Hello all...

After weeks (if not months) of research I finally found my next car, a 2012 XKR-S convertible in British Racing Green, w/ the two additional options of black gloss wheels and grey calipers.

My daily driver is a red/black 2011 Mini Cooper Clubman S. Gets great gas mileage and is fun to drive with it's 6-speed manual. Amazingly, it has one of the smoothest shifters I have ever driven. Not much else to say about this one, its just what I drive to work in most days.

I also currently own a C5 Z06 that I bought from my Father about 2 years ago. It is modified to a dyno'd 450 rwhp but very reliable. It is a great car for what it is, but its getting dated and I decided to get out of it before the prices drop even further as the C7 is released. This car just isn't my style and doesn't stir any emotion from inside of me like me previous two sport cars did.




Previous to that is owned a Guards Red 2006 Porsche Carrera S that had a Softronics ECU tune, x-51 headers, and I think it was Fabspeed sport cats. LOVED that car, but had to sacrifice it to help put down on a new house I really wanted. This car is to date the best car I have ever owned and completely fit my style. It could have been a hair quicker down low but at the upper RPM bands she was a screamer.




Prior to the 911 I had a Lotus Elise with a Vision Function supercharger kit. My car was a beta tester and it was used to help perfect the kit. When we were all said and done, I had the VF2 (stage 2) kit installed and it was putting down just over 300 rwhp. In a car that weighs around 1900 lbs, that is something to behold. Unfortunately, the car was so raw it became tiresome and my wife wouldnt go any where near it. It is already difficult to get in and out of, and the shifter was one of the worst I have ever had. It is also the only car I have ever had that I got pulled over in because a cop said my exhaust was too loud and he heard me about a half mile away. Despite its mechanical flaws, the car was beautiful and very quick...but it was best driven on a track. It also had poor aerodynamics for top speed, so it almost felt you hit a brick wall at around 130 that just slowed the acceleration considerably. This was my first real sports car.



This year I have a unique situation where I will be given a 2005 Carrera w/ 50k miles for free by my company. This car combined with the Z06 allows me to comfortably get into a car in the $100k range and under. After many weeks of research, I came around to the XKR-S. The performance, sport GT personality, and interior looks have me very interested. I also missed the removable roof in the Lotus and decided I wanted another one. I considered the Aston DB9 Volante and V8 Vantage, Ferrari F360 Spider, Audi R8, Porsche 991 and 997 S Cabs, and a host of others....but time after time the XKR-S was pulling me back in. It is hard to deny the specs and looks of this car, plus it is much more rare than the other options. In the end, I think I have found the best car at this time and it is priced right and in one of (if not THE) best color combos for a Jaguar, British Racing Green.



Thank you all for reading and I look forward to posting some pics when I get her home next week! I must say I am very excited and looking forward to my first Jag.

 

Welcome to the forum Matt,

Thanks for a fascinating Intro. It's going to feel like a very long week until you get to collect the XKR-S.

If your research has included using the forum you'll not need a link to the XK tech section but if you do, follow this link XK / XKR - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum to the XK/XKR section for help, advice and information. The 'HOW TO' thread at the top there is a good place to start for info on regular issues.

You may also like to visit the US Southwest Region section by following this link https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...z-tx-nm-ok-37/ to find other members in your region.

Enjoy your first Jaguar and the forum.

Graham

 

Welcome to the forum Matt,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't already done so you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.

 

Hey there Matt and welcome aboard....... good to have you here with us here at Jaguarforums

Great intro thanks for sharing.........

Any useful site information you may need such as how to post pictures, edit signatures, add videos,
use the search facility etc, can be found here within the following link Helpful_information

Please also take the time to check out the regional section for your area!
There are lots of members local to you with the same interests with info on local dealers and possible meets.
Regional - Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum

I've manually upgraded you to Full forum access so you can better view the site and all its features
Please Jump on in and enjoy the site.................

 

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome and the informational links.

Looks like it might not happen until Thursday now. Wife just told me she has a band concert on Wednesday so now I am on kid duty.



Either Thursday or Friday will be the day...

 

Welp, hard to put it into words, but I am ecstatic.

Picked up the car today and it is awesome...Driving back to Houston was a totally different experience than driving up to Dallas in the vette. I plan to write my inital thoughts in a seperate thread. I will say this is the hardest car to drive the speed limit that I have ever had. Now I understand the ASL button...lol.

Here is a pic of her before we drove off.

 

A link to a few of my initial observations.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...houghts-95470/

 

Looks great - keep that licence clean!

Graham

 

I purchased the exact same color combo on my 2012 XKR-S this past January with 8k miles on it. Haven't driven it much because of Michigan winter. It is in the shop now getting paint protection. Will drive it to my summer home the end of this week. 240 miles. The area where I live is near lake Mi. Lots of beautiful country roads. Did the Jag. performance driving school in Vegas about a mo. ago. Drove the new F-Type and XKR's. Great experience. Took delivery of a new Audi S-7 last week. Anxious to get that to the Summer Home. Also have an 86 911 Cab. there. In summary, I love the beautiful interior and ride and the raw power and sound whenever you want it. A great and unusual combination in a car that looks like a sports car.

 

Awesome...Is yours also a convertible? I wonder how many of the 25 XKR-S 2012 convertibles that were brought to the U.S. are British Racing Green. I have seen a picture of one in New Jersey at a coffee and cars meet.

I like the looks of the S7...Audi has really stepped it up the last few years...come to think of it so has Jaguar.

 

Very nice!

 

Matt - welcome to the forum - nice looking cat - hope you enjoy the forum and many years of motoring in that beauty

 

Welcome Matt!

I agree on the color combo, my 2007 XKR Coupe is BRG with Caramel interior. Absolutely love it!
Agree also about trying to keep it inder the speed limit-that's definately difficult to do in these cars.
Enjoy (Safely)
Tim

 

Great car and info. When I lived in Houston I made the Dallas trek too. Drove up in my '07 911, traded it and came home with a V8 Vantage convt. Same thoughts as I drove home in the new toy. Unfortunately, later the Vantage proved a lemon and Aston bought it back when they couldn't fix the ECU problems. Got a DBS after that and it was better.
Currently considering a new F-type V8S to join several other current hi-po's in my stable. Might reconsider the XKR-S convt too.
Good luck and happy motoring.

 

Thanks for the well wishes. If you are looking more for a hi-po, luxury GT vert, look at the XKR-S. If you want something more nimble, sporty, and smaller, F-Type. I think the XKR-S vert is going to be the more exclusive of the two. I know they only brought over 25 in 2012...not sure how many in 2013, maybe double that. I read it somewhere now I can't remember.

I would definitely drive both if you are torn between the two. They are completely different cars, might be a tough choice! For me it was easy....I wanted the little back seat.

 

Great looking car.

Enjoy the forum.

 

Spec'ed out and had a 2012 XKR-S coupe ordered in 2011, but unexpected health issues prevented me from taking delivery, so I had to pass. Meanwhile, on my second R8 vert now, a V10, plus a few other low volume hi-po's.
I did get to drive the RS coupe and liked the brief time behind the wheel. Also recently drove,the new F-types in V6S and V8S formats. Interesting and nice cars, but I unconvinced re the styling just yet.
Hope to possibly locate a pre-owned XKR-S vert and see if that might work out well. Don't want a new one due to the extreme depreciation on the cars these days. No rush and the hunt is half the fun!
Enjoy.

 

I agree completely. I found mine slightly used and saved about $45k off sticker. At the same dealer there was a 2012 French Racing Blue XKR-S vert with Alcantara steering wheel and carbon fiber engine cover. I saw they lowered the price to $97k and it has ~4k miles on it....Dealer demo I think. Whoops...Looks like its back up to $105k....weird.


Used all_body_types all_years jaguar all_models - Park Place Texas

Looks like they also have a blue and a red 2013 vert with low miles.

I had a good experience with this dealer by the way...I would recommend them to anyone.