So I have a couple comments and questions, figured I would group them in one post. Nothing major I need help with just curious.

First off, Im 5'11, long torso, I fit ok in my convert but with my hair shortly spiked it does touch the headliner from time to time. Whats it like for you guys over 6' tall ? Also, is there more headroom in the coupe ?

So for the XKR guys....... what kind of gas mileage you getting ? Best I have pulled in the last month (1000 miles) is 18.0 flat. I get 22-23 out of my XJ8. Now I do tend to drive it somewhat more aggressive than the XJ but still I live in the country and expected something closer to 20.

I noticed that upon getting in the car for the first time in the morning , once started the tilt wheel doesnt complete setting itself in the memory position I have it set at. Now, if I drive to the store and get back in it does and not with it being reset. Just doesnt remember it overnight. Thats not normal, maybe weakening battery ? Though the car does start fine.

So those are my not so important thoughts and questions. Thanks in advance for any reply ya might forward.

John

 

I'm 6'2" and I've got no headroom issues in my coupe. Not sure about headroom difference with a top-up convertible. I'm sure you're aware the driver's seat can be moved up and down...make sure yours is down.

 

John,

I'm 6-feet-7 with long legs and long arms. My wife's XK8 convertible allows me zero legroom, even less headroom, and I cannot move the seat back far enough or the steering wheel far enough away from me to get comfortable in the car for more than about 20 miles tops. Any more than that and my knees are screaming, my neck is throbbing, and I just want to crawl out of the cabin and stretch. I wear size 15 to 16 shoes depending upon the brand and with the extremely narrow floor design, there is nowhere for me to put my left foot without impeding the brake pedal movement as well....

With the top down, my head sticks completely above the top of the windshield so sunglasses or goggles would always be a necessity....

Good thing this is my wife's vehicle. I could never drive it more than 15 minutes without getting mad as hell while doing so....

 

Hey John,

I am only about 5'-8" so never have been any headroom issues in any car I have owned.

Re: Gas mileage--stinks! The problem is that most of my driving is about 3 miles to work and 3 miles home in pretty much stop-and-go LA traffic. Luckily at least once a week I toss in some freeway driving or at least street driving with better flow. For the stop-an-go stuff I am only getting about 12-13 mpg. The reason I say this stinks is that even when I had my Corvette which was 350 cubes, I still managed to get 14-15 mpg under the same circumstances.

Re: Memory position--this seem to have been not quite perfected with these cars. For example, I really never readjust any of the settings but every so often I will hit the memory recall button to see what happens. Sometimes, nothing moves but I will get the chime that says things are already in the right position. But every so often the seat will move a bit into some odd position. With the steering wheel, I do notice that over time it does not move into quite the exact position it should be in (generally ends up a smidgeon too low) so I need to move it up a bit. These things were worse when the battery was old but still happens occasionally even with a new battery. Probably just some quirkiness with the various position sensors.

Doug

 

I've been of the firm belief, for many years now, that no chair is made for anyone over 6' tall. Especially auto seats. The cushions are short, they sit almost flat on the floor, the shoulders are so low that the portion of the back that tilts forward for those of 'normal' height pushes against our shoulders, forcing us to sit like hunchbacks. The only good seating I've witnessed over the years is found in full-size American pickup trucks of the '60s.

 

I can drive all day in my 1999 Dodge Ram 1500-series 5.9-litre V8 pickup. Plenty of legroom and headroom even with me being 6-feet-7. I can drive for about three hours in our 2005 S-Type 3.0 before I need to get out and stretch. Forget about driving my wife's 2004 Lexus RX330 SUV or 2006 XK8 convertible for more than 20 minutes at a time....

 

13-ish city, 22-ish highway. I'm a lead foot though.


My XKR has this issue. The ambient temperature affects this. If it's cold out it doesn't want to work right. If it's warm, it functions perfectly.

 

The Rs tranny pre-2003, either the 5_sp merc or ZF, will lower youravg mileage by at least 2-3 MPG in mixed driving.

My wheel forgets in the morning too...its always the transition between the reach and tilt, gets hung after reach stops and doesn't tilt. Pull the key, and back in results in both actions succeeding. She likes to try my patience

 

I'm 6'8" and I'm actually comfortable in my convertible. Probably because I am thin (I'm only about 180 lbs) with (relatively) small size 12 feet. I prefer the wheel as close to me as possible and as low as possible with the seat as far back as possible and as low as possible. With a slight recline and getting my feet in the proper position, I can drive for hours in more comfort than I have had in bigger cars.

Now one of my coworkers wanted a ride once, and he's 6'11" and 300+ lbs. The passenger side has less room anyway, but it was comical to see him in there. His head was definitely above the windshield while mine isn't, so of course I subjected him to 100+ mph speeds He still loves the car, but won't ever ride in it again

 

I'm 6 3 and a half... (wish i could dump that half) and 199lbs. Maybe i'm just used to not fitting so well in ANY car but i do end up making myself pretty comfortable in the XK8. It's a convertible and a non-R car (normally aspirated). I put the seat bottom all the way down, move the seat forward until my legs just tough the dash- then back off the slightest bit. Then tilt the seat pretty far back. My head doesn't touch the roof. Also i put the lumbar support all the way out and i drive with no shoes, but i do that on all my cars. City mileage for me is 21 to 22 and that's all city driving and i don't baby it but don't race it around either.

 

I'm 6' 4" and fit well in my XKR convert, no head issues with the top up. I do hit the wiper switch with my knee once in a while. I've driven it 500 miles a day and have no problems, it's one of the most comfortable cars I've owned.

 

Thanks guys for the comments, appreciated.

 

The pre 2001 cars can have the seats move more backwards with a rail extender; this had a good side effect as it also lowered the seat, so I have no issues with my 1.90m.

 

I'm 5'9" and about 150 with size 8 narrow feet. No issues, but then again, I feel right at home in Lotus Esprits and Elises.

I get about 18-19 in mixed driving (mostly backroads and in city roads) with my Merc transmission 2000 XKR.

 

AVOS, was the rail extender a Jag part, or home mod that some owners added? I could use that.

 

Me too. It's not bad now, but more room is always better

 

Its not a jaguar part, I bought it 10 years ago from Arden, and it is just a block of steel with holes in it (cost me of course a fortune, but they fitted it also), would do it myself now.

 

Any chance you can get the dimensions and hole spacing for us?

 

Will see if I can see it with the seats in place, possibly this weekend.

 

Cool, thanks.