I am looking for suggestions on replacement tires for my 2001 XKR. Presently wearing the factory original Continentals. Thank you. Jim

 

You're going to get tons of options with this question. Depends on your budget and driving style. Search the forum, this topic comes up frequently.

BTW, I have about 3k miles on a new set of Yokohama YK580's and they work very well for me.

 

Hi Jim, Another option for you to consider, I replaced my conti's with the HANKOOK V12 ventus... I could not be happier. These tires look well, ride smooth, stick like Velcro ,and are very quiet. You will also find them to be priced nice too. I felt these were a BIG improvement over the conti's.

 

My wife's XK8 also wears a set of Yokohama YK580 tires from Discount Tire. They're pushing 28,000 miles now and are still fantastic with great sticking power and no hydroplaning even in heavy rain. I did months of tire research before I purchased them in 2012 and still believe they're the best bang-for-the-buck tires currently on the market. The treadwear warranty ranges from 45,000 to 60,000 miles depending upon the speed rating of the tire....

Our XK8 stays safely at home when the snow flies so I cannot speak to how they perform in the white stuff....

 

My Michelin Pilot Sport (2?) proved excellent

 

I am suddenly in the same boat with my 2006XKR. Fast leak in the tire and tire shop says it's too big to be repaired. Tires are down to 1/8" tread left anyway so replacing them (shop says 3/32 but my caliper says 1/8...)

The only ones in town for quick replacement are Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric. Seem decent, reasonable reviews, nobody hates them. $191 for the rears at Discount Tire.

The Continentals that were on there when I got the car wore down to 1/8" in 12,000 miles. Discount Tire will sell me a $25 warranty that will warrant the Goodyears pro-rata up to 45,000 miles. I figure they'll be bald at 20-25K and I'll be able to buy another set at half price :-)

 

I am also pleased with the Hankook set I went with to replace the original Pirelli's. Look good, handle well, ride smoother than with the Pirelli's.

Doug

 

My 40-plus years of experience in buying tires has taught me that any tire with "Good____" embossed into the sidewall will prove to be far from good....

 

My car had Goodyear Eagle F1's on it when I bought it. I drove for over a year on them before I replaced with Yokohama. I would rate them as slightly above average. They were not noisy and gripped OK, but nothing special. Not really worth $200 a tire IMHO, but you won't hate them.

The Yokohamas are definitely an improvement over the Goodyears. The Yokohama YK580 is sold exclusively at Discount, so they should at least be able to get those if not the Continentals.

 

Thanks. I have heard good things about the Yokos. Unfortunately I'm driving around on the spare (a bright red donut with a 2004 date code) and the Yokos in my size were special order only. Having a functional tire is temporarily more important than having the best tire.

Marc

 

Thought I would pass along a good word about my 2001 XKR's new Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport 18" tires. I have about 3k of driving on them, and I really like them. So far, they are smooth, sticky, and stable. I have not pushed them to their limits, so I can't comment there. Time will tell on how well they wear or noisy they get. Why did I choose them?

1) "Reasonably" priced Ultra High Performance Summer tire. I even managed to catch a Bridgestone rebate end of last year.

2) I like the asymmetric tread design. The previous directional Falken's did not wear well on the inside tread with the aggressive camber of the XKR. I'm hoping that the asymmetric design does a bit better on the inside tread.

3) Though they look directional, they are not, only asymmetric. With the staggered sizing on the XKR, this at least let's me rotate side to side in case I'm getting a bit of uneven wear. The end of life with the previous directional and non-rotatable Falken's was uneven and not very smooth.

4) They were rated well and got good reviews on tirerack.com. Some of the reviews reported over 30k (even over 40k) on an Ultra High Performance Summer tire, which typically just doesn't happen in that category. Realistically, I'll be happy with anything over 25k.

 

On a similar note my 2001 xk8 coupe has 255/45zr18 on the rear at the moment . Can I get away with 275/45 ? On the same rim.?
Thanks, Alan

 

Went from the Continental's to Yokohama S drives on our 2004 XKR with 20's. Could not be happier with the performance of the tire. They last 20k or so on the rears and 12k on the front. Now, the fronts were wearing very quickly due to the upper shock mounts being out (uneven wear). I am just now on our 2nd set of the S Drive's and would do it again.

 

I have been quite satisfied with my Nexen 3000s, and I know in another post, Rob Enderle has them on his car as well. They are quite reasonable under $150 each, out the door including balancing, tax....I will need a new set soon, and I will replace with the same.

 

I am quite pleased with Michelin Pilot Sports. Have them on the XK8 and XJR. On both cars replaced Pirellis, which I couldn't stand. I'd swear that they aren't round and on the XJR were as loud as snow tires. Couldn't wait to replace them and did before they were even half worn.
CG

 

Michelin Pilot Sport a/s, work fine on snow and when cold.

Nexen?! If that wasn't tberg and enderle I would not consider, hmmmm.

 

I put toyo tires on my 2002 xkr. they handle like a dream,quiet will be puting them on my xj8s as well . plus a great price