As I have a front suspension overhaul in the near future, I decided to give my 1999 4.0L NA car a bit of an “Italian tune up.” Wanted to see what road driving problems were caused by my worn out bad suspension.

Sports mode, Heavy right foot, late left foot braking, sharp turn ins and hard acceleration out of corners. 16 mile run, mixed freeway, urban and few roundabouts and car was fine. Back end stepped out twice and only had 1 clunk from front left (maybe hit road gully).

BIG GRIN afterwards.

For the politicaly correct, it’s probably best not to mention the 9.6 MPG recorded for this jolly.

 

I'm a big fan of the ITU. I remember when I first took ownership of the car after my uncle died. I flew down to his condo in Chicago to pick the car. It had been started up and driven lightly around the city for the past 6 or so months, but way too occasionally (it was infrequent enough that the battery died a couple times). The car was really rough for the first 50 or so miles, but after stretching its legs and putting it through its paces (and also getting pulled over in Indiana for speeding), the car was happy again. It stayed happy for the next 900 or so miles.

Even now, the car seems happier and calmer after a spirited run down the freeway on a Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. this past weekend, I got to maintain a pretty steady 150 kph, and got it up to 180 a couple of times when passing. Swerved through some back roads, and when I parked it in the garage, the idle was smooth as its ever been. (and the misfire issue seems to have cleared itself for now when the introduction of fresh gas and a new spark plug).

I'm pretty convinced that some of the best maintenance for these cars is just driving them.

 

9.6 mpg ?

the XKR would love to have that after a WOT drive.

Not going to say the actual number because I don't speak in FRACTIONS below 1.0



Z

 

I agree that I was expecting a bit better mpg on my 2005 XKR when I bought it. The car it replaced was a 1995 Corvette where I typically got 15 mpg plus-or-minus based mostly on my daily short commutes from home to work on streets. What I typically get with the Jag is about 13.7 mpg. I should mention that my driving style with both cars was very mild--almost never floored the pedal (sorry). On the other hand with both of these vehicles, once they were on the freeway they would easily get 25 mpg. Then again I doubt anyone here (including me) bought their vehicle based on mpg

Doug

 

As I am not mechanically inclined and until this post have not researched the engine(will now) so I'm not sure about engine size(4.0) power in the one('99 shown in pic) I bought two months ago. It has 82k on it but it had not been driven any appreciable amount for three years. Sat in my sister's garage with a couple trips around town in those three years..... maybe 15-20 miles per trip. I drove it 650 miles across Texas and it actually purred.... hehehe, and got 23 mpg. Speed limit in Texas on most rural highways is now 75mph so 'normal' driving for me was about 5-8 mph over that (chicken to get a ticket in rural Texas) but because I was not using cruise control would find myself at 100mph without any effort.....

Haven't computed in town mpg yet....

 

Well we all seem to appreciate non political correctness here so here's some thoughts on our cars (mine is a definitely a "She").

Warning: Turn away now if you don't have a sense of humor.

1. Decided on this girl due to her beautiful curvaceous body and luxurious British accent
2. I just knew she would be high maintenance and need a fat wallet (probably a general rule in life when dealing with beauty)
3. Without love, her performance depreciates with age (don't we all)
4. Love the noises she makes
5. She purrs better after I've given her a good beating
6. Surgical modifications can improve things
7. She does strange things without me knowing why
8. She speaks to me in gobbly-gook Pxxxx language which needs encyclopedic knowledge to decipher

 

I couldn't agree more. Mine is a she until something goes wrong and then she's an it.
And since we are talking about mine, I have to add that she's got a big boot and it
will probably end with an ugly separation. Until then, faster pussycat !!