Thinking about a set of 265 35 zr18 for my '02 XJR.

I heard these are fabulous in the dry and terrible in the wet, hence they would be a summer only tire for me.

Any thoughts?

 

R888's are indeed fabulous in the dry, and sort of ok in the wet too. They get terrible only if there's standing water on the road. Not sure if I'd put them on a car that won't see track driving... seems a bit of a waste, as you can't really use their full potential on the road. They really start to stick to the tarmac only after you get them properly warmed up, and no matter how spirited your road driving is, it won't be enough.

In my experience a good compromise for road and track driving is Hankook R-S2. They have tremendous grip in the dry even when cold, and won't fade no matter how hot you get them. I went through two sets of those on my previous ride, which I used to track quite often. Here I'm chasing a 911 that had R888's (and a newer 3.6L engine) with my fwd 5-door hatchback Citroën on Hankooks.


That said, I think the Goodyear F1 Asymmetric2's that I have on my XJR now have atleast the same level of grip as those R-S2's on the dry, and way better grip on the wet. No idea what these are like on the track though.

BTW, what wheel did you plan to use with the 265/35-18 tyre? XJR's original wheels are too narrow.