1000mile report on new XKR (with pics)
Discussion
Well I've managed to rack up 1000 miles in the week that I've had my XKR and loved all of them. Here is a quick overview of things I have noticed about the cat.
Throttle is very responsive and the power is instantaneous! When you floor it, there's no time to get used to the idea that you're going to be going fast. It really hits you back into your seat.
I did a lot of gentle cruising, as I took the family up to N.Yorks for Xmas, and it really is a GT. Quiet and comfortable. 16-way seat adjustment certainly helps! There is no sign of any of the wind noises that have been mentioned on early XK models.
The exhaust note sounds good, but is not overly loud, especially if you have the windows closed. However, I like it that way as you don’t always want a ridiculous roar following you everywhere.
The active lighting is actually quite usefull and funky, but I still don’t think I'd have selected it if I wasn’t forced to. Luckily they still had supply problems and so I didn’t have to take the ugly 20" Cremona's and got 20" Senta's instead.
Finally, I think the little roller buttons on the steering wheel are great. A great slant on the usual push button.
I have some gripes though:
- Why didn’t they put more thought into the rear seats. The 911 designers did.
- The SatNav doesn’t give enough info on the map. Infact it barely gives anything when you are on say 4mile setting. You might want to, say, take the next turning off the A1, but it doesnt tell you what the road is, or give you any town names to aim for. It also doesn’t tell you which road you're on, or have any interaction with the Message Centre, which means you have to keep looking at the main screen to see what to do (any nearly crashing each time). The Audi MMC satnav is lightyears ahead. Shame Jag weren’t taken over by VW.
- The "Message Centre" is pointless. Why do I want a dirty great clock in the middle of the screen, when I could have the current SatNav instruction, or the music track name or radio station etc.
- Why no engine temp gauge? How do I know when I'm allowed to floor it?!
Must end on a positive however, hence here are some pictures:
Throttle is very responsive and the power is instantaneous! When you floor it, there's no time to get used to the idea that you're going to be going fast. It really hits you back into your seat.
I did a lot of gentle cruising, as I took the family up to N.Yorks for Xmas, and it really is a GT. Quiet and comfortable. 16-way seat adjustment certainly helps! There is no sign of any of the wind noises that have been mentioned on early XK models.
The exhaust note sounds good, but is not overly loud, especially if you have the windows closed. However, I like it that way as you don’t always want a ridiculous roar following you everywhere.
The active lighting is actually quite usefull and funky, but I still don’t think I'd have selected it if I wasn’t forced to. Luckily they still had supply problems and so I didn’t have to take the ugly 20" Cremona's and got 20" Senta's instead.
Finally, I think the little roller buttons on the steering wheel are great. A great slant on the usual push button.
I have some gripes though:
- Why didn’t they put more thought into the rear seats. The 911 designers did.
- The SatNav doesn’t give enough info on the map. Infact it barely gives anything when you are on say 4mile setting. You might want to, say, take the next turning off the A1, but it doesnt tell you what the road is, or give you any town names to aim for. It also doesn’t tell you which road you're on, or have any interaction with the Message Centre, which means you have to keep looking at the main screen to see what to do (any nearly crashing each time). The Audi MMC satnav is lightyears ahead. Shame Jag weren’t taken over by VW.
- The "Message Centre" is pointless. Why do I want a dirty great clock in the middle of the screen, when I could have the current SatNav instruction, or the music track name or radio station etc.
- Why no engine temp gauge? How do I know when I'm allowed to floor it?!
Must end on a positive however, hence here are some pictures:
Edited by kryten22uk on Saturday 30th December 13:39
Well I have done just over 1500 miles now so my comments are as follows...
Likes:
Power, Response, Handling, Looks, Interior Styling, Build Quality.
Dislikes:
When raining the water ingress from the window.. everything else is just superficial niggles you will ignore once you are used to the car...
Likes:
Power, Response, Handling, Looks, Interior Styling, Build Quality.
Dislikes:
When raining the water ingress from the window.. everything else is just superficial niggles you will ignore once you are used to the car...
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