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I'm not a fan of the dark walnut, but I do like the looks of the lighter American walnut on my XKR Portfolio. I think it adds that little bit of extra class that this car deserves.
I think Bentley/Rolls have the most plush interiors, however, to compare the Jag's to those cars is simply, pointless, unless you were prepared to pay a bag full of money more for your XK. For the mere mortal car owners amnongst us, I would suggest that the Audi A8 interior is as fine a quality and design as you will find in a car. I don't own one and the one Audi that I have owned in the past was a Royal cramp in the buttocks, but I have been in a 2015 A8 and it is truly gorgeous. Just my thoughts.
I had an Audi once as a Loaner. One of the most uncomfortable interiors I've ever been in. Nothing was ergonomically correct and controls were not where they should have been. I also rented a Cadillac many years ago that had the exact same problem.
Neither of those would I ever consider buying.
That Porsche interior looks pretty good, I've always liked the ergonomics (which are really important in my book) however I still can't understand my mfg's insist on a huge joystick gear shifter... Ferrari was the first to do away with it and it cleaned things up tremendously. I love the 2010+ XK's with the rotary shift. Porsche looks like it's a airplanes flight stick protruding out for no reason and not sure about the "baby pooh brown" color combo but the design layout there is pretty nice
I do a temperature gauge and voltmeter on my antique HTC Droid Incredible phone via Bluetooth with the free Torque app (receiver) and inexpensive Elm327 OBDII reader (transmitter). Works great and is wireless and just the right size. Raised my old phone from the dead to be useful again.
Maserati has a lot of vinyl masquerading as leather. The dash on the Gran Turismo is not stitched anything. The styling is quite nice on Maserati, but the Jaguar has more detailing and bespoke quality IMO.
As towards your question, Aston does a great job. What BMW offers on their top models like 7 series is just perfection. Depends on what constitutes a fine interior. Leather quality and overall execution would be with any of the British marques in general.
No real contest for me, Bentley is incredible. As the Bentley host told me when I toured the plant in Crewe last Fall with Bentley " if it looks like leather it's leather, if it looks like wood it's wood, if it looks like metal it's metal." The aroma, touch and looks of these interiors are only rivalled by Rolls Royce. My Bentley is 10 yrs old still looks and smells new. The leather feeling is a definite step above Jags.
Personally I found the analine leather in the volvos pretty much as good as anything I've seen. I had it in the s60R and it was just gorgeous, and some of the s80s had lovely leather too. It was scottish leather from memory, as good as anything in the Jags though the leather in the XKR is very nice and the "Taurus" leather in the XE is pleasant enough without making you want to roll around in it naked.
The Aston dash above looks like it might have been an earlier version of the X150 Dash and interior. Also remember, The XK design is at least ten years old and has never been updated and still looks fairly modern, straight forward and with high quality materials pretty much throughout.
I disagree. The interior of my 4.2L 2009 XKR Portfolio convertible is gorgeous - all leather everywhere (Ivory and Slate), contrast double-stitched, and real wood veneer (Rich Oak) on the dashboard and doors. Even the OEM floor mats are bound with matching genuine leather. (This photo shows my aftermarket gray floor mats because I save the OEM mats that are Ivory and are impractical for everyday use.)
This was the top-of-the- line model, and the materials used in other models were not as nice although the design was basically the same.
The 2009 Maserati Granturismo cost tens of thousands of $$$ more than the 2009 Jaguar XKR Portfolio. The XKR outperformed the Maserati, cost far less to maintain, was more reliable, and turns just as many heads. Why pay more for less?
Stuart
This is the same wood veneer I have, and I think it's the best one Jaguar offered in the XK.
I have changed my interior slightly with suede and aluminium trim from the burr walnut wood as it made the interior feel a bit dark. The XK's dash panels are all real leather, even the transmission tunnels panels are real leather too and are all stitched. You don't get that with the German lot (faux is the norm in a lot of their cars).
I think it now looks great and feels much more modern.
This is indeed an excellent topic with plenty of valid opinions.
I myself briefly owned a 2015 Maserati Ghibli sq4 in peanut butter and Jelly (a deep blood red) on the outside and peanut butter Ancona leather on the inside with carbon fibre trim). I ended up subleasing it and buying a second xkr because I did not enjoy the performance or the options that come with a 100k sticker tag. I must admit though, that the interior was impressive. My fiance also has a new audi s7 prestige that runs in the 90k range and it's interior is also very very nice supported by valcona leather and authentic wood trim. Hard to turn down against any scheme of jag trim.
02-08-2016, 05:24 AM
