I have a few jags and love the idea of having a modern one with three pedals in the floor. I have zero interest in a front wheel drive car.

How balanced do you guys find the awd car is near the limit?

I bought the wife a fwd automatic 2.5l car and it is fine for her, but far from what I'm looking for in something that feels to me like it should be more in the vein of a 3-series.

Thanks

 

I have an 02 (xcase with the viscous coupling) 3.0 sport 5spd awd. To me, this is the best car I have ever driven. I have a friend with an early awd 3 series and him and I always go out drifting when it snows. Personally, I have better control of my car because it is SOOOO damn balanced! When all four tires aren't slipping it feels like it's rwd. But the minute you get any slippage it feels like power it EXACTLY where you need it. The cool thing about the xtype vs the 3 series is that the xtype has a 40/60 front/rear bias of power. The cool thing about this is that the xtype holds 60% of its weight in the front and 40% in the rear. That means that where there is 60% of the weight there is only 40% of the power and visa versa which means that every wheel feels to have the same amount of power. Mine being a 5spd is great too. I love being able to select my own gears when slippery and get all the torque out of the engine without having it downshift like all automatics do. Also, with snow tires on and stability control activated, my xtype makes my lifted jeep seem cumbersome in anything up to a foot of snow. I have even taken the xtype into a foot of snow, stopped it, then just drove right out with no problems. This explanation is beginning to be longer that I was expecting it to be, but whenever my friends ride in my car they think it's rwd on pavement and then wonder why I beat all the subarus up the mountain while going skiing.

 

I have not driven ours in bad weather yet but pushing it in turns it seems like a rwd car. I have driven Ford Crown Vics most of my career so I have experience in this. The only downside is the rear's don't spin when you think they should but that is at the extreme of driving anyway. Keep in mind I have 18" 40 series tires and sport suspension.

Side note when I have the clutch fixed (just went out last week) give me a shout and I will let you drive it. I am just outside KC.

 

Thanks officer :-)
I was in law enforcement before switching to fire in 1993.
I have a shop in KC so if you don't get anywhere in Lawrence you can come see us. We focus on German stuff at the shop but my first love is Jaguar.

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