About a year ago I bought some used 19” Jaguar Aleutian rims as spares for my 20” Kasugas. I normally drive with Hankook Ventus on the Kasugas, but the used rims came with Pirelli PZero Nero tires.

Well I decided to try them out last weekend just for kicks. The extra side wall definitely softened the ride a bit. I was even starting to think the Pirellis were just being hated on for no good reason until I got a car wash... Pulling out of the car wash with slightly wet tires I skid all over the place needing every bit of the traction control to keep me straight.

Once the tires dried off, they still peeled out a lot upon hard acceleration. To be honest, it was kind of fun. Anyway I may play with them for a little while longer, but I will definitely switch back after I’m done playing around, and definitely before winter.

 

I yet to find a good use for Pzero tires. Other than doing rolling burnouts they are absolutely lousy at everything.

 

They do astoundingly fail their primary purpose of providing traction.

 

I've never had any complaints with any set of Pirellis on either of my XJs. I've had Pzero Neros, P7 Cinturatos, Pzero summers, and now running Pzero All Seasons.

 

Interesting, I don’t know how to explain the difference. So far these are the most slippery tires I’ve ever used, though they are my first set of P Zeros. Fun for burnouts, but way to slippery for wet roads IMHO.

Maybe the seller put cleaning agent on the treads to make them look clean/ newer to help the sale. If so I should burn that off pretty quickly the way things are going. I’ll let you know if it changes over the next couple days.

 

I'm currently in the process of finding wheels and tires. I was looking into getting PZeros, but my brother-in law recommended I get Michelins instead because of the same traction issue Nedoerr mentioned. I'm still debating between 20" and 22" (I know I know), but would love to get some recommendations for tires from the folks on here. I know I will take a hit on the ride quality with the bigger wheels so I want to get the best tires possible to compensate for that.

 

Michelin PS4S is THE tire. They handle well, great traction in the rain, ride well, and will get that power to the street without spinning. at least in my repentance.

 

If you think they are bad on a car,I had them on my 750 Yahama, they only stayed for a couple of days......
now that's a scary ride....

 

Pirelli PZero are the most dangerous «top brand « tyres one can have on a sports car on a wet road.

And this is the case for decades now. Can’t understand why nothing changes and they are still first mount on some brands... except that I know that tyre manufacturers pay the car manufacturers to be on first mount as it ensures a huge ratio of captive customers.

Had them on many of my cars when I bought them, so could compare: superb on dry roads, catastrophic with the slightest drop of water.

They made me make a 360 with my first X100, entering a (gladly empty and large) highway just by accelerating slightly while changing lane... and the road was only a bit wet after a light rain... could have been killed or kill others.

Tyre choice is very personal and depends on many factors but to me I found my ideal combination which I fit on all my RWD cars: Dunlop Sport Maxx at the rear and Michelin Pilot Sport at the front.

 

I've always switched to Michelins on my old XJ8 and current XJ because of the softer ride and good weather performance. I currently have the Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 + on 19" wheels and I'm totally satisfied.
Pirelli always gave a lousy performance and hard ride in my experience.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll definitely look into these when I get my wheels. Now I just need to make up my mind on which wheels to get and decide on the size.

 

Funny, I have used Pirellis on the street and the racetrack for over 15 years. Have about 18,000 track miles on them at various tracks but mostly at Virginia International Raceway. Used them on R1s, GSXR600 and 750, Aprilia RSV4s and MV Agusta Brutales. Worked fine. Guess those Yamaha 750s are pretty vicious. Johnny Rea has only won 5 World Superbike Championships on Pirells and he has won many races on the same tires that they sell to the public. Guess you need to get some of those Shinkos.

 

In fact they may have the same name and similar design, but very often in the big sponsored teams they are special batches, adapted to the very specific road conditions and speeds of a race.

The fact their lifetime will be only of a few hours on a known date enables to use formulations that would not age well nor resist long to other conditions.

Easy to check if you can get near enough: these tyre don’t have the official (ECE, etc..) markings.

 

They are the same exact tires that are offered to the public for track use. Yes, Pirelli does offer experimental tires to WSB riders but there have been many times that the rider and team have chosen to use the standard tire. Tire choices are shown at the beginning of the race. Have been following roadracing for 40 years and riding on the track and street all over the US and Europe. Do not claim to be an expert about much but this is one area that I have knowledge in.

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...0/#post2153853

My only update to that would be that it turns out that the X-Ice are not available in the sizes to match the original 19" wheels as I had hoped, so still working on a Plan C if it ever snows again and I actually have to drive somewhere...

cjp

 

I have given the Pirellis a fair shot, but they are still far more slippery than my old Hankook Ventus. I don’t mind in the summer as the burnouts are super fun. Though I will swap them out before winter with some Michelin’s. As I live in Southern California, we do get rain (hard to believe, I know) but I can’t comment on snow tires.

As for the rim diameter question, the 19” are softer than the 20”. Not a crazy amount better, but it is noticeable. I personally wouldn’t go bigger than 20” as I prefer to think of the XJ as a fast luxury car, rather than a large sports car. So comfort is expected when I get behind the wheel.

Personally I always wondered if forged 20” rims provide better ride quality as they are lighter and should adapt quicker to uneven surfaces. Would love to hear if anyone has tried this out side-by-side. I wanted to get a set myself, but it’s been hard to warrant the expense/space of a third set of rims.

Finally, I really love the look of the Kasugas, but they are a pain to clean. The Aleutian’s are almost as pretty and very easy to clean. Add to the mix the better ride quality of the 19” rims, I’m now thinking of keeping the Aleutian’s on as my main set and using the Kasugas as the spares.

 

I can only report on my own experience with pirellis ,and they stunk, maybe at the racetrack they perform, in a straight line,but one turn on a wet road and I got rid of them,who knows, maybe your superman, but on the street, I'll pass, also I don't feel the need to list what bikes I have had...

 

Have ridden them plenty in the rain and they work just fine.

 

I can confirm that they did not. Like riding on an oil spill once they got hot. This is how I imagine 60s-era race tires behaved. The only saving grace that PZeros telegraphed loss of traction clearly - so it was possible to avoid a disaster.

This was on dry track, I can only imagine the ***** it would take to take something like that out in the wet and drive fast. I know some people did race with disk brakes, no traction and only goggles and leather helmet for protection. I will admire them doing it from behind concrete crash barrier.

 

I couldn't agree more....