Jaguar XKE Tires

Series 1 XKE Tires

The first Jaguar XKE cars fitted Dunlop RS5 640H15 bias ply tires. However often a radial tire was specified by the customer. At the time the Dunlop Radial 185HR15 SP41 was of an insufficient speed rating meaning that the XKE had to be speed restricted.

The sport car tire of choice in the 60's was the Pirelli Cinturato as Jaguar offered this as the radial tire upgrade for the Series 1 XKE. Today, the 185VR15 Pirelli Cinturato CA 67 is still the best tire for 6 cylinder XKE cars.

Series 2 XKE Tires

In 1968 with the developement of the Series 2 XKE, Dunlop had developed the 185VR15 Dunlop SP Sport which Jaguar used as original equipement on the cars. However for those who could afford it the 185VR15 Pirelli Cinturato was still the tire of choice.

Series 3 XKE Tires

With the Series 3 XKE Jaguar introduced power steering which allowed them to take advantage of the new low profile tire technology. The Series 3 XKE fitted ER/70VR15.

The tire size 205/70VR15 is the current way of describing the old tire size ER/70VR15 today. An excellent option for a Series 3 XKE would be the Pirelli 205/70VR15 P5.

ER/70VR15 Jaguar XKE Tires

When the Series 3 XKE was produced many people with the earlier cars wanted to make them seem more modern by fitting ER/70VR15 tires. Still today if you want to make your Series 1 or Series 2 XKE have fuller wheel arches a Pirelli 205/70VR15 P5 is an excellent option. However it is important to point out that in fitting 205/70VR15 tires to your early XKE you will probably have to remove the rear bump stops.

The series 3 E-type was a very different car. It took on a lot of the mechanics of the Jaguar XJ series. One of these features being the power steering, making the car more suited to ER/70VR15 or 205/70VR15 tires as they are now called. In the 1970s Jaguar contacted Pirelli and asked them to help build a tire as an improvement for the XJ6, XJ12 and XJ V12 cars. Between them, Pirelli and Jaguar developed the P5 series of tires. Hence forth the 205/70VR15 Pirelli P5 as well as being the perfect tire for the XJ6 and XJS it is also the perfect tire for a series 3 V12 Jaguar XKE.