There are some interesting cars to be offered soon, 2014-18. I already have my eye ***** looking and I haven't even taken delivery of my new 2013 XKR.

With the XKR being morphed into a larger sedan like version I will not consider it as a second car. I also find the F-type not exotic enough and with no luggage space a real pain. My new Jag may be my last--I hope not. However, some other brands are due to release some interesting rides.

I'm talking about the Acura NSX (ready for 2014), Nissan's redesigned GT-R R36 (scheduled for 2018). With sophisticated electronics and AWD becoming mainstream on high performance cars I like the position of the above two cars.

Jaguar needs to really step up its quality and offerings to compete with the above and other future performance cars. I'm a little disappointed with the new F-type; I thought it would have been introduced with better performance and electronics. However, Jaguar has said it will improve on the F-type with every iteration. I'd like to see a R-S with AWD, dual clutch transmission and sophisticated electronics. This is the way future performance cars are going. With the current configuration of the F-type this is a lot to ask for.

For now I'm happy with my 2013 XKR. In 2-3 years?

 

I am happy with intro of the F-Type. They need a manual transmission model for me to get excited about it. It does not have to be the fastest car in the paddock to be the most enjoyable; Aston has known this for a while.

As for future cars, the Alfa 4C or any Alfa is on the top of my list. Lower priced Maserati coupe is also up there. I am not in the car market for maybe 3 more years, so will have see what's what then. I tend to buy used, so maybe an XKR-S will be meant to be?

If you have a blue or white XKR-S coupe, keep me in mind if you plan to sell in a few years. ;-)

 

I think it's a bit early to be assuming Jaguar will do a 'Panamera' on the 2015 XK. The XK8 had more-useable rear seats than the XK, and I'd welcome a chassis with a few more inches if it provided enough rear-seat legroom to allow the seats to be used.

I've seen a number of articles that suggest the car will be 'a little larger' , mostly based on a Callum interview with Autocar:

“It could grow into the luxury market, and grow in size,” Callum said. “Whether it stays the same as a two-plus-two or becomes a two-plus-more-than-two has not been committed to yet.”.

That doesn't mean it has to be lardy.

 

I'm not only concerned about the size of the new XKR. I'm also concerned with Jaguar keeping up with state of the art car quality, modern electronics for stability control and AWD delivery, dual clutch transmission, etc. With a brand new model introduced, I expect to see some of these qualities. Instead the F-type maintains, almost, the same drive train components as the old XKR platform. I'm afraid the new Japanese cars will be built with much better electronics and performance and will increase the gap even more by raising the bar.

 

AWD adds weight & complexity, and cost, and cars like the GT-R tend to run in 2WD mode most of the time anyway. Of course, you have Canadian winters to think of, but most of us would seldom really exploit the benefits. Perhaps having it as an option, as they now do for the XF & XJ in some markets, would be a good thing - I think I'd prefer to save the weight.

DSG is a good question - I'm well impressed with the 7-speed VW DSG in our Fabia, but it takes a fairly mighty beast to handle the sort of power an XKR has. The GR6 box in the GT-R is an incredible piece of engineering, but it's taken them a few years to get it properly reliable - and if you break it, it's an expensive thing to fix and even worse to replace. And, again, it's heavy; about 30% heavier than the ZF 6-speed auto.

Then again, of course, the next XK could be a hybrid.

They already are - the GT-R and the LFA are better cars in performance terms, and they have far better electronics. But we all bought Jags anyway...

 

Yes, we love our Jags! I think the current XKR is good value in the current market, especially used 1-3 years old.

 

Indeed, we love our Jags. We purchased them mostly for their looks as the Jags are way behind in many high tech aspects and even way behind in handling setup. The later is a mystery to me because England is famous for its racing constructors that all understand what it takes to make car handle well.

I would still chose the XKR-s among many similar priced competition but, chose it for the same reason I chose my other 5 jags; for the looks and comfort. Even the XKR-s has rather poor stock handling, which is very obvious when comparing it against others on a race track. No excuse for that, a few changes could turn that car into one with super sharp handling. On the other hand, in the Motor Trend comparison test I posted in a different thread, many testers said that at less than full performance the XKR-s was the most comfortable car of the group. But, that does not excuse that the XKR-s has a dead steering and still too much body roll and understeer. That is why it was by far the slowest on the track.

I too have to fight a battle with myself when thinking of new purchases; Do I get the XKR-s with its gorgeous looks or do I get something more common, such as the new Vette with its nice looks but superior handling and high tech electronics? Ask me different days and I will have different answers to that dilemma.

Albert

 

Well said. Too bad our cars couldn't morph into our thoughts and desires of the day.

 

As a happy and proud owner of an Acura NSX for the last 17 years (as well as a Jag XK for the last 9 mo.) I'd vote for the new NSX. Those folks don't mess around! Here are some quotes from Automobile Magazine after they tested the original NSX ...

"Acura's new NSX rewrites the super-car league rules."

"A writer's real challenge is to find the words that express how good the NSX is."

"There are about twenty important new technologies incorporated."

"The NSX is a towering engineering achievement."

"Where other cars pursue excellence in one area - while compromising quality in another - the NSX has optimized performance in every field."

"The NSX is a better car than any similarly priced rival."

"It is almost certainly the best car of its type ever made."

And there's no doubt in my mind that the new NSX will garner similair comments from car magazines!

 

I can't wait to see one when they come out next year. They claim to achieve 1-60 in 3 seconds with only 410 hp. I think this is overly ambitious given the GT-R with launch control and AWD and 540 hp does it in 2.8.

I think Jaguar missed a good opportunity to built something really special with the F-type. Instead, they're kicking the can down the road and not being very innovative.