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In the big picture this was heaven-sent.
Only in Spain would a Jaguar dealer borrow parts from another customers car to come to a pinpoint diagnosis. (usually the entire bank is replaced)
And as luck would have it your timing chain was too laborious to repay the favor.
It was an 1100 mile round trip back to Burgos in northern Spain. Left our holiday location of Competa in southern Spain (inconveniently 30 miles up a twisting mountain road) at 23:00 yesterday in a VW Polo hire car and got back here at 18:30 today in the XK.
Madrid is a 40 mile radius of constant traffic jam. It was OK at 05:00 on the outward journey when traffic was light but desparate on the return at 13:30. I wonder which genius decided moving a Cat D12 on a low loader along the central motorway was a good plan on a Friday lunchtime.
Apart from the crappy traffic how did it drive/feel?
Tremendous. This was the first time I'd been able to run at consistent high speed over distance with no luggage and it handles beautifully. The trip didn't take anything like the time shown on the Google map! Power on steep climbs is impressive (much more so than my previous 2007 4.2) and nothing could keep up. Surprised to see that the top end BMW''s and Mercedes are comparable on the flat but not when it comes to steep climbs. I used the recommended 95 octane fuel and tried a tank of 98 but can't say I noticed any appreciable difference.
On the previous times I've been alone in any of my cars on the Continent, I'd noticed a RHD attracts a lot of attention which doesn't happen so much with a passenger in the car. This was no exception.
The only traffic congestion was in Madrid and Granada. Other than those two major cities, it's dual carriageway with light traffic all the way down from Burgos to where I turn off the A7 coastal motorway and climb the narrow, twisting roads up into the mountains.
Glad you got her back and all is well once again Graham sounds like you had fun on the return journey!
Obviously it was a major pain, but that said over and done with now.
Just be thankful that as you look after your car so well, it's not a more regular occurrence, you've completed this trip many times before with no incident.
Embarking on the return trip to the UK tomorrow with a 1000 mile run from the Mediterranean through Granada, Madrid and Burgos, across the Pyrenees and up to Poitiers in central France.
XK has run perfectly since collecting it from the dealer so I'm hoping for a totally UNEVENTFUL journey!
