Many years ago I had the Potenza S03, and these where the worst tires I ever had as they were very sensitive to flat spotting (but very good on other areas). Doing a tire balance was also hard, I always made an appointment with the balancer, that when I came the car would immediately be lifted off the ground. This would prevent any flat spotting with hot tires on cold pavement whilst waiting, as obviously balancing with hotspots would not work.

 

Agreed ^^

 

Believe me, those are the last Bridgestones I'll ever buy! Putting the front Michelins on tomorrow.



Michelins forever Baby, Oh Yeah!!!

 

I think Pirelli is almost as good as cheap Kumho, but still better than most Chinese tires, but I do like their calendars, with half naked models and such
I do get some flat spotting for a few minutes, after she sits for couple of weeks, but nothing major and it clears up very quickly.
My fronts are Sumitomo HTRZ III and back Toyo Proxes.

 

Are you getting steering wheel shimmy from the Sumitomos on the front? That's what I was getting from my Potenzas. What I think is going on with the rear tires is when they are flat spotted they get really LOUD at speeds above 60mph. That always happens when I'm getting the shimmy on the front. When the shimmy goes away, the rear tires also get quiet. They warm up together and flat spot together.
Do your Toyos get loud when they're flat spotted?

 

Not noticing any noise and shaking is not that bad, or long lasting.
I had a lot harder time with Pirelli's on my BMW, old Mercedes and every time I ran into this g-d forsaken brand.

 

I missed something. Which brand was forsaken?

 

My observations are that Pirelli is usually trouble.

 

The Pirelli tires we've had on various vehicles (including the P-Zero Rosso rear tires on our XK8) have always functioned as advertised. The problem has always been that they wear out in a heartbeat. I don't believe we've ever had a set of Pirellis last more than 12,000 to 15,000 miles regardless of the vehicle they were mounted on or how well I took care of them. I've never intentionally purchased Pirelli tires and never will....

 

I was always put off by the price alone. Too expensive and short lasting. Must have a very soft compound. Thanks guys!

 

Tire observations from someone that's purchased 15 tires recently, and needs 4 more 18" tires prematurely:

1. High performance, low profile tires don't last very long, no matter what the wear rating says. They'll often start making bad noises before the tread's worn out.
2. Buy a popular tire pattern and brand, because the chances are good a pothole or train track will eat a tire or two before the other tires are worn. Make sure you can get replacements to avoid buying 4 tires.
3. No tire store will stock tires for a Jaguar. They often use strange width/profile/size combo's. They'll have to be ordered in from a warehouse or on the internet.
4. Tire prices are up dramatically over the last 2 years. First tier tires, like Michelin, Bridgestone, Pirelli's and Dunlaps are just about unaffordable. Second tier tires appear to be where sales volumes are--Hankook, Nitto, Kumho.
5. It would be a sin to put an unknown brand of Chinese tire on a Jaguar.
6. I wonder when Jags will come stock with Indian brand tires?

 

7. Why oh why can't I just go back to the days of having 16-inch wheels on all of our vehicles? The ride would be so much better, the tires would last so much longer, and I wouldn't have to gouge my maintenance fund so deeply at tire purchase time....