Michelin's tires do last -- because the compound is harder ...they seem to be fine on MB's. They are quiet ... being in the mid-atlantic with a lot of rain I tend to go the Bridgestone route. I just don't like Michelin tires in the rain.

 

"I just don't like Michelin tires in the rain"

The Michelin Premier A/S are incredible in rain. So much so, there's hardly any difference between wet and dry handling, or so it feels like. Testing confirms it - the typical all season tires, like the Bridgestones, stop in 20-25 ft longer, in the wet. With the Michelins, the difference is only 13ft. And tests with worn tires shows that the difference only gets broader. The worn Michelins are way better than any other worn tire. (the worn tire testing was done by Consumer Reports and I don't have the link)

Link :

Tire Test Results : Testing the Michelin Premier A/S: Is it the New Benchmark Among Grand Touring All-Season Tires?

What the Premier A/S does is trade off a little dry grip, for a whole lot more wet grip, making the difference between the two really small.

 

I have a set of the A/S on a Lexus -- they are fine. I agree .. they are the best Michelin's I have driven in the rain ... They don't handle as well as the MXV4's that they replaced.

The XJ has the suspension to use summer tires -- I'm just biased against all season tires on the car. I have a long drive way at my weekend place and we get occasional snow -- I did not want to switch out to winters on the one XJR.

If you drive the XJR with proper summer tires -- all seasons are a let down.

 

I thought the Premier A/S were OK, but no more, until I had to do an emergency stop on a wet road. I swear it stopped just like on a dry road. Really impressive.

 

I am also in the market for new tires. Torn between a set of p7's or kumho solus ta7's. The kumhos obviously being cheaper lol. My question is: does anyone actually put v rated tires on, or do you go with an h rated or what have you?

 

I have them on my 98 vdp. Absolutely terrible tire. Grip is ok I guess, but mine are showing a lot of camber wear in the back. Road noise is less then great, and the ride is terrible. You might as well be riding on concrete cylinders

 

Sean
thanks for your reply. As an alternative to the uniroyal then what do you recommend then.
Peter

 

I have a few tyres here .....
I note PIRELLI P1 at 102V for a good price.

here are my options, 2 pages there (click on page 2 link at bottom)
https://www.tyresales.com.au/search?...&rim=16&page=1

pirrellis p1 cheaper than kuhmos


whats your choice form these?

Peter

 

Pirellis come standard from the factory, so jaguar must know something right? Personally I'm saving for a pair of Pirellis, and hoping to get a better ride out of it. I can get p4's pretty cheap and that's what it came with. So I would recommend the Pirelli

 

Different Jag, but it perhaps applies the same.

A few years back I upgraded wheels on my face lift '94 Jaguar XJS, from the stock 15" Lattice wheels to the XK8 17" Revolvers with Pirelli Pzeros mounted on them. Needless to say, the far more aggressive, lower profile tires improved handling, but at the expense of ride comfort and I've lived with this condition for about ten years until it was time to replace those old, worn out Pzeros.

To offset this condition created by the lower profile 17" rims, I wanted new tires that rate high in comfort and somebody recommended that the Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 tires were some of the best tires available in regards to ride comfort. In addition, I've also been told that Pirelli tires are not exactly known for ride comfort, so I guess that I was in for a most welcome ride improvement on my XJS.

Well, this was, indeed, one of the best shopping tips that I've received in a long time because my XJS now has a very comfortable ride by comparison to the old Pirelli's.

Then, and without knowing of any possible tire culprit, I have always complained about the lack of steering power assist in this car that makes my wife struggle with it at lower speed or from a stopped condition steering, as in curb parking between two cars. Nothing wrong with the system, or the P/S oil level after careful inspection, but, believe it or not, the moment I drove off with the new Continentals the car steering effort issue totally went away and now is perfect, no different from that on my XJR. Killed two birds ...... I believe the latter was helped by the new tire's partially criss-crossed tread pattern, which probably offers less resistance to wheel turning. I couldn't be happier with these results from just tire switching. Not only that, but I love the way my XJS looks with that sexy tread pattern.

I don't really drive this car hard. It is a GT car and not a sports car and definitely not in the performance class as my XJR, that's for sure. Plus, as I get old, ride comfort starts to climb and to catch up with the sharp handling priority and these Continentals appear to fill the need better while allowing me to keep the Revolver's awesome looks. But, this is the X308 forum segment, which includes the performance XJR and some members may not necessarily want or need what the Continentals have blessed my XJS with. But I think for an XJ8 these tires may offer similar benefits.

Just some good reasons for a different tire alternative.

Cheers,

 

forcedair
thanks for your input on that.
I have an XJ6 S3 which would have a similar suspension system with your xjs.. I know from my experience that the s3 XJ has a NICER suspension/ride than my x308 Sovereign LWB.
I always thought that the steel wheels on my xj6 gave this result, the x308 having alloys. BUT now with your input , maybe the wheels can improve the x308 ride. (x308 suspension all fully rebuilt, new OEM shocks etc)
I have never driven a car with better ride quality than my xj6. its suspension system was MAYBE rebuilt 20 years ago when I got it by previous owner, but I havnt even touched it since. No wonder all the HOT ROD fellas love this xj6 suspension for their contraptions. A design masterpiece.
peter

 

It's the wheel size -- as I said above .... Jaguar had to bend to the style wave of larger wheels... and did the best they could with the suspension setup they had. Even the XK8 wheels on the X300 are an issue .. and that is only going from 16" to 17".

Forcedair -- it's all the size and weight of the larger wheels/ tries... the unsprung weight increases -- the cars don't like it.

osiris: My S3 has 14" .. with ugly alloys - style of the time.

The OE tire was Jaguar specific. People used to put P4000's on them due tot he OE's cost The tire said Pirelli .. they were only OK.

 

yeldog
well I do know my s3 xj6 has 15 inch wheels as opposed to the 16 inch on the x308
I had falkner on the xj6.. RUBBISH.. now I have Michelins on the front and brodgestone on the back.. the ride quality is amazing with the Michelins on the xj6.

don't know if 15 vs 16 makes a huge difference.... I thought it was the heavy steel wheels on the xj6 (chrome hub caps wonderful)
peter

 

Looking at what to get for my 2004 XJR. After just spending $1800 to get my suspension converted, I also need new tires. Does anyone have experience with the 19 inch continentals? I unfortunately need to keep it under $1k out the door and might be a little limited as to my options.

 

Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06

 

What does the 06 get you?

I have the DWS on my 02 XJR -- as I stated above ... it is a very soft tire. They call it extreme summer all season ... it's a very soft, squirmy tire.

 

DWS 06 is a Ultra High Performance All-Season.
DW is a Max Performance Summer.
And they also have the CONTISPORTCONTACT which is a Ultra High Performance Summer.

Regular DWS a previous generation?

From Continental website-
"The ExtremeContactTM DWS06 marks the debut of SportPlusTM Technology. Another one of Continental’s innovative technologies, SportPlusTM Technology is designed for precise handling; security on wet, slippery roads; and excellent tread life. Additionally, all-season traction is enhanced through the use of Traction Grooves and X-Sipes. Traction Grooves improve snow performance through increased pattern edges while X-Sipes improve braking, cornering and acceleration in wet, snow and ice."

Continental Tire Launches ExtremeContact? DWS06 | Continental

I don't find them to be "skirmy". Just my opinion.
But i can say it's hard to get them break loose..

 

Man, squirmy? as in uncomfortable? Absolutely no way!
It may be due to the different suspension geometry on the XJR, but on my XJS the DWS 06 ride comfort improvement from the Pzeros has been pure heaven in my experience.

I also own an '02 XJR and, based on what you are saying, I may not choose the Continentals when the current Pilots wear out, however, Convincor appears to have them on his 2002 XJR-100 and he doesn't find them "squirmy" either.

Cheers,

 

In bringing out the Continentals' ride comfort improvement, I left out mentioning that there was also a noticeable improvement on the steering and handling feel. The car now feel more agile, with far quicker reaction to steering corrections. Plus, like I mentioned before, the old heavy steering problem when parallel parking went away like by magic with the new tires and, finally, the wife no longer complains about the heavy steering that was really starting to get old. It's hard to believe how many different things these tires have improved.

Cheers

 

Looking at my Tirerack invoice -- they are DWS XL .. they have the same basic tread design as the 06. Mine are from early 2015.

This is the first set of all season tires I have ever installed on any of my Jaguars ... I often use this car in the winter at my weekend place. Both the summers and winters needed to be replaced -- buying 8 expensive tires for 2k worth of miles per year? Figured I would try the DWS.

The DWS have soft sidewalls .. there are numerous negative comments regarding both the lack of feel and sidewall damage. I understood this going in. I figured .. How bad could they be vs the Dunlop withers that I like. Well within 1 month I had a blowout getting to my weekend place in PA -- Thankfully TR gives free road hazard on all tires -- cost me $22 .. and a tow truck driver tip.

The tire is smooth and quite (so far) -- it's very good in the snow. But the handling vs the OE Pirelli's -- not even close.

The XJS -- did not like larger tires. I had a late one as well as one of the first x300. I was able to get a set of early XJ8 rims that I used as summers on my x300 -- I was able to get them to work. They just would not work on the XJS.