I am putting new tires on my just acquired 2004 XK8 that has the 19" Apollo rims. The thin rubber on the 19's gives quite a rough ride and I'm looking for a tire to compensate for this, so I get a smooth quiet ride not performance. Someone told me Bridgestone BFS Serenity. Does anyone concur or have a better surgestion?

 

A little more expensive but I use Mitchlin Pilot Sports A3 on all my cars. Very nice tire and no road noise. Got mine at Costco, set of 4 mounted and balanced for around $800

 

Yes, I had considered these but being a "sport" tire is it not the hard sidewall I don't want? How smooth and quiet are they in a relative sense if you have anything to compare to?

 

Michelin Pilot Sport/Super Sport are probably the best tire on the market.

I would put it every car I own.

 

Well I went from 19" rims to 18" when I got the pilot sport A3 so not apples to apples comparison. But my 03 XK8 with 18" rims and these tires is extremely smooth and no road noise period. Put them on my Miata before I sold it and loved them on it also. Sealed out the factory tires on my wife's Honda for the Mitch PS A3 and again very quite ride


Your experance may vary but it's the only tire I use.

 

Costco has theSport a/3 at $856 a set against $1150 for the Serenity so I think I'll follow your suggestion. Thanks for putting me on to them.

 

+1 on the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3

I have them on the same car with Apollos. They are so quiet and smooth. And wearing very well so far.

I just took the car in to have them balanced with 25K miles on them. Fronts still look nearly like new. Rears are wearing a bit in the centers but still not down to the wear markers. I was running 30psi front 28psi rear. I dropped the rears to 26psi to see how much more I can get out of them.

 

That's a common issue on our cars where the rears wear in the middle running suggested air pressure. I'm running 26 psi cold in the rear and 29 psi in the front. No noticeable uneven wear so far.

 

I'm absolutely sold on Bridgestone Turanzo Serenity Plus tires...I switched from Dunlop Sports to Serenity Plus (which were rated among,if not the quietest tire on the market) about 10 months ago.
They are amazingly quiet and really improve the enjoyment of driving distances. Plus they are good handling and reasonably priced.

 

Been running 19-inch Yokohama YK580 tires on my wife's 2006 XK8 for more than four years now. Great ride, very quiet, reasonably priced, and a good treadwear warranty. Available only at Discount Tire....

After months of experimenting I settled on 32 psi for the fronts and 29 psi for the rears....

 

Personally, I would take a hard assessment at your options. Speaking from experience (my car came with the EXACT same chromed wheels), I am not sure that a set of tires will transform the ride to where you want it to be. You might want to take your time and find a nice set of Jaguar 18" wheels instead, and keep your tire money for that set. You can then sell your current set, with the old tires, to offset some of the cost. That is what I ended up doing with my own car. I bought a set of Jaguar Hydras from a fellow list member, and later sold the Apollos (with half worn tires!) locally. The cost difference was basically the cost of the new tires.

The only issue with that approach is that stock Jaguar wheels are in low supply. You really have to take your time to keep looking to find a set in good enough shape. The 18" wheels are rarely very expensive (they are in low demand, really), which makes professional refinishing a tough proposition (who wants to spend $250 in refinishing on a $150 wheel?). Again, time and persistence are your friends.

Best of luck, keep us posted.

 

I'd agree with the move to 18" wheels first.

I had a set of Falken Azenis PT722 front and rear. I kid you not: The rears lasted me 81,000 miles! The fronts died an early death at about 25K miles due to blown suspension bushings (bummer). The 722s were noticeably quieter than the warn tires that came with the car. I can't say whether or not they'd be quieter than the Serenities or the Mich-PS, but I was very, very pleased with them.

I never thought I could hear them, they were pretty cheap to buy (Approx $130 ea online) and when you consider cents/mile, they were ridiculously cheap. One caveat though: I thought they could have had better wet weather grip, but it never caused any issues.

BTW: I run 45 PSI front and rear.

 

As the 19's were original with the car I'm reluctant to change and have already paid for tires that go on tomorrow. I'll report back, and if it is still an issue I'll look for 18's. Anyone buying the 19's gonna need good tires anyway.

Till tomorrow then.

 

I'll tell ya, Mike. If those were 18" Double Fives, I might make you an offer. They do look sweet! I'd be reluctant to let them go too.

 

They were a $1200 extra in 2004. But I think looks is all they got!

 

I was actually thinking of getting an 18 also for fall and winter and put back the 19 summer for showing off purposes LOL...been hunting on Ebay a while with no avail...so now I am thinking of going aftermarket wheels but not sure what to get.

 

UPDATE: I took advice and went with the Michelin sport. Overall disappointed. Performance is OK but ride quality much worse than original tires. Should have stayed with my choice of Serenity. ALSO, after I bought the Michelins COSTCO said they would NOT WARRANTY REAR TIRES as they wear excessively.

 

Well, look at it this way, Mike: The sooner they wear out, the sooner you can put something nicer back on. So have some fun. :-)

Since when do our rears wear excessively? Is that really the collective case and I'm just an oddball? (and with a S/C no less).

I'm experimenting right now. I put the absolute cheapest tires I could find on the car. Let's see how they work. So far (5,000 miles?) they're just fine. Better wet traction than the PT722s, and I don't notice them, so I guess they're quiet enough. Still running 40+ PSI in all tires.

 

Jim,

The rear tires on these cars do tend to wear excessively. Experimenting with the pressures taught me that on my wife's 2006 XK8, the fronts (245/40R19) do best at 32 to 33 psi while the rears (255/40R19) do best at 28 to 29 psi....

I have no idea how you get away with 40 psi all around (and on an XKR, no less). If I ran my wife's 2006 XK8 rear tires at 40 psi, they would be completely bald right down the center of the tire at 5,000 miles or less....

 

I have nearly the same car as you Mike and have been so pleased with my Michelin AS3 tires. I have 32K on them now and fronts are still in great shape while rears are just getting to the wear markers in the center treads.

About the ride quality, what pressures are you running? I am at 30 front 26 rear and my XK8 rides similar to what my x350 XJ did with 19 inch wheels (I did switch to 18s though on that car).

I have never driven an XK8 with 18s but suspect you may have to go there to get what you are looking for in ride quality.

BTW what brand were your original tires? And how much of the original rubber bits in your suspension have you replaced so far?

Not sure I understand here. Costco would not warranty specifically the rears because they were the Michelins? Or because they were on an XK8? Or because they were on a RWD car?