A while back some folks on a different thread were comparing the X350 XJ8 to a Ford LTD. I used to drive an LTD station wagon on a job I had in the late 70's.

I can assure you that an LTD can handle as well as any XK8! All you have to do is to keep the speed under 5 mph. (Just kidding ). At anything faster than that the thing leans over on corners and the tires start squealing like pigs in a slaughterhouse. A little too much pedal and you are sideways or worse.

Yesterday I got to do something I have wanted to do ever since I got my 2004 XJ8 in January. I took my wife and headed for a canyon about 20 miles from home. It is a popular weekend ride among the two-wheel enthusiasts in the area. It is a climbing mountain road, you go from a couple of hundred feet above sea level up to nearly 6000 feet. It consists of a whole bunch of sweeping turns on a well maintained road, and there are very few cross roads. About 25 miles up that road there is a restaurant/bar that is loaded with bikers of all descriptions on weekends.
(For local folks, this is the Angelest Crest Highway up to Newcomb's Inn.)

But this was on a Wednesday, right after lunchtime. I put the Jag on Sport and up I went. According to the book, the CAT system senses how you are driving and configures the air shocks accordingly. Even the transmission and the steering are supposed to adjust themselves to what you are doing.

I entered the road driving briskly. The Jag cornered quietly and there was negligible body lean. So I drove a little more briskly. That beautiful cat flattened out and roared! After all, those signs with numbers on them are polite suggestions, right?

The dear wife was hanging on to the overhead grab handle on one side and bracing against the dash with her left hand. But no complaints. So I really enjoyed those sweeping turns. Flat and quiet. The only big noise was the engine's roar when I powered out of a slower turn. (No drifting though, I'm dumb, not crazy)

It was exhilarating. I had the road almost to myself. I only saw 4 or 5 other cars, and they were parked off the road. What a hoot. But the key is what a car.

XJ8=LTD? Absolutely no way.

Tom

 

Just imagine the fun in an XJR with a sportier suspension! My girlfriend always wails whenever I drive...adventurously on windy roads...THEN YELLS AT ME TO DO IT MORE OFTEN! She loves the raw yet dignified power of the Jag, coupled with it's corner hugging prowess. Then again, so do I haha.

 

SableCat, Angelus Crest Hiway is great, my wife and I have traveled it both ways.
If you haven't done so yet, go to Big Bear Lake thru Running Springs...both ways. Some of the downhill turns will test the car, you and your wife. Just gotta watch out for large boulders that sometimes fall onto the road. Also, when going downhill, gotta watch for uphill drivers who cross the line. That realyyyy tests your reflexes.

 

Yes the X350 handles pretty well for a big barge...

 

Cambo351

Yes, it does handle very well. Of course, one must keep in mind what it is and what it is not. To illustrate:



But any Jag can be pushed too far:




Jayt2,

Yes, I am very familiar with the road up through Running Springs. I have camped, hiked and just generally enjoyed the Big Bear area for years. I'm looking forward to taking the Jag up, and down it soon.

BTW, my wife graduated from Upland High School.

Are you old enough to remember Stinky's?

Tom

 

Hi there, I'm back, but just as enthusiastic about my xj8. Today I drove on the same road, (State Route 2 or the Angeles Crest Highway) only I travelled the full length, (about 60 miles) from Wrightwood CA to La Canada. The road is a beautiful drive, especially the east end. You start out from Wrightwood at about 5000 feet above sea level, and travel as high as 7900 at the highest. It has recently been resurfaced for its entire length. I saw 6 other cars and two motorcycles going the other way, and only one car going my way.

On this drive, you are going right left right left for the whole way. Under those conditions I am pretty sure the suspension hardened up as predicted in the owner's manual. I really pushed it on several corners, with almost no body lean. Using the transmission for braking I had to use the brakes very little. A beautiful ride in a fabulous car.

I have included a link to a group of motorcyclists making the same ride :



The road mostly goes through pine tree forests, but there are a few places where fires have burned the trees, but it is mostly forested.

Hope you enjoy. (Jeremy Clarkson, eat your heart out.)

Tom

 

Tom

A thousand pardons, I forgot about this thread until you came back to it. I think Stinky's was a bit before my time, I did a search, but don't remember it. I lived and worked in the general area since 1964 and worked for the olde General Tel Co. for 4 years, but it just doesn't "ring a bell".

 

My xjr handles quite well on nice mountain roads

 

Jayt2, Stinky's was an old Route 66 diner built of stone. It was at the NW corner of Mountain and Foothill. Today there is a parking lot there, and for many years there was a Bank of America on that site.

The place had an old stone gas station on the corner and the diner was a few yards to the west. I met my wife in '63 and took her there many times. The place had wooden picnic tables instead of booths and the Clarement Colleges crowd hung out there. They let you carve on the tables if you wished, and then they just planed them down and re-varnished them every year or so. It was there several years after we married in '65 but I don't know exactly when it was demolished. It is still missed by the "kids" who hung out there back in the day.

Tom