Saying a sad farewell to the XKR...and hello to a new toy.
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Joined: Sep 2011
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From: Dunsford, Ontario
Saying a sad farewell to the XKR...and hello to a new toy.
I've had an incredibly happy two years with the 2010 XKR. It was everything I hoped it would be, and much more. I felt the same way driving it top down on a balmy summer evening at 58 as I did in the XKE at 20 with the top down. Both were remarkably smooth handling for their respective performance, comfortable, stunning to look at...and one of them was dead reliable!
My most memorable times in the XKR were driving to distant race tracks where I'd be gone for a couple or three days, sometimes with my wife. To be able to pack up everything you need for that and fit it with ease into a car that you could then blast around the track, dicing it up competently with some pretty fast hardware, is truly impressive. And it's so comfortable when you just want to cruise in a mellow mood, or rip through some twisties in spirited fashion. I've just loved everything about it.
I bought it 2 years old as a Jaguar Canada car that had been used just one summer, and in the dealers showroom for another. It had about 15,000 kms and it now has about 28,500 km, so that's 13.5k of use, or about 8000 miles. I planned to sell it before the warranty expired March 2015, but I found its replacement now, and had a good opportunity to sell the XKR with relatively little loss. I paid $84,500 and netted $74,580 as a trade-in, factoring in the savings on sales tax on the new car purchase by trading it in. That's $10k on a two year old high-end car...amazing. Dealer retail asking price here is around $75,000 as well, and I might have been able to get $70-72k in the spring, so I was ahead trading it in.
What I was looking for in the next car was even higher performance, and a more engaging and visceral driving experience. Something that was over-the-top thrilling, even when just cruising. And something with over-the-top performance at the track, and a high ability that would really challenge me as a driver to extract that performance. I've found that with the new 2014 SRT Viper TA. Mine will be black instead of the orange pictured below.
It looks large because of being quite low, but is actually shorter than a 911. It's light weight at 33xx pounds, and has 640 hp and 600 lbft torque from its 8.4 L V10 through a 6 speed manual gear box. The TA stands for Track Attack, and it's currently the most track capable Viper. It also holds the production car track lap record at Laguna Seca where many high performance sports cars have been tested over the years. So it's a fast and impressive handling car by the looks of things. But beyond that, it's a very engaging car to drive, and there will never be a dull moment behind it's wheel. We also have a pristine Toyota Supra Twin turbo with removable targa roof for fun in the sun driving, and its roof was off most of last summer.
It's been a real pleasure meeting so many other genuine Jaguar enthusiasts on this forum. I have to give the forum moderators here recognition for doing such a great job at encouraging and maintaining such a pleasant experience for all. This forum is a class act all around, just like the Marque itself! I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to buy another modern Jaguar in the future, and expect to drop by every now and then to say hello!
Happy Holidays!
Bruce
My most memorable times in the XKR were driving to distant race tracks where I'd be gone for a couple or three days, sometimes with my wife. To be able to pack up everything you need for that and fit it with ease into a car that you could then blast around the track, dicing it up competently with some pretty fast hardware, is truly impressive. And it's so comfortable when you just want to cruise in a mellow mood, or rip through some twisties in spirited fashion. I've just loved everything about it.
I bought it 2 years old as a Jaguar Canada car that had been used just one summer, and in the dealers showroom for another. It had about 15,000 kms and it now has about 28,500 km, so that's 13.5k of use, or about 8000 miles. I planned to sell it before the warranty expired March 2015, but I found its replacement now, and had a good opportunity to sell the XKR with relatively little loss. I paid $84,500 and netted $74,580 as a trade-in, factoring in the savings on sales tax on the new car purchase by trading it in. That's $10k on a two year old high-end car...amazing. Dealer retail asking price here is around $75,000 as well, and I might have been able to get $70-72k in the spring, so I was ahead trading it in.
What I was looking for in the next car was even higher performance, and a more engaging and visceral driving experience. Something that was over-the-top thrilling, even when just cruising. And something with over-the-top performance at the track, and a high ability that would really challenge me as a driver to extract that performance. I've found that with the new 2014 SRT Viper TA. Mine will be black instead of the orange pictured below.
It looks large because of being quite low, but is actually shorter than a 911. It's light weight at 33xx pounds, and has 640 hp and 600 lbft torque from its 8.4 L V10 through a 6 speed manual gear box. The TA stands for Track Attack, and it's currently the most track capable Viper. It also holds the production car track lap record at Laguna Seca where many high performance sports cars have been tested over the years. So it's a fast and impressive handling car by the looks of things. But beyond that, it's a very engaging car to drive, and there will never be a dull moment behind it's wheel. We also have a pristine Toyota Supra Twin turbo with removable targa roof for fun in the sun driving, and its roof was off most of last summer.
It's been a real pleasure meeting so many other genuine Jaguar enthusiasts on this forum. I have to give the forum moderators here recognition for doing such a great job at encouraging and maintaining such a pleasant experience for all. This forum is a class act all around, just like the Marque itself! I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to buy another modern Jaguar in the future, and expect to drop by every now and then to say hello!
Happy Holidays!
Bruce
Last edited by Bruce H.; Dec 22, 2013 at 09:41 AM.
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May 3, 2014, 09:37 PM
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Veteran Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 1,262
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From: Dunsford, Ontario
By popular demand...
I picked up my new black ’14 TA on April 23rd, having watched the Reliable Transport pull up, unload, and the Viper tech PDI it. I ordered it through Islington Chrysler, and Kris Rams made the transaction very easy over the phone, including pricing my XKR trade fairly. I hadn’t seen a Gen V when I ordered it, but the help received on the forums and media reviews were very effective at telling me everything I needed to know.
The 500 mile break-in was finished quickly, as was the paint protection film and 6 point harness install, in preparation for this week's track day at Mosport (renamed Canadian Tire Motorsports Park). SRT will be running the #91 and 93 here in July in the Tudor Race Series. My very early impressions are based on having had other high performance sports cars, but never having even sat in a Viper, and the only previous experience having been chasing them around road courses for years! I’ll start with the positives…
The car is stunning visually, fit and finish inside and out looks very good, and the paint is spectacular. Everything about the car is purposeful, and if you appreciate a “form follows function” design then this is it. It has a simplicity that is refreshing, with little in the way of embellishment for its own sake. You get the sense that nothing is on the car that wasn’t needed to provide an engaging driving experience and world-class performance on the road and road course. The interior and controls is a model of simplicity, and the comprehensive U-connect infotainment system is a welcome nod to modern technology, as is the mandated and flexible Electronic Stability Control and Traction Control system. If you turn off the ESC then there’s no nannies between the driver and the car, well except for ABS.
Simple and refined interior is all business. 6 point harness added.
The ballistic nylon seats in the TA are very comfortable, providing the good lower back support I require. I’m 5’10, 215 lbs, and have ample headroom even with a helmet on. These manual TA seats do lower more than the power seats in other models I understand, and if you’re much taller it would be smart to sit in one to confirm. The headliner forms a low windshield header that some comment on, but it’s just a non-issue for me, and not something I even notice after just 7 days. Pedals seem nicely positioned, and my fairly narrow driving shoes are perfect for this fairly tight area.
Performance is visceral, violent, scalpel sharp, immediate, intense…and addictive. Those are the qualities I was looking for, along with classic and timeless styling and exclusivity. Lots of great cars that offer other mixes of qualities, but not a single other car that offered this complete mix. They aren’t exactly popular goals either as exclusivity and performance generally cost beyond the financial reach of most. Just don’t be too surprised if all your car buds aren’t racing out to buy one! No excuses required.
Hood vents
Rear spoiler
I dropped by the track a couple of days ago and an aero dynamist I know looked over the car with great interest. He explained that the design of the 6 vent hood would be very effective at reducing drag and lift by allowing more engine compartment airflow to be released over the hood rather that under the car, and that the lowered middle section of the rear aero spoiler was designed to create air vortices rather than turbulence behind the car, and in doing so reduce drag while optimizing down-force. And I thought it was lower so you could see out the back!
Brake duct inlet in place of rear quarter window
The car is just a blast to drive, and it was an easy switch from the long and low Supra TT and XKR. The attention it draws is unreal, and you do have to watch that others around you don’t get distracted and cause an accident. Rear quarter vision is non-existent, but the back-up camera is excellent for showing what is directly behind you. I park in such a way that I can drive forward wherever possible. Ride quality is surprising good, and I was prepared for it to be much less compliant. It’s quite similar to the hi-po/luxury XKR grand tourer on 20” wheels we traded.
Dual side exhaust
Now for the negatives…I’m going to have to get back to you on that one since after just 7 days I haven’t discovered any yet, with the possible exception of the exhaust if I find it gets annoying on a longer trip. Otherwise I love that too, and have earplugs in the glove box just in case! If you were to do a spread sheet of all the features that various super cars have you would likely find several that the TA or other Vipers don’t have. Most buyers would trade the unique points of the Viper for heated and cooled seats, or E-diff, or AWD, or an auto/DCT, or CCB.s, or a vert, or the more modern creased-edge designs or whatever, and that’s all good. But I was happy to trade-in a car with some of those features for the simplicity and performance focus of the Viper…and couldn’t be happier.
8.4L V10 mid-mounted, 640hp/600Tq, carbon fiber cross brace chassis reinforcement
Today I attended a 6th Gear Lapping day at Mosport. It was a rather cold, blustery and wet day, but one filled with great accomplishment. I started with some informal skid pad circles in an empty parking area, gently adding speed until tire grip was exceeded. The fronts gave good feedback well before they let go, and when they did a slight throttle lift shifted enough weight over them to regain grip, and resume the fixed radius circle. The rear remained glued unless enough power was suddenly added to provoke a shift from natural under-steer to throttle-on power over-steer.
Mosport paddock
Because it was my first time on the track since it was significantly changed last year, and my first track day in the TA, 6th Gear offered to send me out with a professional coach. I had him do the skid pad routine as well to familiarize himself with the car before I took it out on the track.
He helped guide me to the best wet line, and made some helpful suggestions regarding driving smoothness that seemed rather essential in today’s conditions. He’s instructed in a number of Viper’s in the past and said this was the first one he wasn’t scared to be in! Not sure if that was because the car felt better to him, but I’m going to go with the driver’s confidence-inspiring high level of skill being the reason! He didn’t have any students for the morning so ended up being out with me for about two hours. A fellow was also there with his ACR-X but it was too wet to drive, and he came out with me for maybe 25 minutes after lunch during the only brief time it stopped raining. We also spent a long while talking Viper’s and the differences on the Gen V.
Taking the "Wet Line" where more grip can be found
The car handled like a champ. I got it a bit loose twice, once going into T5a with a slightly abrupt downshift, and once going into T8 with a bit too much trail-braking. Rear just stepped out a little and was easy to gather up. I had the full ESC on of course, and I never noticed it intervening, although I would think it had been. Nothing like the XKR where it would kill the throttle on corner exit if it had sensed any loss of grip what-so-ever. Rear grip under throttle was better than I had expected, but there was just a hint that I was accelerating at the tire’s limit, and the coach sensed it also. A slight bump in the back straight caused a bit of slip for an instant. I saw 181 kph during one glance, and that felt plenty fast in the rain through the slight kink of T7 and cresting the hill right before T8. Great gearing, and nice close ratios where you want them. My unusual heel and toe technique doesn’t work in this car, but a wider pair of driving shoes should fix that. The car is quite sensitive to slight steering and brake inputs, and I recall Randy Pobst commenting that you have to slow down your hands on the wheel a little. A couple of other drivers commented on how much spray the car kicked up with the wide tires. Those damn mmmassive tires...I just hate that, and the thunderous exhaust that shook the tower and drew universal praise
Btw, I’ve been meaning to ask...is ringing in the ears normal? Looking forward to peeling back the next layer of performance with a dry day there on May 14th, and feel lucky my first day was focused on being smooth on a slippery track!
My 7 day ownership focus was getting it ready for a successful day at the track, and it came together well. I have 5 more track days booked before the end of next month and will be sure to share hightlights of those.
Veteran Member
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,408
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From: Ormond Beach FL
For most of us older owners, common sense would dictate we transcend from Vipers to Jags; not the other way around... Congrats on bucking convention and getting your wheel spin on. Enjoy.
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 6,290
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From: Arlington, VA USA
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Congrats on the new car Bruce.....mean looking machine for sure!
You've been a great contributor here, and we'll be sad to see you go.
Please remember, you'll always be welcome here.
Happy motoring buddy
Best
Jim
You've been a great contributor here, and we'll be sad to see you go.
Please remember, you'll always be welcome here.
Happy motoring buddy
Best
Jim
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 245
Likes: 45
From: Bay Area, CA
You're gonna love the TA, Bruce. And you'll get to run a manual trans again... there's a level of involvement that is so rewarding to get *just* right.
I'll look for you on the Viper Owners Association site (driveviper.com); I'm rw99 there, as well.
Rich
I'll look for you on the Viper Owners Association site (driveviper.com); I'm rw99 there, as well.
Rich
Veteran Member
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 3,054
Likes: 978
From: Canada
It was a pleasure reading your posts on the forum and I look forward to hearing about your experience with your new ride. Don't forget us, you have a wealth of information and experience to share about the XKR. The viper looks and sounds like a fun car. Enjoy your new ride.
Happy holidays and have a fantastic new year in your viper.
Happy holidays and have a fantastic new year in your viper.
