You mentioned you had 3 of the unknown brand and one of the Pirelli.

My new-to-me XK8 has its original Pirelli spare tire in the boot. Could it be a previous owner wore out the original Pirellis, replaced all of them with an 'unknown' and then had to replace a flat with the spare Pirelli? Check your boot and see if somebody was lazy when the flat tire was either replaced or fixed. You might have the fourth 'unknown' in there.

 

It wouldn't hurt to look at the manufacturer date on the tires. I had Dunlaps on my car when I purchased it with a lot of tread left. Problem was that they where manufactured in 04 and there were cracks in between the tread. I ignored this back in the early 80's and had a tire separate and destroy the fender of my vette. It cost alot more to fix than a set of new tires.

 

This is a good point, any tire more than 5 yrears old should be replaced, just for safety. I just replace 2 P6 tires on my XJ8 that were original due to age, they still looked good at 60K but they are too old.

 

Same thoughts here. My front tires were needing replacement when I bought my 03 XKR lat year. The rear tires were good. I replaced all 4 just because I think they were original 2003 tires and that`s fairly old rubber.

 

Mismatch of tires can be a problem in the performance and handling of the car and is often due to the composition of the tires by manufactures. Tires that have seen little or no use could be dangerous. When tires sit on concrete or soil for an extended period of time they will they will begin to crack compromising the integrity of the tire and in Virginia they will not pass inspection. I know that the economy is not good but safety should not be compromised replace them and have peace of mind, believe me you will have other things to concern yourself with.

 

Thanks for your comments and recommendations, everyone - the spare in the boot is a space-saver, presumably original with the car. No way to know how the mismatch on the rears eventually happened. Still plan to replace the rears for peace of mind. How true is it that one shouldn't drive "summer tires" in the colder times of year? (not planning any snow driving, but Cincinnati cold & wet weather are necessarily in my future with this Cat). Should I look at the few all-season tires available?
Thanks!

 

Sam
Thanks for the info on the headrest cable repair material. As soon as I figure out how to PM anyone, I will be in touch.

 

I like "ALL season Tires, I think they are great.

 

Summer only tires are not too good in freezing weather, they aren't kidding. I live in coastal Virginia and it gets cold enough here to make my tires handle poorly. I put it sideways on an entrance ramp under normal accleration on dry roads one day when it was cold. I don't drive the car when it's below 45F or so now. This is on tires with a 180 wear index, so they are about as soft as they come for the street.