RE: SOTW Jaguar XJ12 HE
Discussion
louismchuge said:
Theres that kid on here who is 13 or 14 with a red XJ40!
Edit: Found him, bought when he was 12!
http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f...
Petrol prices are going to be a stinker by the time he passes his test!
Who cares about the price of petrol. That is merely the cost of enjoyment! You can't put a price on your personal pleasure! Edit: Found him, bought when he was 12!
http://pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f...
Petrol prices are going to be a stinker by the time he passes his test!
Edited by louismchuge on Friday 4th March 14:46
Me and the guy i work with bought one of these about 4 yrs ago, and it was lovely. I picked up in Leeds, and drove it back to Scotland at about 60 mph, and it really wasnt too bad on fuel. It was super cool though, really tidy in and out, with an eighties brick type carphone in it (think Vinny Jones bashing the guys head in) We kept it about a year and it never really went wrong (very few miles though), in the end we let it go, which was probably a mistake, but i bet it took money to MOT. The ride is truly amazing, they are superb, and woffle is right (surprisingly sedate, but you dont care when you drive it !)
Edited by fridgedoctor on Friday 4th March 15:46
to3m said:
Personally, I need to eat, and you can't buy food with driving pleasure 
Still, lovely car. Stylewise, older XJs are a noticeably better-looking (though I'm not so sure about the drag coefficient...) than the ones that replaced them.
i think the drag coefficient might be terrible. if you took your foot off the throttle on the motorway it would feel like you had put your brakes on. love series 111 . had a 4.2 sovereign and wanted a v12.never got around to it unfotunatelyStill, lovely car. Stylewise, older XJs are a noticeably better-looking (though I'm not so sure about the drag coefficient...) than the ones that replaced them.
Fantasic cars, my Dad had one in dark metallic red from new as his company car in the late '80's. The 5.3 replaced a silver 4.2 which in turn replaced an earlier blue 2.8. The 5.3 was replaced with a an XJ-S V12 which he's still got.
He commuted from Essex into Mayfair each day in the 5.3 and used it for work around the country; racked up serious miles in the time that he had it before the XJ-S came along.
Remember my mum running out of fuel shortly after he got it as she hadn't realised that you need to switch the tanks over. Also remember the titantic fuel consumption back then, particularly as having brimmed one tank you had to walk round to do the other side - this explains why we had so many petrol station glasses at home and how he could also complete any set of petrol station giveaway model car promotions in about two weeks.
Once replaced by the XJ-S as the daily driver the 5.3 lived in a Mews garage behind his office on Hill Street and was used as the company limo. Sadly it came to a crunching end on the M1 when one of his staff took it for (an unauthorised) run out. Maybe someone rescued it, I'll post the reg and someone might know.
I never got a chance to drive any of the S3's (my older brother did - jammy get!) but have spent plenty of time driving the XJ-S. Always remember the seemingly effortless way that the S3 5.3 got upto serious speeds on the M25 and that it had great brakes!
Need to find some pics of it in period. He used to park outside the RAC club for a swim on the way to the office - doubt there's a picture of it there though as it would've looked spot on.
IMO an S3 looks right just about anywhere - slinking through town on a wet evening, lights on in lane 3 of the M1 heading back south or outside a grotty industrial unit in Rotherham. Perfect.
I'll buy one one day....
He commuted from Essex into Mayfair each day in the 5.3 and used it for work around the country; racked up serious miles in the time that he had it before the XJ-S came along.
Remember my mum running out of fuel shortly after he got it as she hadn't realised that you need to switch the tanks over. Also remember the titantic fuel consumption back then, particularly as having brimmed one tank you had to walk round to do the other side - this explains why we had so many petrol station glasses at home and how he could also complete any set of petrol station giveaway model car promotions in about two weeks.
Once replaced by the XJ-S as the daily driver the 5.3 lived in a Mews garage behind his office on Hill Street and was used as the company limo. Sadly it came to a crunching end on the M1 when one of his staff took it for (an unauthorised) run out. Maybe someone rescued it, I'll post the reg and someone might know.
I never got a chance to drive any of the S3's (my older brother did - jammy get!) but have spent plenty of time driving the XJ-S. Always remember the seemingly effortless way that the S3 5.3 got upto serious speeds on the M25 and that it had great brakes!
Need to find some pics of it in period. He used to park outside the RAC club for a swim on the way to the office - doubt there's a picture of it there though as it would've looked spot on.
IMO an S3 looks right just about anywhere - slinking through town on a wet evening, lights on in lane 3 of the M1 heading back south or outside a grotty industrial unit in Rotherham. Perfect.
I'll buy one one day....
Gallen said:
My father's had lots of XJS's and currently has a XJS Cabrio 5.3HE
- Dare I say that its actually pretty good on fuel.
You'll easily get 25 to 27, more on a run.
You dont need to blast them - they tick over and effortly waft along.
Good useable classic, that one - 10/10
[ETA Fantastic, absolutely fantastic alloys]
I think you need to look under that bonnet and see what engine is there, maybe a 3.6 or 4.0 and I reckon they'd just about do that on a run. - Dare I say that its actually pretty good on fuel.
You'll easily get 25 to 27, more on a run.
You dont need to blast them - they tick over and effortly waft along.
Good useable classic, that one - 10/10
[ETA Fantastic, absolutely fantastic alloys]
I have owned 2 XJS V12s (both "HE" models with low miles and well serviced.) I only once beat 20 mpg and that was driving as if I had an egg on the throttle pedal at constant speed on a motorway. And mine were impecably maintained - I never even let the oil or air filters get dirty, plugs always replaced, timing spot on, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...
I don't even think that Jaguar, in all the optimism of a manufacturer under "ideal test conditions" published an expected steady 56mph fuel consumption figure of more than 21 mpg.
I also remember reading about a fuel economy competition where someone entered one for a laugh and if I remember correctly it just about averaged 21 and a bit on a controlled steady speed course.
Both my XJSs were a few years apart and the fuel economy was identical.
There is no way, and I mean no way, that anyone would ever be able to achieve even 25mpg apart from contriving it by backing off the throttle and seeing "25" on the computer briefly.
And I really mean never. You will never achive that mpg in the real world.
Unless you put a 5 or 6 speed manual or 4 speed auto at least in place of that awful GM 400 slushbox. In fact it is the gearbox that completely ruins the car, stifling its performance and wasting fuel with its non-lockup torque converter. In fact it ruins the performance so much that I once drove a 3.6 with a 4 speed auto and it seemed every bit as quick whilst delivering much better fuel economy (maybe 25+ from that car on a run).
"25-27 from a V12 XJS and more on a run" I've heard it all now. You must be a car dealer or someone with an XJS for sale!
P.S. I love those cars, it's the fuel economy that probable will stop me ever getting one again.
And as for "what can go wrong?" Believe me, the £990 asking price will be the lowest bill the "lucky" buyer will ever see. Probably every single repair bill that car will need will be more than the initial purchase price...
Edited by malc350 on Friday 4th March 20:34
I wanted a V12 for a very long time, I was contemplating an XJR-S, when it was time to think about it seriously I bottled it on the maintenance cost front, after pricing up things like head gasket change etc. I did buy an X308 XJR instead; maintenance is a little better on the wallet, fuel consumption is possibly worse, but hey ho, you don’t drive one of these in a spirited fashion and think about fuel, it is just to much comfortable fun.
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