What a great day in general! I had to visit a customer about an hour from my house this afternoon to close a very very big business deal. I drove the Jag. I had already been given a verbal commitment, but we just needed to sign the papers. The weather was incredible. I had the top down, windows down, and the wind deflector down on the way there. I had my music cranked up. I took the back roads and passing other cars with ease.

At one point I accidentally learned what happens if you over-rev the engine. I was shifting manually with the J-gate and with the music cranked up I couldn't really hear the engine (even with the X-pipe). I dropped it down into second to pass a slower car, and as I was easing back into the right lane the engine started hesitating. It was a very rhythmic pulsation as the ECU limited the engine speed. At first I thought something was wrong, but then I glanced down and saw the tach at the red line. I quickly pulled the lever down a couple of notches and the pulsation instantly went away.

So then I was a little worried I might have damaged something, but it seemed just the opposite! The car was running like a racehorse anxious to go even faster. A little blip on the throttle my head would jerk backward! Floor it to pass and I would be at ninety in what seemed like an instant! I parked for an hour to sign the contract with the customer, and on the way home the car seemed even MORE anxious to go fast! The temperature was 78 (25 for you non-Americans), the car was running unlike I've ever experience it run before. I know I was pissing some people off because I was weaving in and out of traffic as I passed through a couple of little towns. Then I came around a curve and there was a nice, long straight section of road stretching out in front of me. I just floored it until I got scared. Then I kept it floored for a few more seconds until I was terrified. I was thinking "Thank goodness I replaced that bad tire". I glanced down at the speedometer a few seconds before I eased up on the gas pedal and the speedometer read one-thirtysomething. When I finally slowed down to a reasonable speed I punched up my max speed on the GPS and here's what I saw:



That's probably the fastest I'll ever go. At least in the Jag. Maybe if I buy a Ferrari some day I'll go faster, but I don't think I'll be going that fast in a convertible ever again.

By the way, the tonneau cover stayed on just fine.

 

I'd have to use the chin-straps for my toupee at that speed.

 

In my mind I'm driving my Jag in Carolina!

 

HAHAHA!! Oh my God, you go man! That's exactly what I love about mine too... it just begs for you to drive them with a heavy foot.

But, I've only taken mine to about 120 something. Wow. Good job!

 

Rev, I didn't realize you were only 18!

 

How can you guess his age from him driving his car just as it was meant to be driven?

 

Yeah, I know. I was thinking pretty much the same thing as I was doing it, but it was just one of those days. The last few months have been pretty good to me, and today was like a celebration. And the car was performing unbelievably well. Sometimes the car seems just a little sluggish, but today it felt like it had an extra hundred horsepower.

Anyway, It's behind me now, but it was a blast.

 

Oh yeah... shortly after I slowed down from my burst of speed I started wondering if you guys would ever find out if I ended up taking the eternal dirt-nap. If I suddenly disappear, wait a month. If no one has heard from me just go ahead and put my name in the memorial thread.

 

sounds like you had a blast in more ways than one Sam.......146 is pretty fast, nice one!

Sounds like the big deal means you have an extra few $$$$$......New XKR on the shopping list maybe?

 

Now I'm a little disappointed that I didn't just hold the pedal down for a few more seconds to see if the governor would actually kick in. I'm not going to be doing that again, but now I'm thinking "if only..."


Actually I'm dreaming of one of those Maserati GranTurismo convertibles. It won't be on my shopping list anytime soon, but that's my dream car right now. That might change in the next year or two, though. About a year and a half ago wanted a Lotus Elise, but I grew out of that. I'd love to get both an XKR coupe and a GranTurismo Convertible, but that means I'd need a bigger garage. And then my wife would be very unhappy if I parked two cars in the garage and she didn't even get to park one. So I'd have to buy a whole new house. It just gets complicated...

 

Well you just suck, it's snowing here today It was 75 on Tuesday though, so that was my topless day.

 

177 mph speed governor.

 

Nice to read you enjoyed your time and had a good momments with your Jag

 

146 m/h. He, he, he.

Before I had the XKRs, I took my Nissan 300ZX over to Germany to get a bit of unrestricted Autobahn driving in - still didn't get it up to 146 mph though.

 

Just reading that post made my heart beat fast. I can't imagine that speed in a convertible. What did it sound like?

 

This is all I could hear:

YouTube - Big & Rich - Save A Horse [Ride A Cowboy] (Video)

 

If I went 146 MPH, I would also have to go bottomless........or at least wear a diaper!!!

 

Dittos here Sam...yesterday I drove 2 hrs each way to my Dads house to help him put a starter motor on his 1976 Triumph TR6. Beautiful day fast, smooth car and a great drive with the top down. No problems. no Jagremlins and a BIG smile on my face the whole way! Glad I bought that radar detector though...

 

Woke up to a couple of inches of snow this morning, so I really hate reading this thread. Think I'll go out to the garage take the cover off, put the top down and make vroom-vroom noises and pretend its not still winter then go back in and hybernate some more. Really, best wishes to all you lucky folks who can do it for real.

 

Wuss! I drove my XKR to work today in West Michigan. I did go with the top up though. lol





Sadly my daily driver is waiting on a new set of shift cable bushings and retainer clips (5th Gear in a Dodge Neon ain't doable without great effort and eau de clutch). Otherwise, I'd prefer not to drive the Jaguar in snow.