Which tires for my 2003 XJ8?

Thanks. I had no trouble finding them, but while they offer a lot of reviews, I only found two that spoke to my questions. They were the ones that said Pirelli and Michelin were noisy after a short time. I note that my Jag book tells me to buy Pirelli, so I'm looking for a reasonable alternative. I bought the car because of its noise and handling characteristics.

Ed Jay (remove M to respond)

On my 2000 XJ8, I installed BF Goodrich Traction T/A H's, mainly because they came with a mileage warranty. For our driving, the stock Pirelli tires were a terrible choice and were replaced at 12,000 miles. I have not noticed a difference in road noise. Here in Phoenix, many of the urban freeways are being paved with rubberized asphalt and that reduces road noise a lot.

I tend to keep the tire pressure at 30 pounds rather than the recommended 28/26 and that does stiffen the ride a bit. My reasoning is the Ford engineers have already demonstrated incompetence when it comes to tire and air pressure choices and it gets hot here.

Your mileage may vary.

Roger

Thanks. I may try them. The Pirelli's have a terrible reputation, but are supposed to be fairly quiet for the first 20K - 30K miles.

I noticed the quietness of your freeways when I was in Scottsdale last summer. Here in So Calif, the opposite is true.

It may be a bit stiffer, but I'll bet it's like driving on silk.

Thanks again for the info.

Ed Jay (remove M to respond)

On examination, I found that the BF Goodrich A/H is the highest rated tire available, and at prices the seem ridiculously low ($80ish). Tomorrow my baby gets new shoes in the form of T/A V's. I chose the V rated instead of the H because they profile more closely to the recommended Z, which is recommended not for the speed, but for the breaking characteristics.

I understand your reasoning to be sure, but why go higher in pressure for higher ambient temperature?

Ed Jay (remove M to respond)

I am not an engineer, but I think low tire pressure causes the tires to flex more as they roll and flexing causes rolling resistance and therefore more heat buildup in the tires.

I recall reading somewhere the initial tire pressure recommended by Ford for the Explorer was 25 pounds, and after the rollover lawsuits became a burden, the recommended pressure was raised a few pounds. By contrast, the recommended tire pressure for my 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee is 35 pounds, and the Jeep has a softer ride than the 1998 Explorer. I don't have much evidence, but to me it seems that Ford has a tendency to tradeoff over-stressing tires for some other advantage, presumably a softer ride.

Roger

I ran the Michelin Pilots on my 2001, and never had a complaint...quiet and smooth, and got almost 30k miles. The original Pirellis developed a flat spot each time I parked for any time at all, and took forever to round out, so I replaced them right away with the Michelins.

Buy a set of 20" Detroit alloys and fit the following:

Pirelli PZERO ASIMMETRICO - 285/30 ZR20TL 99Y(J) - REAR Pirelli PZERO DIREZIONALE - 255/35 ZR20TL 97Y(J) - FRONT

Job Done....

Low noise, good handling, empty pockets....

John