If Jaguar made the MK2 today I wonder what size tyre they would use , for sure NOT the 185, I had the wheels off the wife’s Astra SRI , they are 235 and the car holds the road like it’s on rails
Just under 2ton on 185/70 tyres , you go around corners like in a speed boat 
I went up to 215 /70-15 P4000 on 6j rims
If Jaguar made the Mk2 today it would be a completely differnt car.
When Jaguar heritage fit tyres on their Jaguar MK 2 cars today they fit 185 and i think it is the Pirelli Cinturato.
I’m not suggesting that modern cars don’t derive more grip from a fatter tyre, but a mk2 has completely different suspention and steering, it is a wholey different beast.
If jaguar made the mk2 now the suspention would not travel anywhere near as far and the wheels would not stay so paralell to the side of the car under cornering forces it would add adverse camber as it rolled, it would have huge amouts of caster on the front end etc etc.
For the last 20 years, my Mark 2 is shod only with Vredestein blackwalls. I would not use anything else.
Hi Can i ask why you wouldn’t fit a classic tyre?
So called ‘classic’ tyres are exponentially more expensive. I’ve driven friends’ cars fitted with various classic brands, and, in the end, I prefer the look and handling performance of the Vredesteins.
The Verdesteins are the best for my 65 E coupe, 205’s there, use them on my other classics too.
John
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No one can surely prefer the look of a Vredestein?
However i do understand that people buy them on price.
They did: it was called the X Type.
Hmm i think they may have been a few more differences.
I think that goes w/o saying…
IOW, the X Type was a modern, better car.
Why not? They look good to me, and certainly handle well.
I had the same trouble with my wife in her 1968 Daimler V8 saloon. She loved it.
However I threw away the Vredesteins it came with and fitted the 180-15 XAS. The steering was so much nicer. And they look good. A proper 1965 tyre without lots of garish modern design on the side wall.
Smaller tires will turn much easier, but not do corners as well. Mine handles well with Vredestein 195’s.
I just bought my wife a 1979 Morgan Plus 8. Admittedly she would have been happy with a Plus 4. Agricultural, great fun, she’s a farm girl and can drive anything. Paul.
John AZ
The cornering issue is far from as simple as tyre size. The set up of the car is critical for keeping the footprint of the tyre on the road, adding adverse camber lowering and stiffening the springs etc.
Grip is also determined by many more factors than simply width of tread. For instance how much weight per square inch is pushing that tread onto the road. What is the compound, and this is one of the regions that makes people happy to spend more money on a better brand like Michelin or Pirelli.
Do Vredestein make a 195-15 tyre?
Breen60
My mum had one of those as a company car when I was in my late teens. Me and all my mates just thought she was double cool. It just over took anything. Sounded fab too.
You do need the 8
Cool company car - would have been in no company car policies here.
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Talking of width of tyres, maybe someone can provide an answer to something that’s puzzled me for years
When I was in school hundreds of years ago our Physics master was teaching us all about friction.
‘The frictional force is independent of the area of contact’, he told us, but was unable to explain why wider tyres gave better roadholding.
Does anyone know?