May i ask your advice for a new set of tyres…(the post dating back to 2010 centers more around the ideal width)
Driving my first Jaguar (XJ6 S1) for about 4 months (2000km) now and only this week i looked more carefully at the tyres. The cooper Lifeliner 215/70 98T still have full profile left, but they appear to be 14 yrs old. The car does not feel super confident on road handling but this is my first Jag so don’t know what to expect.
Pirelli P5’s will costs 1100 euro’s and seems to be the right sentimental choice for the car?
I am looking for alternatives though, since these are not cheap and foremost i am interested to learn if other tyres might give better performance for the same good looks since the P5 design goes back to the 70’s are have they may have been re-designed to current standards?
as you’re located in the Netherlands I assume you’ve got pretty much the same choice as we do in Germany.
Original or ever retro-styled classic tires command a premium not necessarily warranted by performance - okay, if you want that original Dunlop tread pattern you got to go for it.
If not, you’ll find that pretty much any modern tire outperforms the old designs, at least that’s what I found when I replaced my original, but 11-year-old Pirelli P 4000 tires with el-cheapo Nankang winter tires: roadholding, noise, water, snow - the new tires beat the old ones hands down. Now, of course, that doesn’t mean the same is true for new high-performance tires, but at least even cheap new tires will take you back to the comfort zone where you make use of the car’s performance.
The big problem today is that the original size 205/70-15 is available mostly as a (mini)van tire sacrificing performance quality for longevity. So, yes, I would search for a regular car tire. Currently I have mounted the Rotalla Setula tires and am quite happy with them https://www.giga-reifen.de/rshop/Reifen/Rotalla-Setula-W-Race-S130/205-70-R15-96T/GI-R-399998GA. If you’ve got a 12 cylinder car and like to go to slalom racing they won’t be up to the job, but even taking a SII to the limit in uphill bends will be fun.
I had goodride m+s on the first car and now blockley (pre brexit) on the second car (which is also ascot fawn, congratulations). The goodrides were very cheap, okay but not great, the blockleys are really good so far. I will not buy overly cheap tyres again. At the time I thought they were surprisingly good!
If you keep up that good mileage you will probably be happier with better tyres.
If you haven’t yet… do yourself a favor and drive the car really hard somewhere so you get used to their behavior. That thing they do when cornering hard and fast is something you have to get used to, and once you feel confident with that you will trust the car a lot more as it is actually quite capable.
What do you want, less noise, softer ride, shorter braking distance, better handling, rain performance, period look?
If I had money I would want the aquajets. The blockleys were about 800€ shipped but now they’re taxed and probably more.
At the recommendation of my Jag specialist I fitted Uniroyal Rain expert to my S1 which I am pretty happy with and improved ride, grip and handling.
On a different car from the same period I have the Pirelli CN12 fitted last year which are probably a bit better tyre and have the period looking tread pattern - but of course they are more expensive. I think there’s usually a longstone offer price on a set of 4 or 5. These modern CN12’s are a better compound to the originals so you should have the advantage of 50 years tyre development.
You may also wish to consider 205/65/15 which is much more common and inexpensive, and was fitted by most owners I knew when I owned XJs (and have them on my 420G)
There is a slight variation in the speedometer, about 3%
If you can afford them imho
Just get the Michelin XWX
They look the part , drive unreal and last a long long time
Your about 440 a tire it’s well worth it!
205/70/15
I have them on my 1972 V12 OTS. Great, but I need to get new tyres as I don’t like to drive fast (100-130mph) on tyres that are 10+ years old.
I have had new Dunlop Aquajets, 205 ER70 15” (speed rating V) on the 1975 XJ6C for a couple of years now and so far I have been very happy with them. I also had the Michelins on that one before, but after 10 years and 50.000kms they had to go. The Dunlops also really look the part. YMMV.
