XKR - opinions please
Discussion
Hi,
have been looking for a suitable replacement car for a while and i am very fond of the XKR , loved the looks and sound.
i am seriously considering buying a late 2008 model. will drive one soon.
what are your experiences of these cars ? do they handle well ? comfortable ? common issues ? anything i need to look for in a 2008 model ? one thing i hate is rattling and squeaky noises in the car. do you get any of these ? i drive a porsche cayman and get all sorts of rattles and squeaky noises which i cant stand !
thank you for your help.
have been looking for a suitable replacement car for a while and i am very fond of the XKR , loved the looks and sound.
i am seriously considering buying a late 2008 model. will drive one soon.
what are your experiences of these cars ? do they handle well ? comfortable ? common issues ? anything i need to look for in a 2008 model ? one thing i hate is rattling and squeaky noises in the car. do you get any of these ? i drive a porsche cayman and get all sorts of rattles and squeaky noises which i cant stand !
thank you for your help.
Hi Q, I have a 2008 XKR and I thoroughly recommend them. Handles very well and the steering feels precise. The traction control doesnt nanny too much (it allows the rear end to squirm around a little). Traction is a bit of a problem in the wet, you really can't use full throttle below 50 ish, but adhesion is very good. The ride is purposeful but not tiring to drive round town - there's a certain suppleness that is most appreciated in everyday use. It feels wide... it is wide, and rear visibility is not particularly good; you get blind spots.
The gearbox is good - in sport mode with paddles you do have pretty good control all things considered, and in Drive it just does the business nice and smoothly and is great round town. It bites - very powerful in any gear, but when you are in the right gear at, say, 3000 revs it will make your passengers sick. You can't shake a V10 M5 on the motorway, though, so it's all relative, but you run out of road before you know it. Under safe, legal conditions I have gone 130 to 140mph. Felt steady as a rock.
Brakes are solid, with good feel in my opinion - if you lean on them they really do the business and the anti-lock does not kick in prematurely. Fuel consumption 25mpg on a run, or if you are being over exuberant then 21mpg. In London stop-start traffic (mix 40mph bursts with plenty of jams) is 14mpg. You'd have to drive like the director of green peace to get anything like 30mpg on a run, and then you're not going to hear that exhaust note which was, if I am honest, one of the reasons I bought the car.
Interior is 'nice', but not as special as the outside. It's well made and there are no ergonomic howlers. And NO RATTLES! It's true. I did think I had a rattle once but it turned out something had flown out of my pocket under hard acceleration and was rolling around behind my seat. Sat-nav system is adequate. The standard [i.e. premium from 2008] stereo is excellent with disc front loader that plays mp3s, loads of Alpine speakers inc subwoofer, and Dolby surround. Seats are comfortable but took me ages to find the right pitch of the lower part. It's quite small in there for a big car and I think the front would be more comfortable if the rear shopping/seating buckets were removed, frankly. I gave a lift to a 5'8" girl the other day and we had to remove her head to fit her in (in the end opted for her to sit n stoop rather than remove her head), the issue being the buckets are noticeably higher than the front seats.
The standard car is fine, only thing I wish I had is keyless entry. Reason: as the standard car is keyless start you don't get the full benefit if you have to fish around in your pockets to unlock the car, and then when you get out - as you can lock the car via the button on the door handle, I always have to reassure myself the key is still in my pocket (and has not been flown backwards by g-force). Contrast stitching helps to lift the interior significantly (wish I had it). Stick to aluminium and not wood trim. Mines a sort of machined finish alu and I really like it. The piano black finish around it would be standard in a 2008 car methinks. Rear lights are mainly bulbs (only reversing and fogs are LED), so if you can go for a 58 car you'll probably get full rear LEDs which I would recommend - they look nice and from what I can see in the owner manual, changing bulbs requires some patience. The front xenons are excellent, but you have to have them removed to switch to LHD driving, which is daft. Boot is cavernous. Ok, it's not. But it ain't bad and I have not struggled for space yet on long weekends away. You have to have a space saver with 20" wheels (else with 19" you can opt for tyre glue and have the extra space for luggage).
An XKR would not be as focused as your Porker, but for everyday use including some spirited driving they offer remarkable value. And look good too. Certainly better than the Germans!
That's as much as I can tell you, but you'll see what I mean when you drive one.
Look forward to seeing the pics...
The gearbox is good - in sport mode with paddles you do have pretty good control all things considered, and in Drive it just does the business nice and smoothly and is great round town. It bites - very powerful in any gear, but when you are in the right gear at, say, 3000 revs it will make your passengers sick. You can't shake a V10 M5 on the motorway, though, so it's all relative, but you run out of road before you know it. Under safe, legal conditions I have gone 130 to 140mph. Felt steady as a rock.
Brakes are solid, with good feel in my opinion - if you lean on them they really do the business and the anti-lock does not kick in prematurely. Fuel consumption 25mpg on a run, or if you are being over exuberant then 21mpg. In London stop-start traffic (mix 40mph bursts with plenty of jams) is 14mpg. You'd have to drive like the director of green peace to get anything like 30mpg on a run, and then you're not going to hear that exhaust note which was, if I am honest, one of the reasons I bought the car.
Interior is 'nice', but not as special as the outside. It's well made and there are no ergonomic howlers. And NO RATTLES! It's true. I did think I had a rattle once but it turned out something had flown out of my pocket under hard acceleration and was rolling around behind my seat. Sat-nav system is adequate. The standard [i.e. premium from 2008] stereo is excellent with disc front loader that plays mp3s, loads of Alpine speakers inc subwoofer, and Dolby surround. Seats are comfortable but took me ages to find the right pitch of the lower part. It's quite small in there for a big car and I think the front would be more comfortable if the rear shopping/seating buckets were removed, frankly. I gave a lift to a 5'8" girl the other day and we had to remove her head to fit her in (in the end opted for her to sit n stoop rather than remove her head), the issue being the buckets are noticeably higher than the front seats.
The standard car is fine, only thing I wish I had is keyless entry. Reason: as the standard car is keyless start you don't get the full benefit if you have to fish around in your pockets to unlock the car, and then when you get out - as you can lock the car via the button on the door handle, I always have to reassure myself the key is still in my pocket (and has not been flown backwards by g-force). Contrast stitching helps to lift the interior significantly (wish I had it). Stick to aluminium and not wood trim. Mines a sort of machined finish alu and I really like it. The piano black finish around it would be standard in a 2008 car methinks. Rear lights are mainly bulbs (only reversing and fogs are LED), so if you can go for a 58 car you'll probably get full rear LEDs which I would recommend - they look nice and from what I can see in the owner manual, changing bulbs requires some patience. The front xenons are excellent, but you have to have them removed to switch to LHD driving, which is daft. Boot is cavernous. Ok, it's not. But it ain't bad and I have not struggled for space yet on long weekends away. You have to have a space saver with 20" wheels (else with 19" you can opt for tyre glue and have the extra space for luggage).
An XKR would not be as focused as your Porker, but for everyday use including some spirited driving they offer remarkable value. And look good too. Certainly better than the Germans!
That's as much as I can tell you, but you'll see what I mean when you drive one.
Look forward to seeing the pics...
sunday-driver said:
The traction control doesnt nanny too much (it allows the rear end to squirm around a little). Traction is a bit of a problem in the wet, you really can't use full throttle below 50 ish, but adhesion is very good.
Get TLJaguar 0118-973-7779 to fit a Limited Slip Diff, that will make a big differancesunday-driver, as a new and still inexperienced driver of an XKR (convertible, 2007), I agree with most of what you say, albeit I haven't managed to go above 100mph yet!
Disagree on a couple of things (which may be different on an '08 car:
- my XKR is narrower than my previous cars (most recently, 2004 XK8 convertible and 1997 XK8 coupe) - not that I have measured it nor compared the handbook data, but it leaves a tad more room in my garage!
- the '07 sat-nav system is not adequate imho and I fear I will have to use my TomTom instead: I greatly value speed camera alarms as well as warning beeps when I am exceeding the speed limit which, although not always accurate are a lot better than nothing, which is what the Jaguar sat-nav has.
- I have standard seats and they are a tad too firm for me... but then I am an old codger.
- no doubt the coupe's boot is cavernous but the convertible's is not: due to the new foldaway roof infrastructure, it seems to be half the size of my older XK8 convertible, and not even big enough for a set of golf clubs (marketing madness imho)/
Disagree on a couple of things (which may be different on an '08 car:
- my XKR is narrower than my previous cars (most recently, 2004 XK8 convertible and 1997 XK8 coupe) - not that I have measured it nor compared the handbook data, but it leaves a tad more room in my garage!
- the '07 sat-nav system is not adequate imho and I fear I will have to use my TomTom instead: I greatly value speed camera alarms as well as warning beeps when I am exceeding the speed limit which, although not always accurate are a lot better than nothing, which is what the Jaguar sat-nav has.
- I have standard seats and they are a tad too firm for me... but then I am an old codger.
- no doubt the coupe's boot is cavernous but the convertible's is not: due to the new foldaway roof infrastructure, it seems to be half the size of my older XK8 convertible, and not even big enough for a set of golf clubs (marketing madness imho)/
There's about a £10K difference or so between 58 plate 4.2s and the current 5.0 - I was also looking at 58 plate 4.2s but decided the current model was worth the extra. Others may disagree of course. It's a great car - comfortable and cossetting in everyday traffic and properly fast and focussed when you want it to be. I haven't driven the 4.2 which has automatic damper control with two stages, but the 5.0 with infinitely variable damper control has a firm but very well controlled ride, never harsh over the joke which passes for road surfaces in the UK nowadays. It's not a relatively common car like say a 911 which are all over the place round here, which is a bonus, and it looks stunning. The coupe boot isn't really any bigger in volume than the convertible, just a different shape, long and shallow. The rear seats are suitable for children and amputees only, or storage. There aren't too many cars nowadays where the styling is still allowed to dictate the packaging, that's one of the reasons why it's such a looker. If you only need 2 seats anyway then it doesn't really matter. The interior of the current model is a very nice place to be if you are in the front - I believe they made some changes to the materials as well as the gear selector thing that pops up when you start the car. It's very well equipped too - lots of things that the Germans charge for are standard. Better go and drive one and make up your own mind 
Having recently switched from a 997 to a 58 plate XKR I can only recommend the experience.
I stayed away from driving a 5.0 XKR as cost was a factor - to be honest I'm not sure I have ever wondered 'what if.....'. It really does put a smile on my face every day.
Sunday Divers' summary above covers much of my experience and SD (if I remember correctly) picked his up shortly before me so we have both owned for similar periods of time.
If you look around you may find a 58 plate with a few of the XKR goodies on it, uprated suspension and steering and lovely Vortex alloys - I was fortunate enough to benefit from these! The upgrades make a differnece, albeit a small one.
All in all (from a serial porsche owner, age 36) a really great car!
I stayed away from driving a 5.0 XKR as cost was a factor - to be honest I'm not sure I have ever wondered 'what if.....'. It really does put a smile on my face every day.
Sunday Divers' summary above covers much of my experience and SD (if I remember correctly) picked his up shortly before me so we have both owned for similar periods of time.
If you look around you may find a 58 plate with a few of the XKR goodies on it, uprated suspension and steering and lovely Vortex alloys - I was fortunate enough to benefit from these! The upgrades make a differnece, albeit a small one.
All in all (from a serial porsche owner, age 36) a really great car!
STOP PRESS: I do actually have Keyless Entry. Took me 2.5 months to realise it, which is a bit sad. I never realised it because I always [used to] double lock it which inhibits the keyless entry bit. Annoyingly. But now I can stop stressing about locking the key in the car because, well, it simply won't let you. Good to know.
To PR100's points: the satnav in my car seems pretty good to me, albeit not class leading. Several route options, TMC traffic, very fast recalc, motorway service info. I wonder if it's a newer system to the previous year. I am familiar with TomTom, and it is excellent, so I can understand how an experienced TomTom user may find the Jag system less good, I guess. Regards the boot in the convertible - remarkably tiny, I agree.
FasterJ, hopefully there will be an XK meet someday because I'd really like to see yours in the metal. My only concern is you'd regret not trekking to Huddersfield to get my Botanical Green one and saving some cash!
To PR100's points: the satnav in my car seems pretty good to me, albeit not class leading. Several route options, TMC traffic, very fast recalc, motorway service info. I wonder if it's a newer system to the previous year. I am familiar with TomTom, and it is excellent, so I can understand how an experienced TomTom user may find the Jag system less good, I guess. Regards the boot in the convertible - remarkably tiny, I agree.
FasterJ, hopefully there will be an XK meet someday because I'd really like to see yours in the metal. My only concern is you'd regret not trekking to Huddersfield to get my Botanical Green one and saving some cash!
sunday-driver said:
You can't shake a V10 M5 on the motorway, though, so it's all relative, but you run out of road before you know it.
Look forward to seeing the pics...
You are both limited to 155 mph. All the same the Jag is lighter than an M5 and I would expect it to be more agile than an M5, though bluntly I don't know.Look forward to seeing the pics...
It's certainly a hell of a lot better looking.
quantum30 said:
Guys , this is all very useful information. really appreciate it. i think i will go for one.
just out of curiosity, have you done any trackdays in your XKR's ? how was it ?
I've not done a trackday...... yet, but some enthusiastic driving on Sussex B roads suggests it should be quite fun. I know plenty of people who've driven them round Bedford on 'Palmer days' and have had an absolute hoot and kept them facing in the right direction, unlike one friend who took a 911 for a spin (of the 360 variety) into the pitlane.just out of curiosity, have you done any trackdays in your XKR's ? how was it ?
Search out Clarkson's Top Gear review against the AMV8 on You Tube - when I was dithering on the day I was meant to be parting with my cash for the XKR that was what gave me the reassurance I made the right choice!
sunday-driver said:
FasterJ, hopefully there will be an XK meet someday because I'd really like to see yours in the metal. My only concern is you'd regret not trekking to Huddersfield to get my Botanical Green one and saving some cash!
Sunday Driver, yours does look fetching in Botanical, but I can't stop raving about Ultimate Black.Glad you sussed out the Keyless Entry - a bit showy but saves fumbling for the key.
Regards the V10 M5, I speak from experience. Under hard acceleration from xxmph, the M5 is *all* over the 4.2 XKR, and clearly has plenty to spare. I let it pass out of courtesy. Trouble is at dusk a 525i looks like an M5 in the rear view mirror (ubiquitous dullsville rep-mobile lookalike). Nonetheless, if we compared 1/4 mile times we'd see why it has the lungs. But a 5.0 XKR... now that is another matter altogether, it would be even-stevens at the very very least. I wonder what the price difference is now. No, stop it.
Stop it.
Must not... not yet...
Stop it.
Must not... not yet...
quantum30 said:
Guys , this is all very useful information. really appreciate it. i think i will go for one.
just out of curiosity, have you done any trackdays in your XKR's ? how was it ?
I've driven the new XKR at Silverstone and it's, er, not bad. Not really its intended environment but acquitted itself pretty well.just out of curiosity, have you done any trackdays in your XKR's ? how was it ?
I think the brakes will be the weak link on track, it's a lot of car to stop although it hides its bulk well in the corners. We had traction control switched on so didn't get to 'play' around with the handling too much but if you piled into a corner with too much speed it was all very easy to catch.
Fuel consumption was appalling though - one instructor reckoned he was seeing 4mpg?!?
Sorry, just realised you've asked about the '08 model, wasn't sure when the 5 litre model came in so apologies if I've got my model years mixed up...
Edited by chris_w on Wednesday 14th October 11:25
Figures mentioned in some reviews for the 5.0 vs 4.2 are 50-70 in 1.9 seconds compared to 2.5 for the 4.2, and 0-100 in 9.6 seconds compared to 10.9 for the 4.2. The differences are probably a bit academic really once you get to that kind of performance level, but more power with the same fuel consumption can't be a bad thing.
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