So, I was a little disturbed last year to realize that my 2015 JCNA Class M National Slalom championship time had been bested in 2016 by an XE. But I figured that it must have been a rare one-off situation and that my S-Type would still be competitive in the class. But I was wrong...

Last Saturday the local Jaguar club (http://www.j-a-n-e.org) held our first Slalom event of the year. Those events are held by Jaguar clubs in North America and are sanction by the national club (http://www.jcna.com). On this day we had 23 cars including a 1964 Shelby Cobra, a Morgan Aero 8, a bunch of Vettes, a Austin Healey 3000 with a Ford 5.0 V8 under the hood, a Fiat 500 Abarth (that the fellow bought 'cus he needed a reliable car...), an F-Type R, an XKR, an XK8, a couple of E-Types including one V-12, a Viper, me with my S-Type, and a new XE 35t.

I was having a so-so day (high 48s) and the fellow with the XE, who was not familiar with the course, was likewise pulling similar times.

But that all changed when that fellow offered to let me take a run in his car.

It was the first time I'd ever sat in an XE (and I did noticed that the interior really is a big step down in finish from my car...) and I was clearly unfamiliar with the steering, brakes, power, etc. So I went to the line intending to simply try to get a clean run around the cones. I was certainly not ready for the results.

In my first and only run I beat my best time of the day by almost 2 seconds. And, wow, that is a huge difference...

So I'm coming around to the conclusion that time really has passed and the S-Types and original XFs (other than the Rs of course...) have once and truly been supplanted by the current XEs (and probably XFs as well).

Time really has moved on and my car can now really start being considered vintage.

But ok, I've got to admit, there was one feature that I really think made a significant contribution to the how must faster the XE was around the course. I could set the XEs transmission in 1st so that, unlike my S-Type where I could only set it for 2nd allowing it to down shift on exiting corners when when I needed power to accelerate down the straight, the XE always had instant power when I needed it.

But just the same, numbers don't lie, particularly when I was behind the wheel on the same day on the same course.
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Jaguar - it's not an automobile, it's a Motorcar
2015 JCNA National Slalom Champion Class M
Current: '08 S-Type 4.2 "Satin Edition" (250.06 whp / 259.67 torque)
Past: '05 X-Type 3.0/auto Jaguar Racing Green

 

Thanks so much for sharing! Was that the AWD version of the 35T, or RWD? Which version would you prefer for the course?

And how did the XE time fare against the other cars that ran the course? (Vettes, Cobra (drool), etc?) Did the XE have original tires, was it tuned?

Gotta say we took our XE 35T RWD out this weekend for some very spirited driving, first time I was really able to open her up after her VelocityAP tune...and WOW, it was fantastic. Way better torque on the lower rpms, and seems to have a power curve that does hold a line well up to 6500RPM or so. With the extra torque from a tune and some really good treads, that XE could very well become the slalom pack leader IMHO.

 

AWD, completely stock, it's only a few months old.

No comparison to the 'vettes, they're times varied from 41.4-46.1 depending or car and driver.

Which motor would a 35t have?

The more appropriate comparisons would be:
XKR - 44.8,
F-TypeR - 47.4,
XK8 - 50.22,
E-Type - 46.9,
XK8 - 48.3
XE (driven by it's owner) - 48.5,
XE (driven by me... ;-) - 47.1,
E-Type V12 - 46.6,
and my S-Type - 48.8.

For what it's worth, a Dodge Viper ran 41.7, and a Ford Focus RS ran 41.9, the Austin Healey with the V8 ran 50.0 (he smoked his tires, just couldn't get the power down with skinny knock-off wire wheels), and a Fiat 500 Abarth ran 46.9.

We also had the Morgan Aero 8 at 46.0, a '64 Shelby Cobra at 56.9 (he was there more for show than go) and a bugeye Sprite at 50.9
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Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car
Oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car
Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, and
Torque is how far you take the wall with you

 

Thanks for sharing the info

Are those E-Types stock?

No way can they be 1 or 2 seconds faster than XE and F type.

XE handles really well for its size and weight. It has relatively quick steering and the nose does not fight quick direction changes.

 

>Are those E-Types stock?

yup, the guy behind the wheel makes a big difference...

Wireless electronic timer the numbers are legit.
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You dreamed of a big star -
He played a mean guitar -
He loved to drive his Jaguar...

So welcome to the machine