Submitted by redbil@aol.com on Tue, 10/15/2013 - 05:27

After tons of reading, much of it on this forum, I had decided on Dunlop SP Sports, 185VR15's for my 68. I found a less unreasonable price from a British supplier for the Dunlops but who recommended Pirelli Cinturato's and also had Michelin XVS's. All are the same size and speed rating and are close in price. This was the first time I had encountered the latter two as being available. Does anyone have comparative data/experience favoring one over the others? I need to finally make a choice. Thanks.

Bill Braun

Submitted by jerry@moutons.org on Sat, 12/21/2013 - 11:46

Bill,

You probably already bought tires, but for anyone who reads this later:

JCNA Judging rules allow any make of tire in the correct size and rating, so forget about that. If you don't drive the car a lot aggressively it doesn't much matter which tires you use, but if you do:

I used Michelin XVS exclusively for decades, and they are superb. But I was very surprised at how much better 185HR15 Vredestein Sprint Classics were when I switched to them. Half the cost, too.

My experience with Dunlops is from decades ago, but at that time they were very mediocre (but cool looking!) I am told they are very good now.

Michelin Red Lines were and are mediocre tires and will explicitly get points off at a JCNA concours unless flipped so the stripes are inside.

The Dunlop SP-41 tires originally supplied with the S1 E-Type had a speed rating equal to HR (none better in the day) but VR is better if you expect to spend long periods at speeds over 130 MPH (and some of us apparently do!)

32-32 is a good tire pressure, and only if you intend to compete on track or autocross as I do would you need higher. The Jaguar E-Type competition manual has recommendations if you do that.

Jerry

Submitted by azmmgm@yahoo.com on Tue, 11/05/2013 - 20:04

Not an easy answer.
You have a tire or Jaguar factory suggested pressure.
Neither of which may be right for you.
If you are not driving the car and just want the tires to last, I would suggest tire factory pressure.
If you need the best pressure for actually driving the car, you have to take into your consideration roads, suspension, temperature and the way you drive the car.
If you drive the vehicle 2000 to 10,000 a year there is a complete process you can use if you don't want to spend time instead od money to figure it out. Will take 15 min. setting up for the process and maybe a day or two of 10 + mile trips. If interested, e-mail me for the process. azmmgmatyahoo.com

Submitted by wogbetwo@gmail.com on Tue, 11/05/2013 - 17:32

Forgive me if this has been answered somewhere else, but I can't seem to find a definitive answer as to the best tire pressure for an E-type.

I have a S1.5 running P205/65 R15 on Dayton wheels. Right now I have all tires at 32lbs cold. Does anyone know if a different pressure setting is better?

Thankx

Submitted by wogbetwo@gmail.com on Mon, 11/04/2013 - 01:34

Forgive me if this has been answered somewhere else, but I can't seem to find a definitive answer as to the best tire pressure for an E-type.

I have a S1.5 running P205/65 R15 on Dayton wheels. Right now I have all tires at 32lbs cold. Does anyone know if a different pressure setting is better?

Thankx

Submitted by redbil@aol.com on Tue, 10/15/2013 - 20:39

Thanks Jay,

Good to hear your comparison especially since yours was the first info concerning the Pirelli's I have seen. I too have fond memories of Michelin red lines but that occurred so long ago that I did not trust my memory. It is interesting to see the interest in red line tires now. When I originally bought mine I, and most others, mounted them backwards to show a black wall.

Bill