Replacement Tires 2001 XJ8

Any thoughts on what is the best choice of tire for a 2001 Vanden Plas -- the Pirelli P6000, Michelin Pilot, or something else? Suggestions deeply appreciated.

Alan Victoria Canada

Reply to
Alan Strickland
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I've been doing research for tires for an older Jag. I can't help you directly, but I can show you some of what I've found while researching tires.

For example, there are 13 different lines of "Michelin Pilot" tires.

There are charts at TireRack.com that list the tires they sell (by category), and the charts show ratings of tire characteristics by prior buyers. For example, here is a chart of the High Performance All-Season category; the names of the tires they carry in your size are highlighted on the chart.

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Click on a tire name for more information about the tire, including pricing.

Although the tires that aren't highlighted are not available from Tire Rack in your size, the size you need may be available from dealers. In the chart above, however, the top-rated tire is not made in your exact size:

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(Michelin website) Here is a chart with another category of tires:

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(Ultra High Performance All-Season) Considering your location, you may (or may not) want to choose yet a different category of tire, since snow & ice traction characteristics of the tires in both the above categories are not good:

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(winter tires) They may or may not have a high speed rating, you need to check the individual tire, in your size, to find out, since different sizes in the same tire line often have different speed ratings.

Reply to
WayneC

BTW, if you only consider the charts for which I provided links, the Continental ContiExtremeContact tire looks to be a good choice because it's rated fairly high in all categories (or at least appears to be a good compromise that isn't seriously deficient in any category), including ice & snow, it's a V-rated tire in your size, and it's less expensive than many of the others. However, it may be a little noisy, and may not last as many miles as others.

Also realize that the ratings for different categories of tires may not be directly comparable between categories, since for example, drivers buying different categories of tires have different expectations of the tire they buy, and may weight their evaluations in light of the price they paid.

I pay particular attention to the "Would Buy Again?" column, having made a few mistakes in the past when buying tires... note that it doesn't always track with the average ratings (rank within category).

And, if you go read the > Alan Strickland wrote:

Reply to
WayneC

I cannot answer for your specific local, but I've allways found Michelin to provide decent performance and last considerably longer. - we dont get snow/ice here

Reply to
old man

Snow and ice are not much of a problem in Victoria either. Well, maybe 3 or

4 times in 100 years! Any good all weather radial will do. These days, any good name brand tire is road speed rated. Just check with the tire store to make sure the tires are rated for the maximum speed you drive at.

Steve R.

Reply to
Steve R.

Tyre rating must NOT be for the speed you drive at but the MAX speed of the car. If you fit lower rated tyres your insurance company will not pay up in the event of an accident............

Reply to
Peter

Speed limits here are much lower than in the past. Really cheap department store tires are no longer sold here. Any good brand name radial will be rated higher, way higher! The Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), provides basic insurance to everyone here. If you buy legal tires, there will be insurance coverage. You will only be in trouble if the tires are worn beyond the warning strips. A Vanden plas is not an Aston Martin, or Ferrari, which need 200 MPH tires!

Steve R.

Reply to
Steve R.

There is a little more to tyre choice than flat out speed rating; a Jag is heavy car, which puts more strain on the tyres in general running and cornering than you'd get with, say, a light Japanese sports car running on similarly wide alloys.

You also have a lot of power available to put down onto the road; a lower rated tyre may have problems when driven hard (harsh acceleration, rapid braking) even if you never approach the theoretical maximum speed rating. Of course, if you waft around in your car just using the "grace and space" part of the triumvirate, then you won't need high performance tyres.

Matt

Reply to
Matthew Haigh

True, but a Jag is no heavier, or more powerful than a large American car, but they do handle better. There is a good mix of small imports, and large Canadian made vehicles in this area, and a large variety of tires available.

You do have to buy tires that are suited to the car!

Steve R.

Reply to
Steve R.

I drive an x300 in Germany (mucho Autobahn). My tires are:

Summer: Goodyear Excellence - 225/55 Pro: very smooth, very precise steering in small corners and high speeds. Contra: they got a bit noisy after the first 10000 Km or so.

Winter: Michelin Pilot Alpine A2 - 225/60 Pro: perfect grip on snow, ice, and rain (where a big Jag can be quite nasty sometimes), surprisingly quiet, smooth riding for winter tires. Contra: whobbly steering upward of 150 Km/h, although they are rated much higher. Probably due to the /60 form factor, I don't know...

Kind regards,

-flo.

Reply to
F. Z. Hackenbush

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