just replaced the very worn tires on the front. Originals were the standard pirelli's. I went with General 245/50/17s to match the generals I put on the rear a year or so ago. could not be happier. the old pirelli's were worn out and would cause the jag to want to follow ruts in the road. the new tires hold the road straight and true. Not to mention the General tires were $295 installed with re-balance of all 4 tires.

 

I often see threads from US members talking about alternatives to the Pirelli/Michelin/Dunlop premium tyres fitted by Jaguar.

The cost of the alternatives is always way below anything obtainable in the UK and I thought there has to be a catch.

However, the ones you've found are '99W' rated which is equivalent to original specification.



I just used Tyre Rack website to get the details but we can't get anything near that cost over here.

Graham

 

So Graham,

Are comparable, decent tires for these cars in the UK perhaps double our US prices?

Keep in mind that most of the bargain-basement tire brands over here do not deliver nearly the treadlife that the better brands do. Treadlife ratings are unfortunately still very subjective across the industry. Until some better-enforced standards are put in place to require the tire manufacturers to be honest about treadlife, it's quite easy for the customer to get ripped off....

The best defense is to always do plenty of research before you pull the trigger on a new set of tires....

 

Jon,

Yes - double is about right.

That explains the low mileages in some of the tyre wear threads I read here.

I'd be getting worried if I couldn't get 12-15K miles out of a set with perhaps the fronts wearing faster but I frequently see posts by US members reporting getting significantly less than 10K.

Graham

 

The rear Yokohama YK580 tires (W-rated) on my wife's XK8 are warranteed for 60,000 miles. With the proper care, they may do 40,000 miles leaving me with some warranty rebate money to apply against the next pair....

The front Yokohama YK580 tires (V-rated) on my wife's XK8 are warranteed for 45,000 miles. Again with the proper care, they may do 40,000 miles....

We'll see....

 

I replaced my Michelins on my XK8 two weeks back. They were eight years old with only 24k miles. The tires had only 15k miles on when I bought the car, but it was very clear they have been overinflated from new, and not by a little! Everytime my car goes somewhere, it comes back with overinflated tires.

Put on four new Continental Extreme Contact tires. I would have preferred to stay with Michelins, but my bank balance did not agree this time So, I went to my second choice.

When I got home, the first thing was to check the tires when they were cold. And yes, they were overinflated as well.

The Generals were tempting... For the price it is a good deal.

 

I put Pirelli p zero netro 's on my '99 and have 42,000 miles on them. I do not like the tires, they are noisy and will be glad when they are gone.

 

I'm stunned that you've done 42,000 miles on a set of Pirelli tires. My experience has been that anything over 15,000 miles on a Pirelli tire was virtually impossible....