Best tyres for a Jaguar XK120
Discussion
I have split a tyre on my XK and wonder if it is worth changing the whole set as I do not know how long they have been on the car. What is the best tyre on the market in 16" form for fast road use? I have been recommended Michelin Pilot X but wondered if anybody on here would have any other suggestions.
orbtar said:
I have split a tyre on my XK and wonder if it is worth changing the whole set as I do not know how long they have been on the car. What is the best tyre on the market in 16" form for fast road use? I have been recommended Michelin Pilot X but wondered if anybody on here would have any other suggestions.
Best, I don't think there is a definitive best. It all depends on what you are looking for.Personally I prefer to run my XK on cross plies. I like the Blockley tyres. They now make a radial as well, which looks just like a cross ply.
Other people I know don't like the Blockley's its a matter of personal preference.
Blockleys all day long, i have them on mine, they look great, and drive great.Noisy, maybe, but not the worse noise in the world, i tend to concentrate on the music thats coming from the exhaust !! it completely overides the tyre noise....
Edited by exkay on Monday 22 July 19:41
Edited by exkay on Monday 22 July 19:42
exkay said:
Blockleys all day long, i have them on mine, they look great, and drive great.Noisy, maybe, but not the worse noise in the world, i tend to concentrate on the music thats coming from the exhaust !! it completely overides the tyre noise....
Is yours a fhc ?Edited by exkay on Monday 22 July 19:41
Edited by exkay on Monday 22 July 19:42
I can only refer to a friend who took his XK140fhc to the continent two or three years back. The tyre noise was so intrusive it spoiled the experience on long stages. He changed tyres as soon as he got back to the UK and now has Michelins fitted which he much prefers.
He also felt that the Blockleys broke away quite suddenly in the wet.
I respect his opinion as he's a serial classic car owner of more than forty years and covers thousands of miles a year. His newly restored XK120 also has Michelins.
Having said that his "old" tyres are now on a friends C type replica (tool room copy) and he likes them. Albeit he is a bit cautious in the wet.
I had my own car in France last year and I was really impressed with how progressive the Michelins felt when pressing on
Edited by mph on Tuesday 23 July 10:02
I have the Blockleys on my XK150 FHC, I don't really notice the noise with the windows up.
In terms of the wet weather behaviour, I only had problems with them when they were very new. I took them onto the track at Goodwood with less than 100miles on them and when there was a light rain shower they became a bit snatchy rather than giving nice easy drifts. Once they were run in a little (later in the day) they were fine.
Since up grading the engine they're are easy to spin in the wet, but that just down to torque over traction. I can spin the wheels in the dry too.
In the wet you might want to be careful with tyre pressures. Don't expect the same pressures to be right on radically different types of tyre. I found that in the wet on the track I needed much lower pressures than I'd expected, but a much more experienced driver (he'd done the testing work for Blockley) gave me some suggestions and everything significantly improved.
In terms of the wet weather behaviour, I only had problems with them when they were very new. I took them onto the track at Goodwood with less than 100miles on them and when there was a light rain shower they became a bit snatchy rather than giving nice easy drifts. Once they were run in a little (later in the day) they were fine.
Since up grading the engine they're are easy to spin in the wet, but that just down to torque over traction. I can spin the wheels in the dry too.
In the wet you might want to be careful with tyre pressures. Don't expect the same pressures to be right on radically different types of tyre. I found that in the wet on the track I needed much lower pressures than I'd expected, but a much more experienced driver (he'd done the testing work for Blockley) gave me some suggestions and everything significantly improved.
I have 16" Blockley crossplies on my XKSS and 15" Blockley radials on the E-type. Yes, the cross plies make quite a bit of noise, but I believe they have changed the tread pattern since I bought. The radials, top down, I can hear up to about 35mph and then the wind takes over. compared to the Michelins I had before the steering became much lighter and the road holding gave a better feel at the wheel.
Radial will be found here:-
http://www.vintagetyres.com/item/271/185vr16-avon-...
There are lots of makes, but people swear by Avons on Xk's. Well that's what I hear from most owners.
If you are going for crossplies, don't forget new tubes if the existing ones are pretty old.Here are the avons in crossplies:-
http://www.vintagetyres.com/item/292/600h16-avon-t...
If you have read the thread, I swear by Blockleys, and the crossplies are found here:-
http://www.blockleytyre.com/page2.htm You need the 6.00/16.
I'm not saying buy Avon if you have a preferred make or to buy from Vintage Tyres, it's just an easy site to reference. You'll find plenty there - including the size reference you asked for. HTH
http://www.vintagetyres.com/item/271/185vr16-avon-...
There are lots of makes, but people swear by Avons on Xk's. Well that's what I hear from most owners.
If you are going for crossplies, don't forget new tubes if the existing ones are pretty old.Here are the avons in crossplies:-
http://www.vintagetyres.com/item/292/600h16-avon-t...
If you have read the thread, I swear by Blockleys, and the crossplies are found here:-
http://www.blockleytyre.com/page2.htm You need the 6.00/16.
I'm not saying buy Avon if you have a preferred make or to buy from Vintage Tyres, it's just an easy site to reference. You'll find plenty there - including the size reference you asked for. HTH
Edited by lowdrag on Tuesday 6th August 11:13
bobo said:
is there a good and active classic XK owners forum?
Feel free to ask questions here, there are a few of XK owners here, I was looking at a 150 roadster yesterday.The best forum for XKs I know is on Jag-Lovers, the website isn't always the easiest to use as it started life as a mailing list, and many members still use it that way rather than as a website. But there are a lot of XK owners world wide there.
lowdrag said:
I have 16" Blockley crossplies on my XKSS and 15" Blockley radials on the E-type. Yes, the cross plies make quite a bit of noise, but I believe they have changed the tread pattern since I bought. The radials, top down, I can hear up to about 35mph and then the wind takes over. compared to the Michelins I had before the steering became much lighter and the road holding gave a better feel at the wheel.
My XK150 has just had the tyres swapped to the Blockley radials, its currently for sale and Winspeed felt it would have wider appeal on radials. I'll have to have a test drive to see what its like on them. Will be interesting for the future.mph said:
Is yours a fhc ?
I can only refer to a friend who took his XK140fhc to the continent two or three years back. The tyre noise was so intrusive it spoiled the experience on long stages. He changed tyres as soon as he got back to the UK and now has Michelins fitted which he much prefers.
He also felt that the Blockleys broke away quite suddenly in the wet.
I respect his opinion as he's a serial classic car owner of more than forty years and covers thousands of miles a year. His newly restored XK120 also has Michelins.
Having said that his "old" tyres are now on a friends C type replica (tool room copy) and he likes them. Albeit he is a bit cautious in the wet.
I had my own car in France last year and I was really impressed with how progressive the Michelins felt when pressing on
Oddly, have near identical experience -I can only refer to a friend who took his XK140fhc to the continent two or three years back. The tyre noise was so intrusive it spoiled the experience on long stages. He changed tyres as soon as he got back to the UK and now has Michelins fitted which he much prefers.
He also felt that the Blockleys broke away quite suddenly in the wet.
I respect his opinion as he's a serial classic car owner of more than forty years and covers thousands of miles a year. His newly restored XK120 also has Michelins.
Having said that his "old" tyres are now on a friends C type replica (tool room copy) and he likes them. Albeit he is a bit cautious in the wet.
I had my own car in France last year and I was really impressed with how progressive the Michelins felt when pressing on
I have an early 120 OTS which gets plenty of exercise in UK and EU and have tried most combinations (including taxi remoulds in early years!). I found Blockleys the least preferable option, due to noise (Henry Lyons 6th Symphony much better) and to scarily poor wet weather grip. Tried varying pressures, loads etc as I think they look great, but couldn't get comfy with them. They now sit on an original C-type of a friend.
Michelin Pilotes are quite the best in all conditions (inc snow and mud) and give great feedback under pressure.
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