Howdy folks,


Although I live in Southern CA, I was invited to a relative's wedding in Denton, Texas. That's about 1300 miles from home. I do not like to fly on airlines. I love to take road trips...so this was a chance to get the big cat out on the open road. To get the car ready I had an oil change and inspection, bought two new Michelins, had the radiator flushed and installed a new thermostat and housing, ($103). All belts and hoses were checked too.


There is a lot of open land, much of it desert between here and Texas. But the speed limits on the interstates run 70 in CA, 75 in AZ and NM, and mostly 75 in TX. There is even a stretch of 80 mph limit between Midland/Odessa and El Paso down in south Texas.


The big cat did what it was designed to do. Solid, quiet, smooth and controlled high speed cruising down the highway, all the while getting 28-29 mpg.


What a ride. The roads in Texas are fabulous. 70 to 75 mph legal on all sorts of roads between small towns. You only have to slow down while passing through small towns now and then. Places like Muleshoe, Floydada, Roaring Springs, Gomez etc.


The Jaguar sales motto was "Grace, Space, and Pace". The luggage space is a little limited in the X350 though. So, I put my trunk organizer in the garage, put essentials like road flares, flashlights, my Garmin and such in small boxes that I could move around our one good sized suitcase. We hung our dress clothes and other closet clothes on a bar hooked on the grab handles in the rear seat. Worked great for two people.


What a trip. I am a very pleased Jaguar owner.


Tom

 

Tom,

Awesome report! Makes me want to head to Texas tomorrow!

Cheers,

Don

 

Great report!

Running a metro DC to Western Michigan R/T based off Pittsburgh, PA, four seats filled plus luggage was much the same.

Though I did see 32 MPG @ 70 MPH average across the rust-belt, interstate cruisers were nothing new - it was the MPG that impressed.

And.. well.. that's but HALF of "what it was designed to do." in my view.
Then 'phase two' kicked in. And the REST of the Jaguar ethos.

For over 54 years now I have been running Pittsburgh, PA or Morgantown, WV to metro DC and back about once every two months, long-term average, 'all weather'. Family thing, mostly.

Initially, that was largely over two-lane blacktop, some of it on roads a snake would find challenging. Cars and their tires, (illegal) halogens, (competition) brakes, (uprated) suspension components were bought and fitted to meet that specific need. All-else covered as a byproduct.

Gradually, interstates took over, those things mattered less, and my 'wheels' became rather mundane. Grand Wagoneers, Pontiac 6000 LE, Dodge Caravan, GMC Sonoma mundane. White-bread mundane.

For the past two years now, the XJ8-L has put both fun and practicality back into the equation.

Returning to sections of almost forgotten two-lane blacktop, I find most are now largely devoid of traffic. Such few other drivers as are using them are moving smartly, not hauling chicken feed at 24 MPH.

Many small towns and their speed-traps have simply vanished, others have gained a 'bypass'. Some two-lanes have become interstate-specification four-lane. Pavements on many - 2-lane or four - are in better shape than parts of the Interstates.

Best of all? VERY damned few eighteen-wheelers.

One has to be on top of their game. Fools are just across a line of ignorant paint. The overall MPG suffers a tad - down to 24-27 MPG - but the trip is many miles shorter, average speed is still decent @ 55-60, driving is comfortable, 'highway hypnosis' is gone, night runs are best of all...and ....I no longer need to stop, hobble about in pain, and wish I had a chiropractor traveling with me.

IOW - the big cat has put the FUN back into the trip, but neither the HARD WORK that my sporty-cars of yesteryear demanded, nor the drowsiness and muscle spasms of the cheap-seats in 'American iron'.

'nuther 'Jaguar Lifer' in the making here!

Mind .. it IS a going to be shorter span than many...given I started at it so damned LATE in life..

Better late, than never, though!

 

Inspired by Tom's report, I persuaded my wife to take a day trip yesterday to Rugby, Tennessee, an historic 1880s "English Village" that was a social experiment of Thomas Hughes, the author of the popular Tom Brown novels:

Historic Rugby |

The first 90 minutes was all highway, but once we left I-40, an hour of sinuous, rising and falling two-lanes treated us to a new rural view around every bend, ess curve and switchback.

The only hitch was when we approached Highway 127, unaware that this was the weekend for "The World's Longest Yard Sale," which stretches 690 miles from Gadsen, Alabama to Addison, Michigan. Traffic on 127 was bumper-to-bumper with pickup trucks pulling flatbed trailers, folks apparently having saved all year to purchase old stuff. On another day we might have joined them, but instead we crossed 127 and found an alternate route, which was fortuitous because the smaller roads were lovely.

127 Yard Sale - The World's Longest Yard Sale

Rugby is quite isolated and small, but it is just as quaint and intriguing as we expected. We watched the film and took the tour, explored on our own for a while and had a wonderful lunch at the Cafe. My wife had part of a huge burger, and I had Bangers & Mash, my first ever, but it won't be my last. It was so delicious I mopped my plate with the cornbread muffin.

And of course, on the way home we took a different route to enjoy yet another selection of gorgeous Tennessee backroads.

The XJR performed flawlessly and made the drive a genuine pleasure. What a machine!

Fuel economy? Who cares?

Tom, thanks for the reminder of what these cars are designed to do!

Cheers,

Don

 

Was a freshman in college. That was 1974. Stayed in an original home. A friend from long ago lived there. I think he is still involved.
Need to drive my Jag when we come up for Thanksgiving. Family wants to go to the Smokies while there.

 

Habituating as a Jaguar can be, I find that nowadays I 'need' to drive mine even to fetch the mail.

As it is a journey of fewer than three carlengths?

I ordinarily cheat like all Hell... take a more circuitous route .. and manage to sneak up on the unsuspecting mailbox whilst it is napping ... . a good deal later in the day. Mostly junk mail anyway, and short trips are just an invitation for the battery to go flat, after all.

The Smokies are magical, but don't wait 'til sere Thanksgiving time.

Check the fall-foilage season predictions online and make a 'scouting' trip a good deal earlier so there's less risk of being unexpectedly denied an entry visa or such.

Gots to get my recollections sorted and distilled about the same sort of round trip metro DC - Upton, Mass via Hudson river valley, back through Palisades ....the Poconos.... last time the leaves were so lovely.

Did I mention that the battery can go flat on short trips?
Welll.. that's MY story, anyway.

And I am sticking to it!

 

I'm still looking for a reason to go on a long drive in my XJ. I wanted to do it for Christmas, but I was outvoted on driving.

 

Thanks for sharing.....
I've had a few decent trips recently in mine, some 300, 500 miles and just shy of 900 miles in one day.

I don't make ay special provision as the car is kept in the best possible shape service wise at all times anyway........always been flawless to date and performed exactly as expected.....SUPERB

 

For the last five years we have been to Germany, driving to near Bingen-am-Rhein, which is about a 600 mile journey from our house near Crewe. Of course, we get a break on the Dover-Dunkirk ferry, then it's the E42 all the way. No problem with the seats and we don't feel stiff and tired when we arrive.