I have a Premium Luxury XF and hit a curb just enough to rip the sidewall a bit. My dealer says it is fine, but since I think they won't last the full 36K of my lease (I've got about 20K on them now) I'm thinking I might as well just replace them now. Looking for all season, good performance and something that will definitely get me through the next 16K driving hard. I had Contiprocontact from the factory but if there are better options out there and not too much more money I'm listening. I've tried googling for reviews and waster an hour learning very little.

 

The standard tires are not too bad, actually. Not very good in snow but excellent in the wet. Michelin and Pirelli both make excellent all season performance tires: the Pilot A/S, the Exalto A/S, the Pirelli P6 and P Zero Nero M/S. Bridgestone Turanzas would be closer to the stock tire.

There is no "best" tire, just the best tire compromise for your wallet and driving style.

If you drive hard then you need high performance all seasons but be warned that these are not as good in snow or in the wet as the supposedly inferior stock tire.

 

Although my Premium XF came with 19" wheels I had the dealer exchange for the 18" Cygnus for a more comfortable ride. ContiProContacts were on the wheels and after much research had Michelin Primacy MXV4's installed. The ride is much smoother primarily over expansion joints and rough pavement; they also are rated as energy saving tires.

 

Following up my comments from yesterday, I forgot to mention that the Michelin Primacy MXV4's are and all season tire with a warranty of 60K miles. My research on the tires included the Tire Rack survey and reviews from buyers.

 

I am surprised that 18" wheels give a better ride than 19" but will look into the Michelins. I read some bad things online about the conticontactpro tires that came stock. Thanks!

 

18 inch rims will always give a better ride as the sidewalls are 0.5 inches taller so the tire has more flex. the 20 inch rims are just inappropriate for most North American roads.

This big rim fashion is very weird as low profile tires hammer like wooden blocks on most City streets.

Michelin Primacy is not brilliant, I tried a set on British Ford Focus, much inferior to the Exalto. Mind you, the old MXV4 was a truly appalling tire manufactured in the US and had no grip, lousy ride comfort and was very noisy. Michelin makes much better tires than the MXV4.

 

jagular,
I have the Michelin Exaltos on my other car and agree that they are an excellent tire, although they were my first choice the Exaltos are not available in the 245/45-18 size.
As a personal matter I was going for comfort and mileage, not handling or braking benefits.

 

Then the Primacy would be a good choice. Michelin makes them to handle reasonably well, last fairly well and ride comfortably, and they do (I can't vouch for tread wear as I drove only 1200 miles).

 

I realize this is an old thread but I had to chime in...
I did some research before buying new tires for my 2010 XF premium and am thrilled with the choice I made. I went for Michellin Pilot Sport PS2 in a 255/40r19 and they absolutely blow away the continental tires that were on the car! THey are expensive but the ride is SO much better, and it was already good, but cornering is now impressive as opposed to sluggish.

 

Well, they would because they are not an all season design. Until the newer Super Sport Michelin came out the PS2 was top dog in the high performance summer tire category. I have a set on my chipped Audi S4 and agree they are totally awesome.

The original poster wanted all season tires. The equivalent Michelin high performance all season tire would be the Pilot A/S, itself an excellent tire.

PS don't try to drive to Tahoe on those Pilot Sport 2 tires for some skiing!

 

Jagular.....do you have an opinion on the new Nitto Motivo tire ?

 

Sorry, no experience with Nitto, directly or indirectly.

 

Funny that Tahoe was mentioned...I just got back, went the day after the tires were installed...no chains needed this trip but the tires handled far better than the contiprocontact that were on it previously (also just went to tahoe last month with the contis on). Both tires performed just fine with the PS2's showing the same boost in ride over the conti's as on warmer roads. Interestingly enough, the conti's are rated as "grand touring all season". I take several trips each year to tahoe and in december of 2010 during a trip there it seemed to me that they (conti's) didn't perform well under hard braking. Subjective to be sure because I didn't have both tires at the same time, with the same wear, identical road conditions, etc but the PS2's seemed to have better braking performance as well (not tapping the ABS quite so much).

Ill state again, this is subjective and opinion only...
Apologies that I missed the posters requirement of "all season" as well as "not too much more expensive"...the ps2's are quite expensive.

 

Don't drive the PS2 in snow! Trust me on this one. The Continentals are at least an all season and will grip on snow or ice a little bit.

I recall a memorable drive years ago from San Jose to Tahoe via the Reno road. I was driving a VW Rabbit with new summer tires, in the empty fast lane in 6 inches of wet snow...the californians were all crawling along nose to tail in the wet but bare slow lane. I could not have done that on PS2 tires, they will not grip in snow, at all.