So the winter/spring up here has been brutal. Today was the first day that the forecast was for sunny and warm all day. This is by far the latest I have been able to get my XK out - ever. And when I do - bam a great big salt-fed, snowplow-dug, state's-too-broke-to-repair-the-road pot hole blew out a tire. I was practically crawling along being so careful for the 20" low profiles.

So then I had to do the drive of shame home on my bright orange doughnut. The good news is that the weather man was right and it was a nice and sunny day, so I ended up changing the tire in a BJs parking lot in the relative warmth and sun. That beats murphy's law of freezing rain on the side of the expressway.

I blew out a pretty worn out Pirelli. I think I am going to go with the Hancook V-12s, as I was never a Pirelli fan (and I'm cheap). I am also going to check out the Falcen FK452 and Yokohama S Drive. The other option is to get 2 used pirelli's on the rear and run 1 more season, as I'm sure the fronts have that left.

 

I'd love to hear the conversation in the design room.........
Let's give it a bloody orange rim that way all the commoners will really notice our cars.
The rest of the design team stares at Clive for his suggestion as being trivial and dismiss the thought.
But someone forgot to tell procurement that the orange was just a joke.
So here they have all of the orange wheels and no place to go.
So Clive again speaks up and suggests we put them in all of the cars going to the colonies!

Thus the orange wheel.

Way to go Clive!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I just put Hankook's on my XJ8 and love them. I put Riken Raptor's on my XKR and they are a great tire for the money. Riken is owned by Michelin.

 

I got a brand new left rear tire about a month ago because the 9 month old tire got a nail in the side of the tread. That cost me $320. Tuesday I pulled into a Sonic Drive-In with my daughters and we sat outside to eat because it was so nice out. I walked back to the car and the same tire was completely flat. I tried pumping it up with a little compressor I keep in the trunk, but it wouldn't take any air. So I took it off and put on my donut (which has a black rim, by the way ). The tire had a 3 inch drywall screw through the tread and out the sidewall. I'll post a pic later. It's downright scary looking.

I guess we'll see if Continental stands behind their road hazard warranty. On the first tire they said I had worn out too much tread. I have less than 1000 miles on this tire, so there's no way I have worn out any tread.

 

Sam,

I only have a little over a 1100 miles on my tires, Michelins, they were new when I bought the XKR. However, I have burned a lot of rubber in the last two weeks, so it is possible to wear them down quickly. ;-)

They actually still look brand new, even with the nonstop tire smoking.

 

Gee Rev, you need to start driving in better neighborhoods!
(From Sunny Lillian, AL!!)

 

Unfortunately, all tires to fit these cars (and all late model cars) are expensive. I had to buy three extra low profile 18" tires last year for my daily driver because of potholes and a daughter driving through a ditch.

When people start talking about using SpaceSaver spare tires, I think about the following:

Have you ever noticed how Jeep owners with oversized wheels and tires also have the same size spare tires and wheels--because they have limited slip and sometimes locker axles.

My two vehicles with limited slip came with full size tires/wheels--no space savers.

Any car that has larger tires on the limited slip drive axles must use a spare tire with equal diameter on the drive axles or risk burning out the limited slip clutches.

If your car has a space saver tire, you might want to make sure it's of the same diameter as your tallest tire--or that you don't have limited slip.

If anyone with limited slip axles has oversize tires, you may need to change the spare to a larger diameter tire. Or, just don't use the spare on the drive axle.

Just a few thought starters.

 

I cannot say whether these tires are good in wet weather, or if they perform well (I don't push the car to it's limits and only drive it in nice weather), however they do ride very nicely: FEDERAL TYRES - Global Home

the previous owner had a set of 4 installed for under $550, I was really surprised when I saw the receipt.

I've never heard of the brand before. Their webpage claims my tires were designed for "drift competition", which just seems a bit silly on a Jag, but as I said the ride quality is very nice

 

I had a full set of these installed 3 years ago for about $550 total. A friend has also put them on his 05 XK8 and loves them.

 

Lillian, AL, isn't that a suburb of Seminole, AL?

 

I found two used pirelli 285/35-20s that supposedly have 70% tread left shipped to my house for $170. I jumped on that and I'll replace my rear two, since the fronts have a little more life on them and you can't beat that price. I also want to apologize if any of you with 285/35-20 inch pirelli's come up missing two tires and I was sold yours They're coming from Atlanta, so hlgeorge watch out.

 

Don't know if I'd classify it as a suburb, but it is just North of Lillian. Lillian is on the Alabama side of Perdido Bay.

 

No worries!! I have the XKR here with me in Lillian. Will be showing at the British Car Show at the Naval Museum tomorrow.

 

So I got my used Pirelli's by UPS today after only two weeks of waiting (that is sarcasm). Once again, if its too good to be true, it probably is. I had a strong suspicion of this before hand, but couldn't resist myself. They claimed to have 60 - 70% tread left and in great shape. 1 tire did have 60% tread left, but the sidewall was destroyed and would never seal and hold air. The other tire had maybe 10% tread left. Both had numerous patches. You get what you pay for.

I took them to the only shop in town that does reverse mount tires and the guy wasn't keen on putting these on my wheels. Which is understandable. So what I think I am going to do is run the 10% tire which has a somewhat decent sidewall for a couple of weeks until my new set of 4 come in. In the meantime I can just burn the crap out of these tires.

So now I am stuck between the Hankook Ventus V12 for just shy of $800 for all four or some Kumho Ecstas for the same price. Any thoughts between the two?

 

Take a look at this thread:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...pinions-51678/

The Ventus made it to #2 summer tires on Car and Driver comparison test a while back ....
Tire Test: Nine Affordable Summer Tires Take On the Michelin PS2 - Comparison Tests - Auto Reviews - Car and Driver

 

Not that I'm an authority on later models but I don't think Jaguar has built a car with limited slip since 1997....something many complain about.

Cheers
DD

 

Had Kuhmo Ecstas 255/45/17 installed in my '98 XK8 in Dec. '06. In '06 these were the only tires I found that I didn't have to take a second mortgage out on the house to purchase. $460 plus tax for four. Put 65K miles on them so far and they still have a long way to go. The oversize tire looks good on these rims. Putting recommended pressure they ride a little hard. I reduce the pressure about 3 or 4 lbs and they feel better.

 

What is "reverse mount"?

 

I have three friends that have the Ventus tires and they all love them. I have them on my XJ8 too.

 

All-
I just installed four new Hankook Ventus V12's (245/40 19's in front and 255/40 19's in back) and I really like them so far... I did quite a bit of research and I found very positive feedback on them, especially Corvette owners). They are very quiet and I believe they handle quite well, though I have not pushed the car too far since it is still new to me. $1,000 installed at a local MichaelTire in northern KY (was within $200 of ordering from TireRack and paying for installation)