Hello from a new XJR owner
Discussion
Hi folks, just a quick wave from a new X308 XJR owner.
I'll write something more detailed later, but it's a late 2002 car with just under 60k on the clock, blue on cream leather.
Just collected the car from London last night and drive back to Scotland , and I'm very impressed with the car's depth of character. I thought I was buying a comfy motorway barge, but the car is so so so much more than that.
Anyway, pics and write-up to follow.
I'll write something more detailed later, but it's a late 2002 car with just under 60k on the clock, blue on cream leather.
Just collected the car from London last night and drive back to Scotland , and I'm very impressed with the car's depth of character. I thought I was buying a comfy motorway barge, but the car is so so so much more than that.
Anyway, pics and write-up to follow.
Edited by Nefarious on Tuesday 19th May 17:40
Initial impressions:
Well, after about two months of shopping for a family barge, I've finally grabbed myself an XJR. I drove it back from London last night in a crazy 8 hour Edinburgh-Gatwick-Edinburgh dash, and absolutely love it even more than I was expecting too.
I’ve always liked the XJ series of Jags, but never had the bottle to put up with the realities of running a 60s or 70s one, or sufficient supplies of rust-inhibitor to consider even an 80s or early 90s one. But if you could have all the old-skool Jag cool without the problems, and with a stoking great supercharged V8 thrown in for good measure, then that could scratch the itch nicely. Step forward the X308. And not just any X308, one of the very last run before Jaguar (or Ford) moved onto the much more modern X350 series of XJs, with various little problems, such as the self-ingesting timing chain tensioners, addressed, and a Santa’s bag full of toys thrown in to sweeten the deal.
This one’s a late 2002 XJR with just 59k on the clock, cream leather ‘sports’ seats, and an option list that includes aircon, front and back parking sensors, integrated satnav, and (for those with a penchant for all things 80s) a carphone!
The 20 yard impression of the car is excellent, the chrome and pacific blue paintwork lifting the overall appearance above the slightly middle-aged appearance of lots of newer XJs. At closer inspection, the condition could still be described as very good, but there are a few small T-cuttable scratches and a general demeanour of a car in need of a damn good polish That'll be an afternoon later in the week taken care of).
Inside is immaculate, although the biscuit faux-leather dashtop is a bit of a disappointment after seeing the swathes and swathes of gorgeous cream leather used throughout the rest of the car. The “sports” seats are soft, comfortable and commodious, begging the question of exactly what kind of “sportsmen” the chaps in Coventry had in mind – definitely more Andy Fordham than Lewis Hamilton.
Everything works, except the rear parking sensors (which is probably just a corroded contact or wire on one of the sensors), and all the buttons function with a certain satisfying weight that seems to have been lost in most modern offerings.
As far as the driving experience goes, I was expecting to be wheeling out clichés like “iron fist in a silken glove” and drawing personality comparisons with Viz’s Raffles (The Gentleman Thug), but, while it’s as refined as Brian Sewell and can deliver a haymaker to make any Victorian pugilist proud, the car is so much more than those comparisons would imply. To be good on the motorway only really requires a comfy seat and an adequate sufficiency of torque, but to deliver this kind of effortless grace and pace on A- and B-roads takes a special kind of package.
My first impression was that at low speeds it just feels like any other big soft car, with more than a hint of old-fashionedness about the ride and feel as the car rolls over potholes or other imperfections. But as familiarity grows and the pace increase it all makes sense. What previously felt like over-light and slightly numb steering is actually very communicative, just well filtered. You feel the traction through the wheel and the workrate of the suspension through your feet. The brakes are great, scrubbing off loads of speed, but with the edges softened so you never feel anything less than entirely composed. Likewise, cornering - although the suspension feels soft and compliant, there's little body roll and the lateral grip is strong, so you can make smooth swift progress without being rattled around.
The ride really is an abject lesson in how to make a car drive fast without making everything razor-edged and granite-hard. Even on a streaming wet Scottish A-road rapid progress is a mellifluous gliding experience, without any of the wallowing understeer that the compliant suspension would lead you to anticipate. It makes you want to drive in a super-smooth, flowing way, trimming lines where possible to compliment the general air of decorum the car is offering. Even after five hours-odd of motorway driving, the Jag gave me one of my most rewarding drives up the A702.
Yes, it's a big car, and yes, it's clearly from an era before the current crop of luxury saloons, but it also genuinely delivers well beyind the sum of its parts. The best thing is that it feels like it was built by engineers with pencils behind their ears, not scientists in lab coats staring at computer simulations.
Even on spec it delivers so much car for the paltry £6,300 asking price (I know you can get leggy 99 cars for sub-£5, or even less if you're willing to accept a few problems, intergalactic milages or an earlier car), but the hands-on experience reveals a depth of character and wealth of talent far beyond what I’d expected. Like a hi-fi buff brought up on transistors suddenly shown how good a quality modern valve amp can sound
Welcome to the club mate. I've been thinking about shifting mine due to itchy feet but everytime I come out it I just cant do it. It's one of the only cars I just cant let go. It still gives me a smile on my face when sport button is on and you floor it. Before you know the car you are passing is a speck. Great motor, although dont look at the mpg on the computer when the foot is down and sport is on. I swear I can see the guage going down as well. Well worth it though or you wouldn't have bought it.
I've just discovered the automatic "easy entry/exit" feature and nearly fell about laughing. With the seat in the "exit" position, myself, my girlfriend and our daugter can all get into the drivers seat simultaniously!
I don't want to blot my copy-book on only my third post in the Jag forum, but do I have to get going on a diet of pies, cream cakes and yeast extract if I'm going to be allowed to keep the car?
On a more serious note, where does look for the more specialist parts that regular factors don't stock if you don't want to get fleeced by the main stealers? One of the reversing sensors is dodgy (I'd hoped it was just going to be the contact, but sadly no).
I don't want to blot my copy-book on only my third post in the Jag forum, but do I have to get going on a diet of pies, cream cakes and yeast extract if I'm going to be allowed to keep the car?
On a more serious note, where does look for the more specialist parts that regular factors don't stock if you don't want to get fleeced by the main stealers? One of the reversing sensors is dodgy (I'd hoped it was just going to be the contact, but sadly no).
Not that much out of the ordinary service items ara available through motor factors or specalist suppliers.
You could try Eurojag. They are breakers who specalise in late model Jaguars.
www.eurojag.com 01325 722777
You could try Eurojag. They are breakers who specalise in late model Jaguars.
www.eurojag.com 01325 722777
pzero64 said:
Everytime I go to BP I get a blank page. Anyone else having problems.Gassing Station | Jaguar | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff