DrScientist

sorry for the confusion,
my last comment was for 5CHN3LL, not schnell.

5CHN3LL, sorry to hear you had a bad experience with the electrical system, and i dont mean to pick a fight, but, as schnell points out in the importance of a good mechanic, you yourself may have undermined the guarantee that you would love the car by spending "entire weekends dicking around with those damnable fuses."

also, comparing an mga to a series 3 xj, is apples and whatever the furthest thing from apples might be. even an mga to an xjs is like comparing a na-miata to a w216 cl mercedes.

jaguar really hasnt manufactured a true sports car since the s2 etype until now with the f. the xjs is by no means a sports car, and the xkr is a gt with bolted on go-fast and tight suspension parts with mixed results.

schnell: glad to hear from another friend of jaguar. and completely agree with your emissions point. my xjs runs without cats and 3in steel tube intakes yet is still likely hampered by that HE head.

Byprodriver

As I said to Craig T. Nelson while delivering a new 2000 XKR to him, the XKR is designed for maximum performance without compromising luxury & comfort.

His DD at the time was a 911

Kalashnikov

I owned one, and arguably the MOST reliable Jaguar ever made. It looked cool, and drove well...OK.

The supercharged straight 6 sounded like ****, had no top end...but it had enormous amounts of torque. Transmission was a 4 speed GM heavy duty truck transmission rated for 10,000 LB trucks. Transmission was slow and it took a miracle to make it down shift.

Being the "MOST" reliable Jaguar ever made, it still had small electrical issues here and there. Climate control screen and radio screens died (common fix), rear light would stick OFF, traction control light would give occasional error. It tramlined like crazy, and that seemed to be the common design flaw with the car's tires/geometry.

Would I own one again? Hell no.

onewhippedpuppy

I had a 2000 XJR. One of the most fun cars that I've had and very reliable. The supercharged V8 sounded like a muscle car ingesting bees, simply awesome. No car that comfortable and nice inside should be that fast. I would happily have another.

5CHN3LL

I understand that our opinions are divergent, but beyond that, I'm afraid I'll continue to dissent with your estimation of the Jaguar, at least the Jag of the 70s and 80s.

The simple act of merely replacing a "fuse" - a solid color-coded piece of ceramic with the element mounted to the exterior of the fuse - was often maddening, since the fuse elements often degraded over time. Merely rotating a fuse in place to determine if it was blown was frequently enough to break the oxidized metal.

The point: the stripped-down roadster was built better and more reliably than the "luxury" Jag.

The brilliant McCafferty brothers were unable to exorcise the demons from that Jaguar, and I can assure you that they were gifted Jag whisperers.

Crappy walnut burl and leather stretched over paperboard just never seemed all that luxurious, the performance was sad, and the reliability...well, Jag's reliability is legendary, right? But a sad, sad legend?

Regardless, it's great to hear that you own/owned a Jag that provided a positive ownership experience.

white out

I totally agree.

XKR is a comfortable car that moves swiftly, especially on the freeway. 996 interior has nothing on the quality of the XKR interior of similar vintage.

Quadcammer

eh, the assembly quality of the 2000s jags is not great, nor is material quality. they have some nice touches and LOOK nice, but the plastics are chintzy.

andys-944

Hi Guys, I think I stirred up a hornets nest lol.
The car I'm hoping to take delivery of on Saturday is a 2011 XKR (510bhp,5 liter supercharged V8).
I'll let you know how its goes. I have a bunch of reasons for the purchase in addition to a the power and torque. I use to work with Jaguar Sport / TWR in the late 80's and early 90's, and as a teenager worked on old Jags XK120's and 50's etc. This included working with Ian Callum (designer of the 2007 + XK) on the XJ220.
Its British as I am so there's a bunch emotional baggage lol so here's to hoping Indian money has helped heal some of the historical woes.

onewhippedpuppy

Maybe in an X-type or S-type, both of which were a glorified Ford. The X308 XJR leather, wood, and chrome/aluminum trim quality is superior to anything that came out of Germany in the same era. The British know how to make a beautiful interior.

5CHN3LL

The interior of my pop's Arnage is an awesome piece of work, so I can vouch that the Brits get it right on occasion.

TSMacNeil

If, and only if, I had money to burn and had mad skilz:



Otherwise, I do like the F-Type.

Marc Gelefsky

Spend a good amount of time in various F Types on street and traffic. Just a terrific machine. Now that they are coming out with a manual I could see owning a coupe.

onewhippedpuppy

Amen. Electrics on the other hand......

sanyata

Kalasnikov, Is that Moss Beach Distillery in your last pic? Great restaurant!

andys-944

Here's a auto car test of the XKR against a Carrera S, if your bored