Re: Love the Continentals (archive)

Hello Andre,
I have a 97 XK8. I too felt the Pirelli's were too hard. I switched to Continental "ContiSportContactT" tires that were taken off of a new 2001 XK8. The fronts are 245/45 on 8" wide wheels, and the rears are 255/45 on 9" wide wheels. The wheels are 18" in diameter. When the car had Pirelli's, I felt the car rode too stiffly, like a sports car. The problem (in my opinion) is that my car is a sporty luxury convertible, not a sports car, so the suspension felt too harsh. This isn't a ZO6 Corvette after all. With the Pirelli's the car would jump on expansion joints in the road, or small bumps. With the Continentals, the car feels firmly planted on the ground but doesn't shimmy or shake down the road over small road irregularities. The car finally drives like what I want from a sports luxury car. I can take the car on dates without shaking my date to pieces :-).

I'd be interested to hear what bad things you've heard about the Continentals in case I need to be worried. They have been great in the rain or heat, I'll by them again.

Jeff

Hello,

On my XKR from 2000, i still have the original Pirelli tires, but i am not so happy with these. They make a lot of noise, and are very hard (and very sensative). Probably this is something you would want if you are looking for racing, but then i would have choosen a Porsche rather then a Jaguar. The ride i prefer should be smooth, but still there should be some reserve for letting the cat free.

Currently i have Pirelly 210 snowtires on it, and funny enough, these give me much more smoothnes and a quiter ride (usualy winter tires should make more noise). Of course these are not tires for the summer, and i do understand that these tires are not for a cat to be let loose.

My Jaguar dealer say's that Jaguar has changed the tire type from Pirelli to Continental. Unfortunalty when i browse the web, i do not see many positive comments about Continental Tires (i do not know which type).

So now i am looking for other tires, and my eyes have caugth the Bridgestone Potenza S03 tires (245/45/18 Front and 255/45/18 Back).

Dos anyone have experience with this tire ? or with other Tires. And what sort of driving style have you used ?

Thanks,
Andre.

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