Axer;

Good to hear from you again. Snow on the mountains but not on the roads took the XKR skiing last week and made the whole trip on dry roads until the parking lot of the chalet and couldn't get up the little bump 20 meters from the front door.....called out the Aussie gang for a push and parked in style.

Sorry about the Sierra's used to ski Tahoe all the time....even my friend in Aspen said two days ago he only had one ski day so far this year.....and it is freakishly warm here in the Alps this year.

We have enough snow on the tops but often at Chamonix/Mt. Blanc you can't ski down to the village any more and have to take the gondola.

Had some good times on the Autobahn....funny that it is the Golf's that are lined up nose to tail in the fast lane wound all the way out until a big BMW or even bigger Mercedes flies up their tails with every light on them trying to flash them out of the way.

Interesting that your reverse engineered turbo boost lag back into your car that the manufacturer spent millions engineering out of it.

Sounds like a fun ride and we know it looks fantastic.

Ha I was so taken with the first two pics I didn't notice the wild seats.

Perfect.

And you have a nice big hand brake for those hi speed boot leg turns, always do a couple of those in every car I get.

Always admired Niki Lauda for walking away from the World Championship at the Japanese GP because of no visibility in the rain, saying "my life is worth more than a title" so I will match him to your Andretti.

You bring up an interesting point about the side wall profile...I increased the standard profile on the MINI and am wondering about doing the same for the XKR...though as opposed to my American cousins have to say that I find the ride on the XKR to be superb, the best of all our cars.

When I mentioned to my wife the complaints about the 20 inch wheel rides she snorted in derision and said "Make them drive a Mini for a week". And she loves her Mini.

Did you run the factory spec side wall profile on your Sumitomos?

Exactly which model are they, though I suspect there is only one that will fit the staggered size of the XKR's...are the wheels on the XK's staggered as well?

cheers,

jj

 

jj

Not really engineered turbo lag back, as turbo lag is undesirable. I pretty much engineered the low-end out of the car for more upper-end gains. At 5000 RPM when I floor the gas, (actually you don't floor it but gradually and quickly depress it unless you wish to spin out right there) the big twin turbos kick in with hardly any lag and cause a literal explosion of power. It truly feels like a big rocket just got lit under your seat :-)... GREAT!!!!

The tires I used on both my RX and the '05XK came from this list but, as you can see it does not have a good selection of 19" or 20" sizes. My RX uses the 275x40ZR17s while the 18" equipped '05 XK used the 245 fronts and the 255 rears.

Sumitomo HTR Z II

As I mentioned above my ideal tire for the XK would like be riding on 17" rims and be probably 275 wides front and 285-305 wide in the rears. Interestingly, talking about ride qualities of the '07+ XK vs the previous generations of XKs, the new cars ride actually better on 19" wheels compared to the older gen XK on 18" wheels. The secret appears to be the electronically controlled shock valving in the new gen XKs that allow for digital-speed adjustments in valving, sensing road irregularities and responding fast enough to give a better ride.

When I am ready for new tires for my 19" equipped XK, I will have to search for a new tire model. Hopefully Sumitomos do have a different model that have those sizes available.

So, yes, going skiing in an XKR is REALLY IN STYLE, particularly for winter Alps. Thumbs up for that decision :-)

Albert

 

Had the top down too, of course!

Perfect.

For some reason I didn't take any snaps that day but here are some of another outing in the Snow Cat.

Just put the skis in the bag and lay them between the seats.

Have to get magnetic ski racks one of these days.

Those were two twelve year old's first ride in a convertible.






I will check out the Sumitomo's, thanks, and the Kuhmo's.

Haven't driven the new XK's but am pretty happy with the active suspension of the the first generation, no discernible body role at all in cornering.

cheers,

jj

 

Going to go with Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas based on lots of reviews about grip, wet & dry, low noise, decent wear and very competitive pricing.

 

I'm now at about 6K miles on my S-04's
Have had time to toss them about the canyon twisties and the traction is stunning...