There seems to have been a massive resurgence in a Love for the XJS not so much for the V12 that really loves a little drop of Petrol! and where my local garage seems to be her second home but do we care!

But much more for the more economical XJS 4.0L from which you can get a respectable 30 mpg which means a lot in the UK with Petrol Prices nudging £7 per gallon and where a Car the same as mine recently Sold for £28,000 with prices set to go higher for this particular model with the AJ16 Engine

And though I would rather spend the Cash on improving my V12 the time has arrived when my XJS 4.0L needs a New Set of Tyres, which are not exactly cheap to replace as you can imagine but its finally got to the Stage where this needs to be done, so need your advice

The Tyres on her at the moment are the Original Pirelli P4000 225 X 60 X 16

Although I am unable to find any Pirelli P4000 to replace them, as maybe they have been superseded

And so what I would like to have are your recommendations, as to what I should replace them with

My Partner in Grime, Paul (ptjs) will I'm hoping be all over this, where having saved so much money during 'Lockdown' I am sparing no expense on these, as if I decide to sell her one day there is nothing more evocative than seeing a New Set of Matching and Expensive Tyres on a Car you are buying

So although I am a Big Fan of Pirelli, I'm quite prepared to break the bank and get a set myself a set of Continental or whatever are the Best Tyres for my Car regardless of Cost

And just in case your thinking that I have taken leave of my senses

All I can say is I think you are probably right!

 

Take your pick !
https://www.blackcircles.com/order/t...im=16&id=10035
If money is indeed an object, look at the mid-range tyres.

 

Hi Fraser

Cheers! even the most expensive tyres were not as much as I was expecting

 

OB,

The P4000 Pirelli superseded to the P6000. And then they stopped doing the 225/60 x 16 and only did the 225/55 x 16 which was fitted to the XJS Coupes or Convertibles with Sportspack option.

Then it became apparent that the P6000 tyre was suffering from block-hardening whereby the wear caused ridges on the leading edge of the blocks and felt like you were driving over cobbles. It also meant that sidewall cracking at the junction with the blocks was occurring. My tyres literally almost broke apart because of the cracks once they were deflated and removed from the wheel.

As a result of the problems, Pirelli eventually stopped producing the tyre.

When I became unhappy at the problems with the P6000 tyre, I looked around at both Premium and semi-Premium options. (I won't go down the route of budget tyres). After looking at the tread pattern and spec of many tyres, I finally landed on the Hankook range. Although slightly cheaper than the big premium brands, they are original fitment on many manufacturers now such as Mini, BMW etc.

I fitted the 225/55 x16 96W Ventus Prime 2 K115 to my 4 litre convertible. Another option is the 225/55 x16 99W Ventus Prime 3 K125. Both of them will come in c£100 fitted. And remember because of the limited mileage that many of us now do on our XJSs, you'll end up changing them due to age rather than the tread wearing out.

I've been hugely impressed with the Hankook tyres and subsequently fitted them to my previous X350 and my daughter's Mini. They are quiet, compliant and seem to have great roadholding. I haven't max speed tested them, but I admit I was doing 136mph in the XJS as I passed the pits on the old Reims circuit in France and they were absolutely stable!

Another semi-premium brand I like is Toyo, where I have the Toyo Proxes tyres fitted on my supercharged Range Rover.

Cheers

Paul

 

And yes... Black Circles is your friend!

 

Hi Paul

Cheers! and I do remember reading something about the P6000 that seems to confirm what you say and while I am sure that the make of tyres that you mention are brilliant, they are possibly not the ones that many people have heard of with regard to a Premium Tyre and that includes myself!

If I was going to keep the Car which I may sell in the Summer, if Summer ever arrives then Hankook would almost certainly be the one that I would choose, for all of the reasons you mentioned

But what I'm really looking for in this particular instance are ones with the 'Wow Factor' like you get when you see Brembo Calipers, so I am leaning towards Continental as I always seem to get the Chills of unbridled envy every time I see those Tyres on a Car

So what do you think?

 

OB,

Hankook sell more tyres worldwide than Pirelli now! And they are now original fitment on brands such as BMW, Audi etc. See article here from 2019:

Hankook are a Premium Tyre Manufacturer Heres why - Tyre Reviews and Tests

Last year they had sales of of 4.8 billion Euro!

But If you do want Pirelli etc, you could fit a Pirelli P7 225/55 16 99W (they also do a 95W, but you really ought to have a 96W or higher with the weight of the XJS convertible)
About £15 per tyre more expensive than the Hankook.

Cheers

Paul

 

I’m driving on Pirelli P7s….I always want to like them, but I never no. I feel the same way about Continentals.

Anyways, I always go back to Michelin for great tires. I know they price them with a premium for their brand name, but I find them to be a consistent winner, and they never disappoint.

 

Hi Vee

That is very interesting! as I never considered Michelin before

 

In 225/60 - 16" it seems like there are many and good options to choose from (not like in 15"....)

I wouldn't think too much about it and go for Michelin or Bridgestone, both of which are excellent. But there are others that also go well, such as Good Year or Dunlop. All of them are very good brands, surely you will not go wrong with any.

In my 3.6 now I have 225/60-15" with Vredestein on the front and Falken rear, which are cheaper, and I am very satisfied.

 

I've never met a Pirelli I liked, Bad in the wet, horrible in snow. I tend to look at the reviews and ratings at tirerack.com, I find the general consensus of the readers reviews matches my experience. All manufacturers make duds, some make really great tires, so choose wisely.

 

Hi Jagboi

Paul's Hankook are looking good to me, so I think that I'll try those

 

I put some Hankook Ventus summer tires on my previous 911 and it was a great improvement over the old Michelins that were on it. They were excellent tires and reasonably priced. For my XJS, I just replaced the old Pirelli P600s with 225-60-16 Cinturato P7's and I have no complaints. Rides and handles great, wet or dry. Very quiet. Probably more comfort over outright performance but that was my intent. Thought about 55 series tires but ultimately went stock and that's worked out fine.

 

bigcatrescue,

I started off using 55s, but I feel that the 60s work out so much better.

I have the Cinturato P7s on now...probably for about 40,000 miles now. Wet and curvy is a bad combination for these tires. While I don't drive like a grandma (can I even say that?), I don't drive like Mario Andretti either.

I also suspect they could be the source of noisy turns which I've been looking to cure since....well, since I bought the tires. (many alignments over the last 40,000 miles)

In the past I have enjoyed the Bridgestone Potenza tires, my only gripe being that they wear out quickly.

 

I'm curious.. your thoughts on 55s vs 60s?

 

It’s gonna sound ridiculous, but the 60s really did seem to make a huge difference between scraping the front spoiler at various driveways, intersections, etc. Once I got the 60s on, it seems the scrapes all but went away.

Someone is gonna tell me the difference is 3mm or something, but I’m telling you it made a difference.

 

The difference is 12mm

I drive with 245/55/16 tires. No difference with 225/60/16 tires in terms of height.

 

I have Toyo Proxes tires on both of my Jaguars. Very good experience.

 

When I first got my 4 litre convertible, it had Pirelli P4000 225/60 on it. When those wore out, I fitted P6000 225/60. When those wore out I fitted P6000 225/55 as the 225/60 was discontinued. I preferred the ride of those 225/55 tyres.

When those failed due to block-hardening & sidewall cracking I moved to the Hankook 225/55 tyres.

I think that the feel of the tyres is also influenced a lot by the state of the suspension. My convertible (as most) was originally fitted with Comfort suspension hence the 225/60 tyre size. When I had the front and rear suspension rebuilt to Sport spec along with all new bushes, I also moved to the 225/55 size as fitted to Sportpack cars.

We all have different driving styles and preferences, but I think if your suspension is in good condition, you couldn't feel that the 225/55s are at all harsh. In fact I'd probably prefer even less sidewall compliance than the 55s give. But that's just my viewpoint.

Paul

 

Ive been running 235/60 Hankooks for 9 months. Really like the feel in curves.