XKR 5.0 Convertible - with child seats and luggage review!
Discussion
Hi All,
for the past two years the main daily drive has been a C6 Corvette Z06. That car was a beast, and despite the typical stories of poor handling and build quality I have to say it handled fantastic, stopped brilliantly and was built superb. No rattles or poorly fitting parts. Obviously the interior is a bit low rent by todays standards but definitely comparable to a 996 911. The stereo was epic but time moves on and we get older, driving the car whilst an event was starting to get harder to get motivated for long trips. I fitted a custom exhaust from AAS in Newcastle and if anyone is ever after custom work, their systems are a work of art!
The Corvette was so good, we took it to Poland and back on a trip last year, covering the return in a single day so its more than capable at long touring but not by any means a Grand Tourer. Its a race car for the road.
Here are a few quick clips of the old car:
This was the trip to Poland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztmILX8sesI
This was the car after I did a slight detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3BPvu5jqs0
A quick sound clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg1z14TtwWA
And here is a tour around the grounds of Auschwitz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXH0dEUgar4 - some may find that controversial but it was to show the epic scale of the main site, Auschwitz 3. If you haven't been, you should. It is very moving indeed but you need to book in advance. Its a beguiling place. If you didn't know the history and visited on a day like we did, you would be forgiven for thinking it was a beautiful place. What happened there overwhelms the mind though.
Now on to the XKR. I had been struggling to find a car suitable enough to replace the Z06. It needed the power but it also needed to be different enough in type as to not be a comparison. With a small family and our holidays being Euro road trips, it also needed to be practical. I ruled out Porsche as they aren't for me, even if capable of the task. I did look at a Panemera but, whilst a beautiful car, I found it too sanitised. We then looked at GTR's. Obviously epic cars but as with the Panemera I felt it would be an overall boring prospect unless acting an idiot. So the replacement needed power, seats, boot and to be fun whatever the driving. The Z06 was such an attention grabbing car it was fun at any speed so the conclusion came to a soft top. With the top down you can be having fun at 20mph or other speeds, we had previously had a S2000 back in the day and we both loved the roof down feel.
Being a v8 fan we looked at DB9's but I felt they were feeling a little leggy now, also, and I am bound to say this, I prefer the style of the XKR. After looking, the right car came up at the right spec, colour, features and also happened to be in a dealers familiar with Corvettes so trading was painless.
Here is the new car, its a 2012 XKR Convertible with the Speed Pack.
[/quote]
The car is stunning when sitting still, the red roof I think sets it off and the sound it makes is giggle inducing. I said I didn't want to compare to the Zed but its hard not to. The obvious things are the Jag is in a different league in regards to interior. The upgraded B&W sound system is out of this world, it easily matches my home cinema setup which consists of a few Kef Q700s and Tanoy v4's. The music is great. The exhaust is great. The handling is very good though not comparable to the Corvette which would out handle and brake it. The performance from the engine is however comparable. The speed is there if delivered differently. The Z was brutal the XKR is linear, somewhat softened though not too far off.
Back to the Zed, here is a passenger reaction of the acceleration https://youtu.be/ONbG8wxzzjQ?t=1m19s
Back to the XKR, the practicalities are there. They are not superb but you can easily get decent luggage in the boot and a child safely in the back.
For the child seat/booster seat we got a Bubblebum (Bubble Bum??) seat. Hopefully this will help others that are looking. I have made a video review of the luggage and child seat arrangement for anyone that might be interested in the future, I found the advice misleading at times and no videos on line to actually show the thing in use.
I'm no vlogger but hopefully it is of use, there is a nice exhaust acceleration clip at the end too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jSatvs2cM8
Remember it is the law that if it isn't raining and its above 8c, the roof must be down!
for the past two years the main daily drive has been a C6 Corvette Z06. That car was a beast, and despite the typical stories of poor handling and build quality I have to say it handled fantastic, stopped brilliantly and was built superb. No rattles or poorly fitting parts. Obviously the interior is a bit low rent by todays standards but definitely comparable to a 996 911. The stereo was epic but time moves on and we get older, driving the car whilst an event was starting to get harder to get motivated for long trips. I fitted a custom exhaust from AAS in Newcastle and if anyone is ever after custom work, their systems are a work of art!
The Corvette was so good, we took it to Poland and back on a trip last year, covering the return in a single day so its more than capable at long touring but not by any means a Grand Tourer. Its a race car for the road.
Here are a few quick clips of the old car:
This was the trip to Poland: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztmILX8sesI
This was the car after I did a slight detail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3BPvu5jqs0
A quick sound clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg1z14TtwWA
And here is a tour around the grounds of Auschwitz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXH0dEUgar4 - some may find that controversial but it was to show the epic scale of the main site, Auschwitz 3. If you haven't been, you should. It is very moving indeed but you need to book in advance. Its a beguiling place. If you didn't know the history and visited on a day like we did, you would be forgiven for thinking it was a beautiful place. What happened there overwhelms the mind though.
Now on to the XKR. I had been struggling to find a car suitable enough to replace the Z06. It needed the power but it also needed to be different enough in type as to not be a comparison. With a small family and our holidays being Euro road trips, it also needed to be practical. I ruled out Porsche as they aren't for me, even if capable of the task. I did look at a Panemera but, whilst a beautiful car, I found it too sanitised. We then looked at GTR's. Obviously epic cars but as with the Panemera I felt it would be an overall boring prospect unless acting an idiot. So the replacement needed power, seats, boot and to be fun whatever the driving. The Z06 was such an attention grabbing car it was fun at any speed so the conclusion came to a soft top. With the top down you can be having fun at 20mph or other speeds, we had previously had a S2000 back in the day and we both loved the roof down feel.
Being a v8 fan we looked at DB9's but I felt they were feeling a little leggy now, also, and I am bound to say this, I prefer the style of the XKR. After looking, the right car came up at the right spec, colour, features and also happened to be in a dealers familiar with Corvettes so trading was painless.
Here is the new car, its a 2012 XKR Convertible with the Speed Pack.
[/quote]
The car is stunning when sitting still, the red roof I think sets it off and the sound it makes is giggle inducing. I said I didn't want to compare to the Zed but its hard not to. The obvious things are the Jag is in a different league in regards to interior. The upgraded B&W sound system is out of this world, it easily matches my home cinema setup which consists of a few Kef Q700s and Tanoy v4's. The music is great. The exhaust is great. The handling is very good though not comparable to the Corvette which would out handle and brake it. The performance from the engine is however comparable. The speed is there if delivered differently. The Z was brutal the XKR is linear, somewhat softened though not too far off.
Back to the Zed, here is a passenger reaction of the acceleration https://youtu.be/ONbG8wxzzjQ?t=1m19s
Back to the XKR, the practicalities are there. They are not superb but you can easily get decent luggage in the boot and a child safely in the back.
For the child seat/booster seat we got a Bubblebum (Bubble Bum??) seat. Hopefully this will help others that are looking. I have made a video review of the luggage and child seat arrangement for anyone that might be interested in the future, I found the advice misleading at times and no videos on line to actually show the thing in use.
I'm no vlogger but hopefully it is of use, there is a nice exhaust acceleration clip at the end too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jSatvs2cM8
Remember it is the law that if it isn't raining and its above 8c, the roof must be down!
surprising just how much room your girl has in there, it'll make for a great trip through europeThanks! Off to Tourtour in June and then hopefully a trip to Pompeii in August.
I was surprised at the room too! When viewing I took luggage and a friend. She was 5ft 6 so sat in the back, the theory being if she could sit then the child could too. Admittedly my friend would need the roof down if in the back so its limit for tea adults and top up is prob 5ft 4
I was surprised at the room too! When viewing I took luggage and a friend. She was 5ft 6 so sat in the back, the theory being if she could sit then the child could too. Admittedly my friend would need the roof down if in the back so its limit for tea adults and top up is prob 5ft 4
Not sure if its the standard XKR one or the XKR-S one as its listed as an additional item on the build sheet and has the speed pack.
Sounds lovely, its not as loud as the vette but it is more defined. I pulled the fuse today which keeps the butterflys open all the time, forgot about it and after having to pull away quick due to someone behind not noticing the traffic stopped ahead of him, I put the foot down and it was like a machine gun going off
Sounds lovely, its not as loud as the vette but it is more defined. I pulled the fuse today which keeps the butterflys open all the time, forgot about it and after having to pull away quick due to someone behind not noticing the traffic stopped ahead of him, I put the foot down and it was like a machine gun going off
We'll see how practical in a few weeks, we're off to Tourtour in South France, prob get at least 3 carry on size suitcases in the main boot area, then some sundries in the sparewheel well.... its man maths practical 
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