Just came back from Jaguar Drive Experience (JDE) at Houston, TX. I thought I saw at least 1 post about the same event but in Plano (Dallas suburb) rather than Houston. The Houston event is at the Sam Houston Race Park and it involved a street drive portion outside the race park. I'll share a bit more details here.

I noted this event posted at the Jaguar USA Facebook page. Houston is about 170 miles give or take from Austin. I did not have anything planned this Saturday, and little Molly had to stay with her groomer anyway, so why not?

To sum it up, JDE is a showcase event for Jaguar. Almost all the current lineups were represented. I wrote almost - since the non-blown XF and XK and all the cabrios were absent. During the event, all participants can explore numerous mini-courses, from skid pad, showcasing traction control systems on the XFR, to mini-race course (with pro driver chaperone), street drive (only on XJ), speed course (with XKR-S!), and self-drive course, in addition to the 'static exhibits' indoor. There were also some hors d'oeuvre, which were really handy for me, since I was starving!

I pre-registered for the event already so check in was quick. I basically picked a date, and a time slot. Basic questions and waivers - the usual, had to state that I was not intoxicated bla bla bla, standard question about what vehicle, plan to purchase etc. After that, I was whisked into the 'main hall' so to speak. The centerpiece of the exhibit are a pristine red XK-E cabrio, side-by-side with the French Blue XKR-S.



This red XK-E, by the way, is the current reigning highest score in Jaguar National Concours circuit. I think I've met the owner too, when attending 2010 Austin Concours.

There were also other interesting exhibits, like a Bower and Wilkins table-top speakers, Alcon brake calipers etc.

The first session was a quick presentation, explaining what's in store for the day, the current car line up, reminder to take the survey post event and then we're off to start the driving!

The first driving session (road drive) was done on XJs. We had our picks of either the XJL Supercharged or XJ Supercharged. I said we - because on this portion - the participants were paired so that one could drive, and the other could 'explore' the features of the car, then switched role after the first drive. I took the passenger seat on the first go, since I was interested in being able to look for details of the interior.

Interior shot:


Note the simulated gauges! Say what you want about the exterior, but the interior is just jaw-dropping. The wood veneers look futuristic, but classy at the same time. The Bower and Wilkins audio is well .... very Bower and Wilkins. After the first loop around, I took the wheel.

Conga line of XJs lead by the pilot XFR car:


The XJ is a big (and long car) but it does not drive like one. The throttle response is wicked quick, and the power delivery could seem abrupt at times, but it was not overwhelming. Confident is more like it. There is also a marked difference when the dynamic mode is engaged. The slight 'float' that exists on normal driving seems to disappear with dynamic mode, but it is by no means harsh.

After the street drive, I tried the simulated street course, where participants were allowed to drive un-attended on a mini course simulating Houston's streets. Call this the 'leisure course', where the intent is to allow participants the feel of the car on actual city road. I tried the XFR and XKR.

2012 XKR:


Me and a 2012 XKR:


Next was the race course, where Jaguar setup a mini-course with some tight turns and S-turns. Participant could choose between XFR or XKR (me!), and Jaguar also paired each person with a pro-race driver on the passenger seat. I forgot mine (bad) but I remember that one was them was Roberto Guerrero. He used to race Indy among others I think .....

Race course pick up point:


The race course was also timed. Each participant was given 3 practice, then at the 4th one, the lap was timed. I did 28 something seconds on an XKR Black Pack. I thought .. hey that was not bad ... until I saw that the highest timed was 23.6sec .....

I tried the XKR-S next, also paired with a pro-driver on the passenger seat. They had 2 (!) XKR-S for the drag event. So the order of the day was to drive as fast as possible from 0 to 75 then to 0, to demo both the rapid acceleration and the rapid braking. BTW, the XKR-S used for the demo were in much better colors (Black and White) IMHO than the French Blue.

The Black and White XKR-S pair:


The Black one:


There's a fast car, then there is the 'OMG - who strapped on the rocket' car, and the XKR-S is the latter. During the run, I remember not looking at the instrument at all and just a reference point on the course to do the braking. The acceleration was so violent had I did it a bit longer, I think the back of my head would be embossed with the letter 'RS' from the seat. And the noise ..... ! The standard XKR sound is very nice already, but the XKR-S sounds like earth's crust is being ripped open. It's like somebody just stepped on a tail of a sulking Bengal Tiger! There's none of the X100-era tell-tale 'tea-kettle from hell' blower whine either ......

The XKR-S may look like a sad bulldog with the chin spoiler, or a rotten-meat eating dog ... I recall that was mentioned too one time ... or a little to Pep-Boys-ish .... but when you're strapped on the seat, I think all those won't matter anymore. At least not for me.

The skid pad was also interesting, where I got to drive in an XFR (with a pro-driver also) on a simulated iced road and mini-slalom sections. The focus of the skid pad demo were the winter driving mode, kinda like the Landies Terrain Response System, for winter driving and the interaction between the suspension and the limited-slip diff. I could feel the tail 'wiggled' a bit during on the mini weave section of the course, really neat!

Before leaving, all participants were encouraged to take the event survey and got a picture taken with an XKR-S Spyder. Each participant was also given a gift bag with a Jaguar baseball cap among other goodies.

Overall - it was a really nice event. I thought all the cars 'showed' very well. The demo with the XKR-S was really nice, considering that all production cars have been spoken for.

Also, everybody on the event were super nice, super polite, and always went out of their way to make sure that all participants needs were addressed and all questions were answered. There were no one from the local dealers, all crews were Jaguar corporate people. You would never feel that these guys tried to sell you something. They felt more like parents that were proudly bragging about their kids (the cars). I was very impressed.

The nice touch was when I was about to leave, I asked the lead front area crew member if I could wheel my 03 XKR to the front next to a parked 2012 XKR so I could take a picture side-by-side. He said no but then suggested that he could tell one of the crew to drive an XKR from the road course, met me at the parking lot so I could take a picture there! How's that for customer service?

Old and new:


Oh yeah .... that X150-gen car, that would be my next one! Hopefully soon ..... If the event stops near where you live, I highly recommend it.

The rest of the pictures:
https://picasaweb.google.com/r0m8470...eat=directlink

 

Thanks for the great review! I'm totally jealous.

Bruce

 

r0m8470, any whispers, rumors about putting the 550 hp engine in the XJ and/or XF ???
Just curious...

 

Lucky you, would love to drive let alone own the new XJ. It is a masterpiece inside and out.

 

Did not hear about that .... The new car that everybody were hinting at during the event is the CX-16. Almost every crew member that I talk to suggested that it is a foregone conclusion that there will be production version of the CX-16.

I would not be surprised if Jag did decide to bring in the XF into the RS sub-brand though. One of the ex-local dealership lead mechanic told me stories about how the AJ 5.0 gen III motor at the proto stage already demonstrated that it was capable of making close to its current supercharged output.

 

I was also at the event. It was a first class operation. The 550Hp R-S was a treat to drive. If it comes to your town please make sure you attend. r0m8470 you did a great job with your post. You got everything covered well. One of the Andretti boys was there and was a pleasure to have a chat with him.

 

That was a good experience and thanks for these pics too

 

How did you find out about the event and was there a cost? Thanks for sharing and the pictures were nice!

 

I hit the 'Like' button on Jaguar USA's facebook page, hence all the updates from that pages are shown on my facebook 'home' page.

 

Do they have one coming up in DC?