangs, but could not find all four in the right size and in good enough condition. So I decided on the Coventry Whitleys, because they resemble the Sepangs, are made specifically for Jaguar cars and are manufactured by TSW - a reputable aftermarket wheel company. The front wheels are 8.5" wide, while the rear wheels are 10".
For tires, I chose Nitto Motivo, because they're all season and got solid reviews (https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/w...od-tire-72179/).

Today was a good day, as wheels and tires were delivered, and I did not waste any time installing them (Actually, I had them installed - I tried it myself, but broke the original wheel lug remover ).

Since I bought the wheels and tires as a package, they arrived mounted, balanced and filled with nitrogen, instead of regular air, so it was simply a matter of removing the old wheels and tires and installing the new ones.
* * * Below, check out the pics of before, during the installation and after (One pic appears in landscape mode and I can't seem to change it - sorry about that).

I couldn't wait to take the car for a swift ride, so I did just that. Right where I live, there's a stretch of road - about two miles of it, where during the day, the traffic is sparse. Off I went. I was going to take it up up to 80-85 mph, but, out of nowhere comes a 2011 or 12 XJ. It flew by me at what must have been at least 110 mph. I wasn't going to have any of that and floored the throttle. There came a familiar whine of the supercharger and, on a quick downshift, my cat got to speed - 130 I believe. I caught up to the XJ and the driver moved to the right lane to let me pass. As I did, I glanced to the right and he was giving me a thumbs up (At least it looked like it was a thumbs up and not a birdie ). I gave him a thumbs up as well and swiftly got off the highway at the exit.

What I learned on this joy ride is that the XKR, while a world class GT, is not designed for rapid lane changes at high speed. As I maneuvered my cat from right to left and left to right a few times, I felt that there was way too much side motion - the car felt nervous and there was too much suspension travel and body roll. There was an instance where I thought I would fly off the freeway and not in a good and controlled way. With a small correction of the steering wheel, I regained control of the car, as well as my composure and pressed on.

Back to the wheels and tires. The car looks and handles phenomenally (IMO) at least when going straight. Even though the tires are low profile, the bumps are handled elegantly (Luckily I have not hit any pot holes yet). It tracks well and there's no pulling to the sides what so ever.

Before the wheels were installed on the car, I thought that I'd be needing spacers to achieve that ideal look, but the wheels fill out the wheel wells to my satisfaction, so I don't think I will be needing the spacers. However, I will be needing lowered springs to stabilize the body roll at speed. For now, I will drive the car as is, while I get used to the new and improved look, then, time will tell.

 

nice

 

Thank you!

If you can, please rotate the 4th picture 90 degrees, so that it displays vertically.

 

fixed - what are plans for the old rims?

 

Lookin good!

For that jittery feeling, I found that a full set of poly bushes made a big difference in how're vise the car felt.

 

The wheels are awesome and you have a truly beautiful car. I love my convertible, but actually wanted to find a decent coupe. Especially in your color.

Give the man a hand!

 

Thanks, I'll probably be doing that in the spring. I think that I got some life left in the bushings yet. But you're right, it will tighten things up a bit. I think that the next item on my list is a set of H & R springs to lower the car a bit, so that the suspension does not travel all that much. I'd hate to sacrifice the luxuriously soft ride, though.

 

Thank you for the warm words Mike. I love this car. I searched for the longest time for a late model XKR coupe and found it in Arizona. I jumped on it right away, knowing it's be gone within days. The wheels do look rather nice and make the coupe look more modern (IMO).

 

Ideally I'd like to find them a new home (sell'em), but first I need to put some miles on the new wheels and see how they hold up.

 

Are your original wheels for sale?
My 18" chromed double-fives are beautiful but one of the rears cannot be balanced well enough to be ultra smooth beyond 75 Mph which I rarely get to do anyway.

 

That looks so much better.

(I see the vultures are already circling for the old rims - post #4!)

Graham

 

I thought of selling them initially, but then I changed my mind. I looked on the net for identical wheels and a lot of people are selling replica Jaguar wheels. In other words, they look original, but are in fact aftermarket rims. I figured I'm going to hold on to mine just in case.

 

Nicely done! Those look great. I may have to reconsider these, and 20" looks spot-on. Agreed on the modernization. The design language lends itself well!

How wide are these? Staggered?

 

Tires need about 500 miles to break in. This allows time to wear off the silicone used to separate the tire from the mould, and settle it in to the corner it’s going to live on. I'll bet that in 500 miles your car will feel a lot more stable at speed.
Regards,
White Bear.

 

Thanks Chris,
The fronts are 8.5" and the rears are 10"
I was looking for 9" for the front, but besides the OEM Jaguar Sepang or Montreal wheels, there's nothing out there in that size for our cars - a shame.

 

I put around 2,500 miles on the new wheels. The traction is great. The straight line stability is superb. Taking freeway ramps at 60mph - just does not work - the front leans in too much to the outer wheel. Let's just say it does not inspire confidence. I am not even sure if its the shocks or/and springs or/and bushings. It drives over the road imperfections well, but not on turns.