So, I know the X300 is somewhat well known for not having the most headroom or rear legroom, but I've been surprised just how tight the front headroom is for an average guy.

I am only 5' 9" but there is just a finger and a half room between my noggin and the roof, so much so that I've crashed my head into the sunroof trim and my hair frequently drags against the roof.

So, is this normal, or is my drivers seat somehow a bit higher than normal?

If normal, I wonder how taller drivers can fit at all?

I do have a pretty short inseam (30") so maybe my torso is taller than average and is more like a taller person? I don't know.

But curious...

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I'm about 5'10" and would be in the same situation. Sometimes I feel my hair drag on the roof, but this isn't so bad since I fixed my drooping headliner!

Is yours hanging down a little perhaps?? I like to sit low down and back a bit as I am long legged, so generally, no real complaints. If the roof was just a little bit higher it would spoil the look of the car, making it appear top heavy, a bit like some of the later models that look more like the old Rover 75.

It's hard to get everything perfect I suppose and we will never please all of the people all of the time. Some while back, I posted a topic, asking owners what would they change about their x300 to make it more "perfect" and there were quite a few responses, many similar and many totally different.

Horses for courses. So, either raise the roof or consider radical surgery! lol

When I get a chance, I'll drop my seat as low as it will go and measure the height it sits at, so at least you can do a comparison.

Of course, you also have to consider how much my seat may have sagged over the years, depending on the weight of the previous owners.

 

I hear this from time to time down here also.

The sunroof cars have less headroom than the standard cars.

Mine has NO sunroof (poverty pack), and I am 6ft + a bit, and have no issues at all.

Mates X308, with sunroof, brushing the roof liner.

Since having the 2 S Types, I had all but forgotten that issue, as they are more roomy, in MY opinion.

 

Makes perfect sense as usual Grant,
If the external roof line is the same on all 300s then the cavity the sunroof occupies must be on the inside.

Gives the OP some thing to take into account before too much measuring happens.

 

If you've driven any Series 1 or later XJ sedan, or read any road tests of Jag sedans since then, you'd see that the .....um....er......'cozy and compact' interior dimensions are part of the Jaguar thing Personally I like that feeling but at 5-9 I'm not all that big, either.

If you've ever owned (or even merely ridden in) any of the old-school American sedans....where you have room to actually s-t-r-e-t-c-h out,and your rear seat passengers seem as though they're sitting in a different room, the coziness of a Jag is even more apparent.

What I *am* noticing as I age is that the low roof line makes entry-exit a bit more of an ooomph-and-grunt experience than I remember from years ago. After the X308 Jaguar started building much taller cars....probably to please us old folks. Sure ruined the looks, though ! I'd rather grunt a bit and drive in style, personally.

Cheers
DD

 

Thanks all, glad to hear my seat isn't "stuck too high" or something

... all the answers given are what I figured was the case.


And yes, I've driven mostly large american cars, and most recently a 1995 Buick Roadmaster, so the X300 interior is a bit cozy. But I don't mind, and I knew that going into it.

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I've always felt that my sunroof is a real space-robber. Occasionally I get to drive an X300 sans sunroof and the difference in headroom is very noticeable. I am just over 5' 10" and prefer to ride a little high (elevation that is, not the other type!!) with the seat a little below max. height adjustment. This gives me an inch or so headroom, but my height is more in the leg than in torso.

And yes, the "sports car like" ingress and egress is an increasing challenge for me also. All part of the car's charm!

 

At 6ft I have yet to have any issues, I do keep the seat tilted back a bit, the previous owner being 6ft 4in had to really lay it back in order to fit however.

 

I'm just under 6' and 270 pounds. It's a snug car all around.

 

I had the opportunity to drive a XJLR special edition when they hosted a test day after the F type intro. I could just reach the pedals with the seat all the way back and there was still room for someone like me in the back. I have never been in a car with that much space before or since. If I had $130K or so to spare, I would be in one of them.
In my XJ6 there is almost no room behind me because I have the seat reclined quite a bit, and still I lack in leg room.

 

the new XJs are quite a different beast.