Had the opportunity to take part in the Jaguar Performance Driving School, drove the XKR and XFR around the Formula 1 track in Austin Texas. All I can say is it was an awesome experience and I learned a lot more about the performance of the XKR and myself by taking this course. If anyone gets the opportunity to do this then do, its well worth it.

 

I checked into the Jaguar Performance drive school and it is pretty expensive. Too bad Jaguar has chosen that direction, since Porsche offers the same thing for free and you will really want to buy a Porsche after participating. I wanted to see how the new XKR handles on a track or auto cross compared to my XK8.

 

Jaguar does offer what they call the Jaguar Alive Driving Experience which is free to attend but by invitation only (although not the same as the performance driving course)

 

The first left hand corner at the top of the hill was challenging the F1 drivers in the first GP. What was it like in the XKR?

Graham

 

First of all the fee was free for the "Basic" course, this consisted of skid pan training for around an hour, then a few laps around an oval track that was set up in the car park, then a small road course run also set up in the car park before breaking for lunch. After lunch we were set loose on the real track for around 4 hours completing approx 35-45 laps, I didn't count but I know we were on there often. Jaguar had approx 16 cars. The link below is the laps of me then the instructor, he was faster as expected

ACN6FWTQ3Z

 

The Jag school is free when you buy a new Jag. I would imagine it's the same thing with Porsche. Am I correct or do they actually give it for free as a promotional thing?

 

The performance driving academy is complimentary within 12 months of purchase, then ~$1800 for the basic or ~$2400 for the advanced courses. Below is the schedule of upcoming courses.

Basic Course
Dates Locations
April 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, Nevada
July 27 and 28 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – Monterey, California
October 10, 11, 12 and 13 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, Nevada
December 11, 12, 13 and 14 Homestead Miami Speedway – Miami, Florida
Advanced Course
Dates Locations
April 25 and 26 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, Nevada
July 29 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca -- Monterey, California
October 11 Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, Nevada
December 12 Homestead Miami Speedway – Miami, Florida

 

The Porsche Performance Driving event is a free promotional event. The one I attended was at an airport with AutoCross tracks, a slalom course and Launch Control drag strip. I was able to drive 7 cars.

 

I really enjoyed your video, you did a great job driving!

Thanks for the post!

drc

 

You got a lot more track time than I was expecting.

Viewed from the XKR, the hill up from the pit is a lot steeper than it appeared watching the F1 race on TV and the first corner is even tighter than I expected.

Looks like a great day.

Graham

 

I was there as well!! I remember you from the video. Here are some great shots Jag took while we were there. (scroll to the bottom for images)

Interactive Jaguar

Captfred