A pneumatic tire and method of making is disclosed, which includes, in one embodiment, an outer tread and a barrier layer disposed inwardly of the outer tread. The barrier layer includes a dynamically vulcanized alloy, which has an engineering resin as a continuous phase and at least a partially vulcanized rubber as a dispersed phase, and an inner surface and an outer surface. A tire layer, e.g., a ply layer, is situated adjacent at least one of the inner or outer surfaces of the barrier layer. The tire layer includes a rubber formulation having 100 parts of natural rubber, a synthetic rubber, or blends or combinations thereof, 1-10 phr of a melamine derivative, e.g., hexamethoxymethylmelamine, and at least one reinforcing filler. The tire is devoid of an adhesive layer between the barrier layer and the tire layer, and the tire layer adheres directly to the barrier layer after tire cure.