Coming over from the Ferrari crowd we would always comment on looking at and driving our cars. It always seemed that we would have a big smile on our face either going out to the garage and admiring the car or when we would be out driving it. Then there was the old Fcar tune up where we would run up the first 3 gears to 8K and check for a big grin. Well I can tell you that from my prospective this car is every bit as fun and more. My bride liked the Fcar but was not overjoyed especially with the wiff of gas and exhaust in the cockpit. With the XKR she loves the cabin and enjoys the ride and to drive it. As for me when I push the DSC and open the pipes and hit the go peddle it is pure fun and a little excitement. Gotta love it.

 

My sister and her husband were visiting from San Francisco a week ago and she drives a Porsche 911 vert and he drives a California. We were at a local gathering place and they had an incident with their rental (battery died). Since I was in the XKR I couldn't fit them in at the same time to give them a ride back to their hotel. They hadn't seen my car until I pulled around to pick them up for the shuttle run. My sister's mouth flew open and when she got in the car couldn't shut up about how beautiful it was. I said you have a Ferrari and a Porsche she said the interior of the XKR was nicer. He commented on how sleek the car was but I didn't expect him to gush over it.

 

My only problem is that I've come to expect perfection from the car. So when ANYTHING goes wrong, even something that doesn't impact the performance of the car, I get SERIOUSLY angry.

Like a recurring squeak/groan coming somewhere from the rear driver's side of the car (I think). The problem comes and goes, and (of course) it usually WON'T do it when I drive it across the bay to S.F. to show it to the dealer. But on the super steep, super bumpy slow ascent to my abode it does it fairly often.

But in the scheme of things, it's a trivial problem that factory mechanics twice confirmed doesn't correlate to any damage or part failure. Instead of intentionally getting to to make the noise, growing more and more frustrated, why not just crank up the stereo or roll down the windows (coupe) so that the exhaust rumble softly drowns out the groaning noise?

Why? Because I've had SUCH good luck and reliability/build quality with this and my previous XKR Coupe that I am used to ZERO problems, be they of the small nagging variety, or the large, "my car won't start/run" variety.

But back to your question: aside form these moments when I'm being an overly fussy sourpuss, the answer is no, I never loose the smile ;-)

Skeeter
2011 XKR Coupe

 

Every guy looks for the perfect woman that doesnt have issues and every guy looks for the perfect car that doesnt have problems. You will never find either of us!!!

 

You have to be realistic
Perfection is a fantasy.

Oh, and BTW...........the smile has not diminished for a second!

 

I've been smiling since I bought my first Jag (XJ-S V12) in '89, but the 75 leaves me grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Today I overtook 5 vehicles in a single pass on a short straight on an Irish N-road (2-lane blacktop), in perfect safety because I could do it so quickly - the roar when you hit the gas is bloody marvellous.

 

I have not driven my XKR-S for two weeks since boating season here has started and it takes up all my free time getting everything ready. I drove the XK to work today and it was just fantastic. Just special, conformable and insanely aggressive when you lean on the go paddle.

 

XK is sure a looker with lines that don't get old. I hope the next generation keeps the curves.

 

My XKR is a garage queen right now, at least until I turn in the leased XJL. But, just about every day I open the garage door, lift the cover off the car and admire that sexy, curvy rear-end (no, fools, I am talking about the XKR) :-) I had done that with my previous XKs and it just doesn't get old. Perfection is boring, Jaguars are NOT!

 

I miss having a manual transmission.

 

When I'm riding in a friend's car, I feel like Joe Average ... but whenever I'm driving my Jag, I always feel like Bond ... James Bond. At 66, it doesn't get any better than that!

 

I thought I would too but not so. The Fcar 5 speed was a gated shifter and a bit notchey. The clutch was heavy and in traffic it was something you had to get used to. I enjoyed it but after 14 years I was happy to go to an autobox and even enjoy the paddles . I did see Donovan Jaguar a few years back with an 08 or 09 with a 6 speed manual gearbox in it. It was at a race in Lime Rock Ct. during their vintage car festival.

 

I can acknowledge that! But that is also causes by the look of the front side. Because of the arrangement of the grills, it has an appearance like the DB9.
I like to smile driving the car but enjoy the smiling people that watch me passing them even more so.
I never possessed a car that is so kindly received by the people on the streets or by pedestrians strolling by the parked car. Never owned a car that was so often photographed by strangers either.

 

Agreed!

 

I think my problem is I stepped out of an X5 4.6is to get back into a "sports" car but I went from auto paddles to auto paddles again so I miss the manual factor. However I do agree this ZF auto is the best there is in auto transmissions. The shift to S mode is huge in the Jag from strong to uncaged, this shift to s mode in the x5 was barely noticeable, just a higher shift point. Plus the rev matching is soooo addictive!