I have recently purchased a 2009 XF S/C and I noticed all four tires are the same size I.e. 255's. When I read the specs, the fronts are 255 and the rears are 285's. I contacted my dealer and they did some investigation. They contacted me the next day and informed me that the 255's for front and rear are an option and all is OK. I accepted that rationale because the rims in the rear would have to be larger to accommodate the larger size.

Saying that, please let me know if this option to have all four wheels with 255's is correct.

 

Thirty seconds on Google tells me that according to this Car and Driver review the 2009 XF Supercharged comes with 255 front and 285 rear.

First sentence, 8th paragraph, first page.
Edmunds says the same thing.
2009 Jaguar XF Supercharged Road Test Specs

The dealer's answer makes no sense; if anything the 255/285 combo should be an option.

Dealers are the last people you should trust about information on a car; especially used cars. Always do your own research.

Call Jaguar customer service and ask them for the specs of a 2009 XF Supercharged or see if you can get a brochure for one. Either that or buy one on eBay and show it to the dealer.
2009 Jaguar XF Luxury Premium & Supercharged Brochure | eBay

It seems pretty obvious that someone removed the rear wheels and tires and replaced them with front ones. Why? Becuase the the 285 wheels and tires are more expensive than the 255s in the front.

 

Are they 20 or 19? Reason I ask is the 19 inch rims fit the SC and give a better ride. When fitted the 19 are not staggered size.

Staggered sizing is pure marketing hype anyway and makes no practical difference to the car. If anything the same size tires front and rear will make the car more fun to drive when you switch off the traction control. If you leave the traction control on the lack of staggered tire size is irrelevant.

The wider tire has a wider contact patch. The size of the contact patch is exactly the same as that depends on tire pressure and vehicle weight. Tire width has no effect on contact patch size, contrary to urban myth.

 

Thanks for your responses. I contacted jaguar custome service this morning and sure enough, theta isnthe option of having front and rear tires the same size on the 2009 XF S/C. Dealer was correct after all.

 

So downgraging the tires to 19" all around is an option? From what I read it seems like the 20" tires are standard equipment.

 

The 19 will fit. They were not a factory supplied wheel size for North America for the SC but they are definitely recommended if you have bad roads or want a better ride. The 20 can be a nuisance if you have bad roads as the sidewalls are very short. Anything bigger than an 18 is unnecessary for a road car unless it is needed to clear the brakes. Mind you, big brakes are also just a fashion statement. It is unnecessary to fit such large brakes to a road car. Even racing cars use smaller brakes, though they are designed to operate under optimum conditions whereas road car brakes have to have a wide range of performance.

 

My tires are 20 inch.

 

I don't disagree, I'm just surprised that they'd offer a 19" downgrade as an option as opposed to offering the 20" wheels as an upgrade option.

However, as you said, the 20" wheels and big brakes do look very nice on the car.

 

John,

The 19 inch are Not the option..the option was using 20 inch, 255's for the front and rear as opposed to the 255' 20 inch tires in the front and 285' z20 inch in the rear.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

OK, that makes sense. I wonder why Edmunds and C&D didn't specify that the 20" were optional. They usually point out what options are on the car they're testing.

 

It's the tire width that is optional, all SC came with 20 inch from the factory.

Edit: this following sentence is incorrect according to my 2009 brochure, see correction post below. "You could get 255 width all around if you wished although this may have been a dealer option rather than a factory option." (wrong I now know).

You can fit 19 if you wish but you will still own a set of Jaguar 20 inch rims. I know this because my dealer had a nice set of 20 inch wheels with slightly used Pirelli summer tires on special deal...someone didn't like the ride and traded down for 19.

 

Ah, OK. That all makes sense then. I assumed these were factory options.

 

My 2009 brochure contradicts the handbook, see correcting post below.

The 19 inch rims came with 245/40x19 tires all round.

Correction, checking the Owner's Handbook reveals that the 255 all around "option" is only spec'd for 19 inch rims. All 20 inch cars are spec'd with 255 front and 285 rear for North America.

I still say this car is perfectly safe with 255 all round even on 20 inch rims because you can fit 19 inch winter tires to the SC or the R as far as I know.

However, Jaguar does not say so.

 

It's not a matter of safety in my mind, I think that you shlould either get the equipment that the car was supposed to come with (in this case 255/285 tires if you have 20" wheels) or get a discount if it doesn't.

Sounds like he should have the 255/285 tire combo since he has the 20" tires.

 

I agree. If the purchase was from a Jaguar dealer then it ought to be a relatively simple matter to get them to buy and install a pair of matching 285 tires for the rear. Jaguar will not be happy about a dealer of theirs pulling a stunt like that.

If the selling dealer was not a Jaguar dealer perhaps a bit of pressure will be needed. The car was clearly sold with incorrect equipment as per Jaguar's Owner's Manual which is negligent if unintentional or worse if the dealer knew.

The 285 tires will be significantly more money than the 255.

Worst comes to worst, buy a pair of matching 285 and save the 255 for replacement time. Then drive the bejeezus out of it to get those tires used up....

 

Guys,

I purchased the car at the jaguar dealership. I am going to call the jaguar customer device (again) and ask the same question I had asked previously to where I received the response that on the 20 inch tires with 255 on the front and rear are,in fact an option. If they tell me it is, I will ask what document they are referring to...that way I will have documentation.

If they tell me that it is not an option on the 20 inch tires, then I will go back to my jaguar dealershipnand request the right tire sizes for the car.

In any case, thanks for hanging in there with me and I will let you know the outcome.

 

It was not an option for North America. The 19 inch tires were not staggered, but the 20 inch were.

 

See if you can get a 2009 brouchure from eBay or something. It'll probably cost about $10 or $15 but it will provide conclusive proof that the 20" are staggered and came that way from the factory.

 

No need, I have the 2009 brochure (2 of them) as I bought mine new.

Interestingly, there IS a 20 inch wheel and tire option but not for the SC car. Referred to as the "sport" option you could get 20 x 8.5 inch wheels all round with 235/35x20 tires. I checked both copies of my brochure and it states 235/35x20 in two places. This was an upgrade option on the Premium Luxury trim only. These wheels were different from those on the SC: Selena which is a ten (or 15 depending on your perspective) spoke rim.

The other thing is the SC has different width wheels on the rear so check those too. The SC came ONLY with the 255/35 x 20 on 20 x 8.5 front wheels and 285/30 x 20 on 20 x 9.5 inch rear wheels. The SC came with Volans wheels. These are a 5 spoke rim.

Make sure some dufous didn't put the wider rear wheels from your car on the front of somebody else's SC who then ended up with four 285/30x20 tires!!

Post photos of your wheels and I can tell you which ones you have.

 

Jagular,

I have volans on the front and the rear...and I have Tire sizes 255's on all four wheels.