Discussion
I have recently swapped my chimaera for an XKR. I used to do a few track days in the chim and whilst not as hard core as dedicated track car it was great fun and helped me learn alot about how the car behaved. My last track day was the TVR club event at Cadwell and I had a great day and even enjoyed the rain.
I was thinking of taking the jag out on track mainly to get to know it better although as this will be an everyday drive and not a thrid car i am a little more cautious. I am also very much aware that it is much heavier and will be harder on tyres and brakes (both of which cost a lot more for this than the TVR!). My other concern is the auto box, partly that it will dampen the enjoyment and partly are auto boxes up to track day driving?
Has anyone tracked similar? any thoughts? My other option is to just go and hire a bookatrack caterham with a mate.
I was thinking of taking the jag out on track mainly to get to know it better although as this will be an everyday drive and not a thrid car i am a little more cautious. I am also very much aware that it is much heavier and will be harder on tyres and brakes (both of which cost a lot more for this than the TVR!). My other concern is the auto box, partly that it will dampen the enjoyment and partly are auto boxes up to track day driving?
Has anyone tracked similar? any thoughts? My other option is to just go and hire a bookatrack caterham with a mate.
It's obviously not an ideal trackday car but if you want to get a feel for driving it nearer to the limits than you will (hopefully) get to on the road then a trackday is fine.
I'd go for one of the bigger tracks, Donny, Bedford, Silverstone etc, take regular breaks to cool the brakes and make sure you've got money with you to keep buying fuel with
HTH
Steve H
I'd go for one of the bigger tracks, Donny, Bedford, Silverstone etc, take regular breaks to cool the brakes and make sure you've got money with you to keep buying fuel with
HTH
Steve H
BertBert said:
havinf driven the Palmer jag, I'd definitely say don't bother. If the choice is a Caterham, then there's no choice!
Bert
most annoying car I have EVER driven on track was that Palmer Jag! Bert
Fast in straightline no doubt. But the most annoying an ridculously intrusive traction control ever!
if the steering wheel was completely straight... it completely cut the power!
bet its lovely and very safe road car though
Porkie said:
most annoying car I have EVER driven on track was that Palmer Jag!
Fast in straightline no doubt. But the most annoying an ridculously intrusive traction control ever!
if the steering wheel was completely straight... it completely cut the power!
bet its lovely and very safe road car though
I turn the traction control off in mine which tends to help! It has a beautifully balanced chassis. To the OP, which generation XKR have you purchased? I also changed my Chimaera for an XKR which I have used on track 4 or 5 times now. It is a real handful in the wet (when traction control is best left on unless you want to visit the Armco) but offers a huge amount of grip and superb acceleration in the dry. It is very expensive to run on track and eats tyres and brakes (and petrol but who cares). Obviously it is not an ideal track car; it will outpace/brake many other vehicles but the size, weight, potential expense if it all goes wrong and slight incongruity sitting surrounded by walnut and leather while hammering round a track do provide a somewhat detached experience. As Steve H posted, I would only use it on the bigger tracks (mine have been Goodwood and Bedford) and the brakes, which have tremendous stopping power, will need time to cool. I am looking for a track car at the moment but would still choose to use the Jag from time to time when only power will do. Enjoy!Fast in straightline no doubt. But the most annoying an ridculously intrusive traction control ever!
if the steering wheel was completely straight... it completely cut the power!
bet its lovely and very safe road car though
It has to be worth trying once. Finding out about its behaviour on the limit and its levels of brake fade would be interesting, if nothing else. I'm thinking of doing similar in my C43 at somewhere like Bedford.
Pick a cheap day (so not Goodwood!) so that if you end up wanting to leave early, you haven't sunk £300 into just a few sessions.
Pick a cheap day (so not Goodwood!) so that if you end up wanting to leave early, you haven't sunk £300 into just a few sessions.
The jag is an 04 with the 4.2 supercharged lump. It has the Brembo brakes with 4 pot calipers and the drilled/grooved rotors, so I would have thought that it would last a few laps before fading. I was thinking of oe of the MSV days and aim for an open pit to give more felexibility to go out for shorter periods. I was considering Cadwell as I loved that track in the Chim, and apart from the section under the trees after the pit straight it isn't too tight.
The missus may prevent me from taking out on track anyway and insist that I hire something for the day.
The missus may prevent me from taking out on track anyway and insist that I hire something for the day.
Not sure if 04 is the new shape or not, if not then you may find it a little wobbly, they were not the best in the handling area, if the current shape then I think you will be surprised at how good it is, it will smell very hot but will be fine, enjoy.
My Range Rover has the Brembo Brakes and weighs 2.5Tonnes and can stop from 100 plus time after time without fading so they should not be to much of a problem.
My Range Rover has the Brembo Brakes and weighs 2.5Tonnes and can stop from 100 plus time after time without fading so they should not be to much of a problem.
gruffalo said:
My Range Rover has the Brembo Brakes and weighs 2.5Tonnes and can stop from 100 plus time after time without fading so they should not be to much of a problem.
Sorry, but that sort of talk is just plain dangerous. Any > 2000kg car is going to lose it's brakes within 2-3 laps of most/all race tracks - regardless of how fancy-pants the brakes are. Even super/hypercars brakes are just NOT geared up for sustained track use.Tracking anything that heavy is never going to make sense financially when compared to sharing the cost of a rental car with a friend (unless the company is picking up the bill for the brakes and tyres :-)
Jonny
BaT
jonnyleroux said:
Sorry, but that sort of talk is just plain dangerous. Any > 2000kg car is going to lose it's brakes within 2-3 laps of most/all race tracks - regardless of how fancy-pants the brakes are. Even super/hypercars brakes are just NOT geared up for sustained track use.
Tracking anything that heavy is never going to make sense financially when compared to sharing the cost of a rental car with a friend (unless the company is picking up the bill for the brakes and tyres :-)
Jonny
BaT
Sorry but I do not use the Range Rover on track days or am I miss reading what you wrote but round the test track at Gaydon it does very well and no the brakes do not fade much at all so in a much lighter Jag should be fine.Tracking anything that heavy is never going to make sense financially when compared to sharing the cost of a rental car with a friend (unless the company is picking up the bill for the brakes and tyres :-)
Jonny
BaT
As fr the Jag on the track that had no problem last time a bloke I know put it in the hands of 2010 sports car championship driver who came back very impressed at just how good it was.
I got an e mail today from jaguar as they are running trackdays £275, if you really want to try an XKR on track, save you all the grief and it will probably cost you more than that on fuel,tyres,pads, and a service.
Great cars for the road personally I think you will have more fun in something lighter on the track
Great cars for the road personally I think you will have more fun in something lighter on the track
gruffalo said:
Sorry but I do not use the Range Rover on track days or am I miss reading what you wrote but round the test track at Gaydon it does very well and no the brakes do not fade much at all so in a much lighter Jag should be fine.
As fr the Jag on the track that had no problem last time a bloke I know put it in the hands of 2010 sports car championship driver who came back very impressed at just how good it was.
I'm not doubting the cars capability and i'm sure it's plenty quick enough and will handle beautifully. My point is that physics are against you in a big way, and even a modest potter around somewhere brake-heavy like Bedford or Rockingham will have the brakes in tears in a matter of minutes. I'm not scaremongering here, i'm trying to help. I've seen more than my fair share of Jags/Mercs/BMW road cars limp home with no brakes after just 1 or 2 sessions on track.As fr the Jag on the track that had no problem last time a bloke I know put it in the hands of 2010 sports car championship driver who came back very impressed at just how good it was.
Tracking a 2 tonne car is like visiting a high class hooker. Seems like a great idea at the time and its fun while it lasts, but it's over far too quickly and all you end up with is a disproportionately large bill.
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