So having read about how poorly the OEM P-Zeros wear, I had considered rotating them by turning them to opposite side and reversing inside/outside on the wheels.
This would have maintained the direction of rotation. But, yesterday I noticed that the tires actually have a stamp that indicates "outside".
So, does this mean that these tires can never be rotated?

 

You are correct. They are directional tires.

 

They're directional and asymmetric, something about how it flows water to push it away from the car, I think. So correct, swapping sides and moving inside to outside to keep the direction right might still lead to some interesting behavior in inclement weather.

 

They are asymmetric - larger rears than front so cannot rotate front to back. You can however rotate left to right as they are not directional - they just have to maintain the outside even though it changes the direction of rotation. Google it to verify.

 

Wear of the tires isn't the big complaint about the P-Zeros. It's the horrible handling.

 

Somewhat true but after two sets of Pzeros I can say without an ounce of hesitation that tire wear in the PZeros is far faster than any of the other options and the handling goes from marginal when new to downright frightening at 9-10k miles and only worse from there. Wear makes a bad handling tire markedly worse very quickly.

 

This is correct. I rotate mine side to side to help with wear.

 

Thanks for the info. I had assumed they were also directional. It is good to know that I can just rotate side to side.
Given the reported poor wear rate, sounds like I should do this at 5-6K miles and expect to do it once only before getting new ties!!

 

PZero's aren't the best in the segment, but the PS4S fanboyism has always struck me as sort of juvenile. Michelin has the same sort of fanboy love (or had, back in the early 2000's) from sport motorcycle riders with their Pilot Power tires, mostly due to a strong grass-roots type of marketing engine run by Michelin. Only difference was in the motorcycle tire world the PP's weren't even near the front of the segment, performance wise. They had next to no feedback, and you could overheat them just on an extended spirited street run, let alone at a track pace. But probably 4 out of 5 guys were running them because group-think said it was the best option.

Objective tire comparisons show the PZero's only slightly behind the Michelin on most aspects, and some tests put it ahead of the PS4S in the rain, and on aspects like neutral and predictable handling, which goes back to road feel and feedback. Folks who switch from PZero to PS4S and rave about the difference are actually comparing a rather fully worn PZero with a fresh PS4S. They'd get similar results just going to fresh PZeros. It's possible the PZero performance drops off faster through wear, so you'll feel less of a performance "jump" going from a worn PS4S to new versus a worn PZero to new, as the tire tests only compare new-for-new. But I put so few miles on my F that I will probably end up swapping tires out due to age before mileage, or just for wanting to try something different. I bought the car last year and earlier this year swapped all four tires for new PZeros (the rears were worn, the fronts are a long story), and there was a significant performance increase with the new tires. I've been on a few spirited drives since then, and the grip and feedback has been phenomenal.

 

While I agree that the cult of Michelin is strong, I am not a member. If anything, I am a member of the Pirelli fanboy club due to years of Road Racing motorcycles on Dunlop, Michelin and Pirelli. Pirelli got me championships. I have Pirelli hats, shirts, jackets, plaques, patches, stickers, etc. I will not run P-Zeros on my car.

I don't base this off well worn tires compared to new. I noticed grip problems with the P-Zeros very early on and finally switched them at 7500 miles, still a long way from being worn out. I still have them on the stock wheels sitting in my garage. I replaced them with Falkens, which I took all the way to the wear indicators. The Falkens never lost grip the way the P-Zeros did early on. I have since replaced the Falkens with Bridgestones. The Falkens were very grippy and quite affordable, but I need more than 13,000 miles out of a set of tires.

 

It depends on the climate where you live. In temperate England the Ps4s offer far more grip. No doubt the Pzeros work better in hotter climates. When I got my F it had new Yokohamas all round. They were poor in the wet. I swapped them for new Pzeros expecting an improvement but they were even worse. Finally it's now on Ps4s and it's been tamed and I have far more confidence in it.

 

Michelin fanboy here. Love them. The price, not so much. I am very excited about the Bridgestone Potenza Sport, and am hoping they have them in 305's and 265's. If so, I'll throw my hat in the ring.

 

I don’t fanboy.....While I like my Michelin’s that’s not what I base my opinion on. It is based clear experience based on owning and using at least two sets of brand new Pzeros, which not only degraded far to quickly but becomes dangerous along the way. And while I like a spirited drive from time to time my worst experiences with them came in both dry and wet conditions with only marginal throttle actions.

I’ve also had Pirelli tires on two other of the 25 plus cars I’ve owned over the years and the same high wear rate happened with them as well. I have no doubt that Pirelli makes wonderful tires for racing but their street tire has been problematic for many. Now some folks of course will have other, perhaps even better luck than I did. But while once is a coincidence, twice is a trend and one I have no intention of following.

I am always open to even better options than Michelin should they exist once these meet their end time.

 

Since this has seemingly evolved into another tire thread...

Shortly after acquiring my V6S in Oct 2014, I encountered some brisk fall weather followed by cold winter temperatures and conditions; including a snow-storm or two. I’m of the opinion that it’s as much—if not more—the driver as the tire which matters when it comes to handling in...well..all conditions. Naturally tires are made for varying conditions and while I could tell the OEM Pirellis weren’t great, I found them “fine”.

I had full intentions of running a set of summer tires as well as a set of winter (all-season) tires on a separate new set of OEM Propeller wheels I purchased. Those new wheels came from Midwest Wheel and Tire and were shod with Continental Tire ExtremeContact DWS. And, as many people here know, I never looked back. Indeed, I found them so fantastic that I sold that extra set of wheels—which still had the OEM’s on—to someone on this forum (shipping wheels and tires is one heck of a “bear”, let me tell you).

Fast forward to spring of 2016 when I hosted the 2016 Jaguar F-Type Lobster Run and when I was seeking sponsorship to produce a shirt commemorating the event I contacted Continental who readily agreed to produce them; using my design which I created.

And so began a relationship which continues to this day and after hosting 6 events (#7 on the way).

After another recent post [re] tires, I had my car out in typical Maine winter conditions—by now I’m on Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06’s and have been for a number of years (and their newest recently released is the Plus version) and really pushed the limits of both their and my capabilities. I’ve driven other F-Types on other tires—including the Michelin’s in summer and dry conditions—so I think I have a decent understanding of what’s out there (I said decent) and I want to say I defy anyone of driving in a more spirited fashion than I did on that recent winter day with as much control as one could hope for.

That was true the other day in winter and it’s held true during all the spring, summer and fall months as well.

So why wouldn’t I have Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06’s on my 2009 Audi S8 V10 too? Of course I do. And my other 2 cars? They’re on Continental as well.

So my only question to my dear friend Mbourne is: to whom should I give your Continental Tire-sponsored T-shirt to this year? I already have DJS’s going to scm in the U.K.

 

Try running a VAP RWD F-Type V8R on PZero's - From day one they are not confidence filling at all. Anywhere near 10K, they really detriment the handling capabilities, and you have to be on your game.

Try MPS4S - They roll quieter for starters and seem to stick like s!t to a blanket - time will tell as they wear.

That's in the UK where our summers usually fall on a Wednesday in July!

I wonder if In a 4 x 4 F-Type your experience will be less noticeable than the RWD variant?

I really have no interest in the brand that I fit, I just happened to come by the Mich's at a good price

 

I live in a hotter climate. I thought P Zeros handled fine but they broke traction easily whereas the PSS's didnt. Also the ride on PSS's is much better. I swapped the front P Zeros on our XE for PSS's and even the missus noticed an improvement, and she can be pretty hard to impress.

 

I'm not surprised - at 10K my tyres were nearly bald!

 

So I got my 16' S a few weeks ago. Front tires looked fairly new but rears were worn and due for replacement soon. I noticed a high speed vibration on the way home. 90 to 95 MPH area. Felt more from the rear of the car but very similar to my Maserati which has new MPSS. I figured it needs a rebalance as something is not right. Needs a high speed balance with road force.

On my 16' they replaced a rear tire at 6,000 miles and did not state why. I figured they replaced the other rear on there own around the same time as they are both worn out now at 16000 miles. The fronts look like new and were replaced at 10,000 miles. Records states they replaced both fronts and also repaired a front rim. Not sure for curb rash or pot hole bend. They look pretty good and should last as long as the new rears I just installed yesterday. I knew I needed some soon at checking tire rack they had 3 rears Austin Martin Spec same as the Jag on close out at $200 a tire vs $333. I ordered them up fast and had them sent to Firestone installer. Firestone store called and asked what car and said they wanted no part of those 20" rims and recommended I reroute the shipment to there other store a couple more miles away and a new location. They also have one of the few Master Certified Installers in the state working there. I had them rebalance the front too to eliminate possible issues down the road. The fronts were off and needed weights moved around a bit. He did say the rims are tweaked a bit and at the outer edges of tolerance but should be fine. Wide wheels and low profile tires and pot holes-they move a bit.

The day before I had a low rear tire. Has a screw it and pumped it up to 50 until I could swap them the next day. On the way to the tire shop I had the TC off to use up the rest the marginal rubber that was left lol. I cam e up to an onramp as two lanes were turning onto the ramp. I was trying to make the light and there was a slower car in the outside and I was passing on the inside. After the Apex I goosed her a bit doing about 30 and the *** end stepped right out! Surprised me a bit as I was not into the throttle much but the SC low end torque is immediate. Thinking back the outside rear at 50 lbs still and hard is rock was not going to have a whole lot of grip. She handles better then my Maserati. Stiffer and less body roll. Seems to like to slide too which is always fun.

I figure it looks like these rears will last 10,000 miles if lucky and hopefully the fronts will make it there too so I can swap all 4 next time. Cruise home the car seems well sorted out. Vibration is gone as I ran her up to 100 and seems well planted now. Front ends seems better too so the balance was off a bit. Rubber on these P-Zero is 220 which is pretty soft. Same as the MPSS I believe. I seem to get twice the miles out of the MPSS on the Maser with a similar not rotatable set up. Wear has a lot to do with how much chamber they have into the car. I did notice on my records that they adjusted and retorqued the front sway bar when they replaced the front tires so it must have had some odd wear to them to eat them up so fast. Car was female driven and his quote regarding the high speed vibration. "What do you consider high speed? Oh I am sure she has never been past 70 or do I believe more than 100 miles from home.

 

Unless you are only making left turns, that's not going to provide any real benefit. The only time switching from side to side helps with wear is if you have more wear on one side versus the other. If they are wearing evenly, then switching them won't change anything. I do it on my race car because most tracks will run clockwise and put more wear on one side than the other. However, it's not a practice I do with street cars.

 

Antares tires good price great performance works as high end tires