XK8 Tires – my bad!
#1
04-14-2017, 06:00 PM
XK8 Tires – my bad!
I really like my 05 XK8 but decided that I will replace it with an XKR. Since I’m semi satisfied with the XK8 at the moment the replacement will need to fit my desires pretty closely…all this leading to the fact that while I’ll repair and fix what even needs repaired on the XK8 I’m not planning on ripping it apart to fix every nuance I might find…that will happen to the 'keeper XKR' when I locate it.
Tires:
When I purchased the car it had Michelin Pilots F&R…the rears almost gone. I purchased two Dunlop DZ102 and while a bit greasy by comparison they were/are fine. Last week I thought that the car would ‘look’ better with a matching set so I purchased two more Dunlops for the front. Of course one can feel the front a bit better than the rear as to vibrations etc….the old pilots still had 5~8K miles left and were absolutely smooth (up to 130mph over the WE) the new Dunlops…bad. Rotated and rebalanced still bad, noticed that one was out of round…replaced and rebalanced again (road force)…better but no cigar.
They are now smooth enough that most people would think I’m a bit fanatical but knowing how good something can be also lets me discount those impressions. I’ll live with what I’ve done but the next car will get the Pilots all around…their 120 degree splicing makes the stiff/softer sections of the sidewalls much easier to ‘balance out’.
Lesson learned.
wj
Tires:
When I purchased the car it had Michelin Pilots F&R…the rears almost gone. I purchased two Dunlop DZ102 and while a bit greasy by comparison they were/are fine. Last week I thought that the car would ‘look’ better with a matching set so I purchased two more Dunlops for the front. Of course one can feel the front a bit better than the rear as to vibrations etc….the old pilots still had 5~8K miles left and were absolutely smooth (up to 130mph over the WE) the new Dunlops…bad. Rotated and rebalanced still bad, noticed that one was out of round…replaced and rebalanced again (road force)…better but no cigar.
They are now smooth enough that most people would think I’m a bit fanatical but knowing how good something can be also lets me discount those impressions. I’ll live with what I’ve done but the next car will get the Pilots all around…their 120 degree splicing makes the stiff/softer sections of the sidewalls much easier to ‘balance out’.
Lesson learned.
wj
#4
04-14-2017, 09:49 PM
Senior Member
I don't have the type you have, but I agree with the above. Michelin makes good products. I have used several different brands of snow tires in particular, and they did alright. It wasn't until I tried Michelin X Ice 3's that I realized how inferior the other snow tires were. They don't even compare for traction and ride, not to mention their snow tires actually have a wear rating in miles, while most others do not.
#5
04-16-2017, 01:13 PM
Senior Member
Ditto. I replaced the old, tired, dry-rotted Michelin Pilot's on my newly-acquired, barn-find 2005 XK8 with Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus because they were just a little bit less expensive. Great handling tire for the money, but they are noisier than the Michelins and they have a small and annoying thump until they warm up. Going back to Michelin as soon as I win the lottery...