'Anyone else see this video? I can only wonder how much our cars hate being driven like this and how many codes it's throwing at the end.

 

What? hate being driven like this? The XK8 is designed and engineered to run and handle like a true sports car. Sure it is a bit over weight but, with a few minor changes it should be able to hold it's own against any of its contemporaries.

If I could I would love to run my XK8 on a track day at my two favorite tracks: Willow Springs Raceway or even Laguna Seca (though it may be too heavy for that track IMO).

 

Set three codes off on my XK8 in the garage just for watching the video.

 

While I haven't and wouldn't track my 2002XKR because it's just a little too sloppy (handling) for the track and is just not very tossable, there is certainly nothing in this video that would warrant codes or concern for a well cared for car. I can assure you that these cars were subjected to much more rigorous testing during development and can handle more punishment than this.

I do, however, take my 2010XKR to the track several times a year and have not had issues save for tire wear. It's quick, handles itself very well, and is fun on the track because it's so much tighter and more powerful than my 2002. If driving conservatively enough to never "throw a code" is the goal of owning a high performance car, then why bother to own one.

 

While there is nothing in the video to warrant concern I do have a couple of thoughts about the comments above, just my 2 cents which is not worth much!

tberg, as you noted, you track your 2010 XKR completely different car than an XK8

Cyber3d, the XK8 is far from a true sports cars. These are Grand Touring cars, designed to provided a comfortable "sports feeling" experance for the person desiring more style in long distance travel than driving a brick!

While the XK8 would certainly be fun to run around a track there's no chance it would be competitive

 

Nice lines. Very smooth...And he passed the Porsche !

 

where is the speedometer ??

 

In order to race my baby, I would first need to fabricate a roof, have a tyre manufacturer start making racing tyres for cars weighing 2 tons, remove all the suspension to allow the body to react in a Kart like way, and sadly remove my heated, powered, supportive driver's seat......sob......sob, and pretty much ruin a great luxury car.

Contrary to popular belief, the XK8/R was not designed as a sports car, but as a luxury car, harkening to the days when Jaguar had actually built the most beautiful sports car in the world. Having owned both; as much as I loved how my E Type looked, and drove, I think Jaguar made great strides in the 30 years between the last E Type, and the first XK8/R. I will never forget driving my 67 XKE across the Rocky Mountains, in a rain storm, and ending up with diaper rash, from my seat getting wet due to the design of the tops in those days......

We are all just dealing with old car problems now, as the E Type people dealt with prior to their car's prices going through the roof. With any luck the same will happen to us......Be cool.....Mike

 

X308 XJR is a good track day car as you can see
1.38.2 is not a bad time. Needs just a good driver.

 

We can count the number of laps. We know the elapsed time. We can look up the track length. Wouldn't be rocket science from there to calculate the average speed if anyone's that curious.

 

The only issue taking an XK8 to a track day would be dealing with the embarrassment of being passes so easily by four door family saloons.


Did you notice the Honda Civic blast by, realistically, the XK8 "sports" handling is very poor, while it gentile touring is just fine.

 

My xkr feels much lighter than it actually is. Its definitely a GT car however if you read most all reviews of this car when it came out handeling was rated pretty dam well....Seat support not so much. Anyway at 4,000lbs it does a pretty dam good job. My opinion of course....

 

Great videos, looks like an auto can be great fun on track!

 

Hi all,
I guess the fact that such is the fear that many owners (justifiably in my opinion) have of codes popping up that watching the video makes one think they will appear. So one could say the comments on this post say more about the cars than the actual video
surely nothing in fast driving around a track should cause any codes, which are there to identify faults, not unusual or rigorous driving.
If a car is capable of delivering a performance then that performance should be considered as normal, although of course very hard on the car.
As for me, I fear of codes appearing just backing out of my driveway
I live in fear of my car’s computer! Dont get me wrong, I’m a great fan of my Jaguars but obviously the ‘wheels fell off’ somewhere in their design or manufacture that many owners fear codes. As an amateur mechanic that performs his own work on his cars nothing is more frustrating that codes appearing from nowhere. Reasonably basic repairs I can deal with but suddenly the car telling me it’s low on brake fluid when obviously it’s full is frustrating.
ultimately I wish I had the resources to drive my Jags on the track but the maintenance would kill me. Congratulations to those who can.
Regards as all
al

 

Many of the random DTCs that appear are not the result of a design flaw, but more indicative of a failing or weak battery.

 

It's fascinating. There appear to be a couple of disparate groups of drivers commenting around here (not just on this thread). One group is terrified of ticking off the car by driving it, say, at WOT. And it appears that there is another group of people who regularly drive fairly aggressively and stomp the pedal as a matter of course (like me, if I can punch it, i do. I drove a diesel VW new bug to work for a decade for the gas mileage. Never again!). I'd guess there are also some in the middle.

Probably has something to do with perceived risk aversion vs. perceived benefit. However, it is not apparent that any of us driving the cars more aggressively have had any more issues with 'codes', except, perhaps with some transmission issues. For example, it seems more likely that a spurious brake fluid code would occur from chronic gentle use rather than chronic less gentle use. These cars were designed to do this, and it seems a shame if they weren't able to do this. (As always, of course, it is your car, needing no one's permission to treat it however you'd like).

Another example, the previous owner of my green one was terrified that the new driver was going to take the newly purchased car that had been babied into a couple hundred miles in about a year down the Merritt Parkway, NJ Turnpike, I-95, I-85, home in one day (~600 miles). It's unclear he ever reached highway speeds while he owned it, and he treated it like a porcelain doll.

Cut to the punchline, the car was a dream for the new Jag driver to drive down the road for over 10 hours. She was driving much more aggressively than she ever drove the Jetta that was replaced when she got home. To her, the car demanded/offered it (and perhaps I suggested it to counter the idea that it was fragile). Has it been less reliable than the diesel Jetta? Not particularly, but expect it will be less reliable long term, but there's nothing that diesel reliability can do to replace the breeze while running with the top down in the sun...

So, my impression is that some/much of the 'frailty' of these cars is superstition. That's not to say they don't need a capacious amount of maintenance (and engines and transmissions blow up) just to say that it doesn't seem particularly correlated with aggressive use, and it doesn't appear to be any different than comparable BMWs and Mercedes of this generation.

Bottom line, I'd be exhausted if I had to worry about the car every time I left the driveway, and it is a joy to drive freely. But, it's not a race car, speaking of the need to be babied...

 

If someone could chime in, i seem to recall that a first generation XK8 coupe was track tested, perhaps competed or time tested, in the UK, and performed very well. From what i remember, the rules were that the suspension must remain totally stock, but the engine could have the emissions equipment removed and be tuned for race application. I have no idea as to the interior cabin modifications.

Will definitely say two things. The driver in the video was probably the most comfortable person on that track. Definitely was a very good thing to do for the engine. It probably runs even better now as getting up to higher operating temperatures and burning off the carbon deposits always helps. The cats are probably cleaner. As long as not red-lined, abused with shock loads or run with known problems of tune or systems, engines benefit from being run at the upper bands. Cannot begin to tell you how many bearings are ruined by people reving and doing burn outs especially with cold oil as is common on the street.

 

Me and Jaguar codes/warning lights are old friends. No worries here.

 

Perhaps because this was an otherwise outstanding post, the above line jumps out at me as being a little off center in accuracy. I drove both of my e types in snow, rain, and even outran a couple of tornadoes in the ‘67. Nary a drop of liquid soaked my drawers. Well, OK, I did nearly wet myself when a few mountain passes suddenly became too slick for all 4 wheels to stay comfortably between the lines. But I can’t fault the top for that. The e types were very good long distance cars and I gave them all the highway miles that the USA had to offer from the late 1970’s to the late ‘80’s.

However, as much as I loved them, I was 40 years younger then. Time marched on and as a daily driver these days I’ll gladly give a nod to the XK’s in all categories save one. The e types were and likely still are the best car ever made for getting the attention of the fairer sex.

Z

PS. It pains me to write this, but compared to other cars on the track back in the day, the e types were ALSO too heavy, especially for the power produced.

 

I'm sure it has a few more, but it can be done! Lol
This one would be nice to see run!