Hello all -- Well I finally picked up my new 2015 R Coupe yesterday and it has been a blast to drive. Purchased from BMCD in San Francisco for a great deal with Jag incentives. Some key specs: Ultimate Black, Red Interior package, diamond black Gyrodyne wheels, vision and black packs.

I've come from a long list of cars, from multiple Aston Martin's, BMW's, Lotus, etc. and got the Jag trading in my 2014 GT-R. My initial impression is great and loving it so far. The exhaust really is the highlight of the vehicle, and I'm sure I started many pedestrians and bicycles in San Francisco, popping and crackling all over the place. The power is smooth and always available on tap regardless of gear, yet I haven't had the pleasure to really stomp the foot down or get on any freeways (let alone 8th gear).

Interior cabin space is compact, but not too uncomfortable. It reminds me a lot of my BMW Z4 M Coupe with that low-slung rear hatch. There are a lot of switches everywhere, and the ergonomics are taking getting used to (i.e. the volume control). The ride is very compliant, especially after coming from a GT-R and previous Lotus' and lowered vehicles. Over it's a great package car that can keep a low profile if wanted, with plenty of power.

Some of the initial annoyances I've found are:

1) 770w Meridian Stereo; I am not impressed. I was expecting much deeper lows with a more full sound. The stereo seems to not handle an expected amount of bass without the interior starting to rattle and the sound becoming distorted. I've tried all modes, and ironically the basic "stereo" setting sounds the fullest, but again with very minimal handling of bass. Any recommendations or further or finer adjustments I can do is deeply appreciated. I did notice a sound quality difference between streaming my pandora/spotify via bluetooth (lower) versus my usb-plugged in iPod (better).

2) Auto downshift; with my previous cars (V8 Vantage S and GT-R) when driving in the "manual" mode, upon slowing down most of the vehicles would downshift appropriately to the lower gear upon lower speed. The Jag does this as well, but upon complete stop it will remain in 2nd gear, unless I manually put it in 1st. Luckily there is power on tap coming in 2nd gear from a stop, but it would be nice since the transmission downshifts automatically from higher gears, for it to go all the way down to 1st if at a complete stop. I know this is ironic complaining of a "manual" mode not automatically downshifting and probably something I'll just get used to. But overall, the transmission and shifts are nice and smooth, better than my dual-clutch GT-R and just as good as my previous european DSGs.

3) Ambient lighting; it's a cool little feature/gimmick but it doesn't apply to the overall car. With my red interior I naturally went with red ambient lighting. However most of the interior switches and the door handle lighting are a aqua blue color. Not trying to be a color aficionado, it feels weird with the clashing and will either turn off ambient lighting or look at ways to minimize the standard interior blue lighting.

4) Headlight condensation; ironically on my first day of ownership and a quick drive around town, I noticed some headlight condensation on the interior of both headlamps. It did not seem significant, but it was definitely noticeable upon looking at them in my garage. Ironically, this morning the condensation was gone. I'm definitely going to start tracking this and putting the car through conditions that would replicate the problem to get this address with the dealer. Not sure if anyone else's Jags have had an issue but I did have this problem with all of my Aston's taillights.

5) Auto windows up; I know there has to be a fix for this, but when trying to do the one touch windows up feature, it wasn't working. Anyone have the quick fix to program the feature back? All of my cars had different procedures to do so. The auto-down feature works.

Regardless of the above, I love the car. I think the V8 has more than enough power for the car and the exhaust really does make it an event every time that will leave a smile on your face. I definitely see myself driving with dynamic mode on almost all the time, and find the vehicle to be comfortable on the harsh roads around San Francisco and look forward to long journeys up and down the coast. I'm actually planning a trip down to Southern California in the coming days and excited to see how the Jag feels on a nice open road.

Here's a picture from pickup and my GT-R gone on trade.

 

Congrats and welcome,I hope you can join us on our spring bay area cruise we're planning...!

 

At least with the 770w Meridian Stereo, one suggestion which has shown good results is to move the bias more rearward.

 

1st gear is really short, and appears to be for holding the car when moving off uphill.

2nd will comfortably spin the wheels from standstill (once you've run it in) regardless of surface, so relax and enjoy the ride.

 

Congratulations on your new R, elude, and welcome to the forum too.

Yes, as Mahjik has referred to above, my suggestion for you with the 770w is to adjust your settings though:
Fade: 1 "step" to the rear of centre
Balance: 1 step to drivers side (left for you
Treble: 2 steps above middle
Bass: 1 step above middle (it is over boosted from the factory)
Sub: middle or 1 step below

Of course, this is hugely subjective, and depends a lot on what sort of music you listen to as well..

For mode, personally, I feel I get the best out of Dolby.
I note you are looking for a bit more bass, so perhaps that's not quite right for you.

There is a lot of moaning about the rattles and vibrations caused by the Meridian on this forum. That hasn't been my personal experience, but there's enough noise about it here to recognize there must be a genuine problem somewhere.

However, is it right to blame the Meridian itself? That's what bass-boosted systems are meant to do - create vibration. So it seems more appropriate to be more critical of build and fitting issues. Anyway, there's a whole other thread running on that topic you can check out.

There also a thread running on the ambient lighting observation you've made - I think the general consensus leans your way. A cute gimmick but not fully executed so falls short.

Anyway, congrats again - enjoy your awesome new car!

Oz

 

I agree with everything you say above. Even though I'm one of the lucky ones with no gripes about the system (330W in my case), I don't doubt for a minute that there is an assembly/installation problem, with so many reports. It seems to be getting more apparent every day as more people step forward.

Welcome Elude, beautiful car.

 

Great looking F type.. glad you are enjoying it.
There is a way to re-set the window auto mode and it should be in the manual, or a quick call to your service department should do it. Mine is garaged for the winter and not easy to get to with our current weather so I can't check my manual for you.
I have the 770 and find it really good.. I find it varies a lot by source and I've ended up on the DTS setting for my preference.
Good luck.
Lawrence.

 

Welcome! Interesting...not to stereotype...well, actually, to stereotype...I wouldn't think many GT-R guys would make the switch to the F-Type. I can see 911, SL, AM Vantage, etc.

I'll have to check the auto up window, because I'm pretty sure I do it all the time so it must be some option in the setttings.

Regarding the exhaust, I agree, it makes the F-Type the car it is. Just saw a review the other day...to paraphrase, you can have a lot of fun in the F-Type going SLOW / normal speeds because of the acoustic symphony it makes. Some cars are only fun when you drive them fast. And since most of us drive it normal speed most of time, it's a fun everyday car.

 

Regarding the auto-close window feature, there are two distinct variants of this feature.
One variant is the one touch to fully close a single window at a time using the individual window levers on the door panel.

the second variant is a "global close" of all windows from outside the vehicle using the key fob. In case you've exited the vehicle and notice a window open, holding the lock button on the fob for 3 seconds will close all open windows simultaneously, even with the engine off. According to my dealer contact, this feature is disabled in North America vehicles for liability reasons.

Page 150 of my manual indicates the first variant, one touch close may need to be reset whenever the battery is disconnected or discharged. To Reset:
1. Close the window fully then release the switch.
2. Lift the switch to closing position and hold for two seconds.
3. Open the window fully then release the switch
4. Press the switch to the opening position and hold for two seconds.
5. Lift and release the switch to operate the one-touch feature.
6. repeat the procedure for each window.

 

And you can choose what shade of mood lighting, you'd like.

When Clarkson mentioned those words my instant impression was...gimme a break! Gimmick indeed. I keep it 99% of the time in Dynamic Mode and love the shade of Red!

On the other hand, he's got one thing perfectly right:

I think this is one of the best looking cars, ever made.

Congratulations on your F-Type.

 

Congratulations on a beautiful new car. As for the 2nd gear starts, this seems to be a Jaguar tradition for many years. On the famed "J" gate automatics of previous generation XJ's and XK/XKR's there wasn't even a slot for 1st gear even if you wanted to downshift. In my 2010 XKR, it also does the same thing, defaults to 2nd gear starts unless you specifically hit the left paddle shifter and downshift to 1st. A bit of an annoyance, but plenty of torque in second to get started when you don't feel like downshifting (or forget).

Enjoy! And if you're coming down to SoCal and want to take a spirited little canyon drive with a few of us down here, let us know.

 

It's been that way on most 4+ speed automatics for 50+ years.

 

If you're in auto, how do you know you're doing a 2nd gear start, since no gear number is indicated on the console unless you're paddle shifting? (Sorry if this is a dumb question)

 

you always start in second gear unless you put foot to the floor. No such thing as dumb questions (just dumb answers).

 

so if I'm going for the fastest manual mode launch, should I start in first? I feel like that's slower than starting in second.

 

If your foot is to the floor, you will be in first gear automatically from a start.

Fastest launch (launch mode): left foot on brake, slowly depress throttle until you feel engine under load, simultaneously floor it the rest of the way and release brake. Leave traction control on, otherwise you'll just stand in place and melt your tires to the ground.

 

Thanks, but I thought that was only when you were in Snow/Wet Mode.

 

snow/wet mode would more likely lock out first gear, not engage it. but I am not certain. You are far more likely to spin wheels in first than in second gear.

 

Yes, we're saying the same thing - snow/wet mode forces the car to start in 2nd.

 

Likely, but mostly it kills the throttle response. You really have to put your foot down for anything to happen.