X150 XKR, Still A Thing Of Beauty

X150 XKR, Still A Thing Of Beauty

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Stick Legs

4,825 posts

164 months

Tuesday 24th May 2022
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And like all Jaaaaaaags they get better looking as tgey get older.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Tuesday 24th May 2022
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remedy said:
Drooles said:
Am I right that there were no manuals? I love the look of them and really want one but I went for an XE a few years ago and could not live with auto… I really wanted to but it just would not work for me
You won't miss the gear stick IMO. The box is fantastic.
I'm at a point where I can't go back to a manual. Good thing too I guess as the car that replaces my XKR will be electric.
Auto is still no substitute if you want a manual though.

a8hex

5,829 posts

222 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
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reddiesel said:
tberg said:
I've owned my 2010 5.0L XKR for nearly 10 years and will pass 200,000 miles on her sometime next month. Unquestionably, the best, most reliable automobile I've owned in 55 years of driving. Tracked dozens of times, I still can't believe that the transmission save for two fluid changes, has required no repairs handling a 600hp engine. It's still my daily driver, as I'm just not willing to drive anything else yet. And still looks beautiful as well.
Thats quite an incredible mileage capability when you consider Jaguars of the not too distant past .
Both my X150 and X300 have been the extremely reliable (I've probably just jinxed that), far more so than say the Audi, VWs and Mercedes we've had in the family during that time. The people I knew in the trade reckoned they saw plenty of X300s with the sort of mileage that tberg has seem on his X150. Can't speak for the pre-Ford models.

a8hex

5,829 posts

222 months

Thursday 26th May 2022
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Drooles said:
Am I right that there were no manuals? I love the look of them and really want one but I went for an XE a few years ago and could not live with auto… I really wanted to but it just would not work for me
That's quite some brand loyalty to go from considering an X150 to an XE, they're not really the same sort of animal.

reddiesel

Original Poster:

1,902 posts

46 months

Saturday 28th May 2022
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300bhp/ton said:
Auto is still no substitute if you want a manual though.
I think about this Auto/Manual thing often where Jaguars are concerned and I have got to the stage where I dont really think I could give any worthwhile advice . Its the paddles...... I had never used them on the X150 so I cant really comment but on the SVR they just work so well . I suppose my next question is are Paddles a suitable alternative to a Manual Gearbox ? I suspect for most People they are .

reddiesel

Original Poster:

1,902 posts

46 months

Saturday 28th May 2022
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a8hex said:
That's quite some brand loyalty to go from considering an X150 to an XE, they're not really the same sort of animal.
Cometh the hour cometh the Diplomat laugh I

Drooles

1,361 posts

55 months

Saturday 28th May 2022
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reddiesel said:
a8hex said:
That's quite some brand loyalty to go from considering an X150 to an XE, they're not really the same sort of animal.
Cometh the hour cometh the Diplomat laugh I
To clarify, I bought an XE as a family car and couldn’t warm to auto. I now look at the XKs as something I’d like as a weekend car, but the previous experience where I couldn’t gel with auto put me off…

I hope that makes sense now

beer

neenoy

48 posts

94 months

Thursday 2nd June 2022
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Drooles said:
To clarify, I bought an XE as a family car and couldn’t warm to auto. I now look at the XKs as something I’d like as a weekend car, but the previous experience where I couldn’t gel with auto put me off…
Hmm? Do I still have an account and can I remember what it is ...

Seems like the old brain is still working smile

Any XK would be a great weekend toy even with the auto box. Like you, I seem to be one of the few that enjoys using a manual. All our other cars are manuals but the XKR had to be an auto frown Oh well!

However, it isn't as bad as it seems at first. As you get familiar with it, maybe over the first weeks and not just on a quick test drive, you realise how well the software handles the signals from all those sensors to always be in the right gear at the right time. In the 5.0 XKR guise at least, it never seems to hesitate. The integration is pretty much flawless. The paddles can be useful and add another dimension to the driving experience which is not really the same as a manual but it'll do as it provides the same control. Get the metal paddles though. They are so much nicer to use than the plastic ones.

Where the auto comes into its own, for me at least, is that the XKR is too fast for me to reliably keep up manually at full chat. It is either pace and auto or more involvement but slower in manual. My general complaint is that it doesn't tell me what gear it is in in auto mode. Well actually the instruments in general are rather minimalistic.

Take one for a drive using A-roads and country roads and see if you end up feeling the same. If I had the choice, I would still have a manual one but it isn't quite so clear cut as it would be with a slower car.