Jaguar XKR Tires

There were 4 brand new PHI R tires fitted to my XKR when I bought it. In fairness, it's not a tire I would choose for a 510bhp RWD coupe, but you'd expect them to be at least passable in all conditions, and to give you a sense of security as long as you drive within your limits and those of the environment.

To be blunt, these tires are bl--dy dangerous in damp and cold conditions. I can barely use more than approx 25% throttle without the TCS light firing and the rear end squirming. The final straw for me, was going round a damp corner (6 degrees temp) at approx 20mph with no throttle applied, and feeling the back end starting to slide around. Consequently, all subsequent bends, corners and cambers were taken with extreme caution.

They currently have over 6.5mm of tread and are well scrubbed in.

In terms of the front end; well, it's passable in terms of comfort but turn-in is anything but sharp - and I don't trust the lateral grip whatsoever.

So if you're considering these as a good budget option on a larger wheel size, just DON'T. I wouldn't let a family member in my car (never mind let them drive) in the damp with these things on the rims. You are literally risking your life to save a few quid. I'd rather fit mid-range part worns for the same price!

Night and day improvement from the stock Pirelli P Zeros. First off no more tramlining, which was bad enough with the PIrellis that I reduced the tire pressure to the 28 comfort setting, which mitigated but didn't cure the issue.. Running the ZV7s at 34 PSI stock and no tramlining whatsoever. Secondly my XKR now feels like a Grand Tourer, much reduced road noise and noticeably more comfortable ride. Turned her from a cheap feeling harlot into a lady with a streak of flith. Lots of potholes in Wales and the access road to my house is more suited to a 4x4. Previously I'd be steering round the potholes and always having to be looking out for them on the road. Much more comfortable now and makes driving much less tiring without any twitchiness. Certainly seems to be much better and more assured in the wet, and more refined in the dry. Seem to warm up a lot faster than the PIrellis, though haven't noticed any difference in grip in the dry. One huge improvement however is a nice little squeal if you really push them. The Pirellis were grip, grip, grip ditch with no warning... The Avons you can tell when you are reaching the limits. It took me quite some time to decide which tires to buy, including scouring the reviews and videos on this site. Two things made my mind up. Firstly the XKR has staggered wheels and all the bigger brands seem to chop their warranties in half for such. So that ruled out Michelins, Hankook Ventus ( which a friend recommended for their wet abilities... useful in Wales!) and several others. Dunlops are stock on the later XKRs and lots of people switch from them, or don't rate them. What made my mind up however was talking to a friend in the plod. He says their white fleet is contracted to Goodyear but they insist upon Avons for their pursuit cars as they're specifically designed for our climate, hence give them the edge over scroats in high powered cars. I figure noone else does more fast driving in the UK than them, rather than Southern Europe where most of the tire tests seem to happen, so given a very reasonable price they were worth a shot. Seems like a good choice so far, will review again after a few thou.

On the upside lots of grip, rollover a penny and I could tell you whether it is heads or tails, it's the Jaguar specified OEM tire for the early XKR and it does a good job. That is assuming the P Zero itself is the same as 25 years back, tech moves on and OEM tires aren't necessarily the same as the same model aftermarket ones. On the downside road noise is loud enough to be distracting, it's about as comfortable as a hobnailed clog, seems to take some time to warm up and whilst cornering grip seems to be very good in the wet I'm less convinced about it's grip in acceleration. Wet roads result in lots of traction control under heavyish acceleration. Though no issues with braking. On the major downside... I cannot detect any advance warning that the limit of grip is approaching or reached. No squeal or feel, just grip, grip, grip, hedge. I'm currently running mine at the comfort setting of 28 psi as the XKR just doesn't feel like a GT car at normal recommended pressures. Ride is too harsh otherwise, tramlining too frequent to be an enjoyable. Though at 28psi I worry about potholes with those 20" rims on. I've just bought some 18" rims so will try something else on those, save the 20s and the Pzeros for a track day or two and put them back in when the weather warms up a bit. It is afterall a summer tire. Note however that I live in rural Wales, so dry days come about one afternoon per year, the roads are often potholed and I probably haven't got the best out of the tires in relatively cold conditions. However on motorway runs where you merely want an easy life the tramlining is an annoying issue. Reducing the pressure helps but doesn't eliminate this. You'd be hard pushed to reach the tire's limits on back roads so long as they're warm, though on the sort of twisty A roads which epitomise much of Wales finding the limits results in a trip to the body shop after being assaulted by the undergrowth. So thus far it seems like a strange fit for a Grand Tourer but will add a review in the supposed summer to see whether it's merely not mong friendly.

The best tire, but little expensive compared with FALKEN FK510.

No wet grip.Hydroplaning occurs, no feeling of ground contact.

Excellent tire. They tamed my 500+BHP rear wheel drive car. They do dry grip and wet grip in a manner that impresses just like a top tier tire. I was expecting them to be really good, but they were better than that.

Having used other makes of winter tires on a variety of cars and finding only Sottozeros came in the size needed for my XKR was interested to see if the premium you pay for them is justified.

Very pleased to say it sure is as the grip you get in the wet is remarkable, stopping distances are very close to dry and even on ice you never feel like you aren't fully in control of the vehicle.

Have also used them on an XF Jaguar and as with the XK the grip and handling are both brilliant, no matter what the weather throws at you.

Fitted these on my XKR, 420bhp all through the rears. Good on noise and dry grip though prone to let go unpredictably in the wet. I pushed these hard and was pleased to get nearly 7500 miles out of them.

These were OEM on my new XK 5.0 in 2011. Lasted 18,000 on the front. Poor feel/feedback, wore unevenly and were quite noisy. Lost a lot of feel/grip in the wet. The 285/30 rears lasted 8,000 and were hopeless in the wet; poor traction and easily lost grip at the rear. Replaced with Pirelli P Zero's which are far superior; quieter; much better steering response, better ride, far better grip and responsiveness.

I think with these tires it depends on the car you own. I have recently purchased a Jaguar XKR which has new N300 fitted. Even on the test drvie with dry roads acceleraring from a roundabout the back end let go and slid.

I have not had them on the car long but I personally have no confidence in these tires for a poweful car and as such within a week of ownership they are coming off and to be replaced with eitherContinentals which are buy far the best tires I have ever used or P Zeros