Jaguar XJR8 delimited

[thepolarfoxqx]

better taste in styling yes, and i know that X-Type has more problems than other jags, but my Jaguar has seen the mecahic more times in the two years i've owned it than my last 4 german cars combined. I blame ford (and the fact that they really expected half jaguar half euroford parts to mesh in a car as complex as X-Type), but none the less.

I will admit the old XJ (up until '03), which was arguably the last lyons car (or lyons influenced) was everything a jaguar should be to me, does the new for '04 XJ live up to you SpEed?

[SpEeDiSaDdIcTiVe]

Of course. It was a great design from the beginning, and it's just more up-to-date. Although it does sometimes look as if it rides a bit too high, but maybe it's just me. Lyons wasn't going to be around forever. I think the entire Jaguar range looks beautiful, it's just a shame the big hand of Ford has been fiddling around in the parts and engines department. The new S-Type is a nice tribute to the Lyons S-Type of old, it's just a shame that they banned the mascot from them. :roll:

[thepolarfoxqx]

i wouldn't buy a jag without the leaping cat on the hood (i don't know why it isn't on XK either).

lyons wasn't going to be around forever.

something odd happened today. Next to me were two XJRs, a brand new one in blue, and one a few years old in black right behind it.

I have to say, next to the old one, the new one just isn't attractive, alone it might be, but in front of the old XJR, it looks plain, the sides look flat, and it looks tall. No doubt the new XJ is attractive, and still distinctly jaguar, it just doesn't have the low roof, the long hood, the pinched trunk, it just doesn't look cat-like and feminine in the way the old one did.

I respect the huge technological and performance enhancements in the new one, and would love to own one, i just feel a little of the jaguar was lost in it.

[Paul XJR]

The reason for the leaping cat not bing fitted to the bonnet (as we call it, or the hood to you guys...) of the Jaguars is that it causes major injuries to pedestrians in the event of the car hitting a pedestrian. I think the same applied to the silver lady on the front of the Rolls-Royce, and RR got round the legislation by making the Silver Lady retract when the car is going along.

However, there was a Jaguar cat on the front of one of the XJRs I was looking at when I bought mine, and the dealer said it had been fitted after purchase - personally, I didn't like it.

I also agree about the shape of the X350 (the 2004 Jag) - it is too high and, for me, looks too much like the X-type (also, it was well out of my price range!!!) Not that I've got anything against the X-type (as I haven't got anything against BMWs or Mercs - just to clear up any previous misunderstanding), but when you're paying twice as much for the XJ, you don't want people to mistake it for an x-type, do you? Otherwise, you could have bought an x-type and been happy when people mistake it for the XJ...!

Having owned many Fords (9 in the last 15 years, from Fiestas up to the Scorpio), I think Jaguars are still worlds apart from the Fords. I hope it stays that way too.

I will say, however, that one of my reasons for buying a Jaguar (instead of a BMW or Merc) is that they are owned by Ford.

Paul....

[thepolarfoxqx]

wow, that is really cool. in england, be owned by ford is a good thing. See, europe-ford is actually very good, whereas ford of north america, not as much. Everyone here was dissapointed when Jaguar was bought buy them.

My X-Type has a leaping cat on the hood. The moral of the story, pedestrians, stay out of my way!

[Paul XJR]

Ford Europe is OK. Build quality is OK for the money you pay. Japanese cars are reputed to be good quality for the money (they win all the surveys), but the feeling is that Japanese cars have "no soul".

Ford have released some really good cars in Europe (I don't know which ones you get in the USA). The handling on the Focus is excellent, and the Mondeo (which has the same floorpan as the X-type) also has really good handling.

Recent classics from Ford Europe include :

* 1985 Escort RS Turbo - 1.6 turbo, 132 bhp, 130mph top speed, 0-60 in under 8 seconds - cost £9,250 (1985 price)
* 1986 Sierra RS Cosworth - 2.0 DOHC turbo, 205bhp, 150mph top speed, 0-60 in under 6 seconds - cost £15,750 (1986 price)
* 1993 Escort RS Cosworth - same engine as above, 227 bhp, 145mph top speed, 0-60 in under 6 seconds - cost £23,000 (1993 price)
* 2003 Focus RS - 2.0 DOHC turbo, 225bhp, 140mph top speed, 0-60 in under 7 seconds - cost £20,000

These cars have all shaped the hot hatchback market in the UK and across Europe. I don't know how many of these were released in the USA.

In terms of luxury cars, Ford had the Granada range until 1985 (Taunus in the US?) This was rebadged as the Scorpio until finally being killed off in about 1998, but Ford could never compete in the "luxury" market, so they bought Jaguar instead. Jaguar have the image they needed. The X-type really replaced the Ford Scorpio, but is considerably better.

I had a 1996 Ford Scorpio, with a 2.9 V6 engine, but it was only 150 bhp, so was pretty slow. However, it was fully loaded with leather, air con, auto box, electric seats, 6-disk CD stack, auto-dipping rear view mirror. It even had features my '99 XJR doesn't have (heated seats, heated windscreen, memory seats) although I know the 2000 XJR has these...

By the way, perhaps the leaping cat was outlawed by European legislation ... seems to affect everything in the UK these days!

[SpEeDiSaDdIcTiVe]

Yep, it could injure someone, but then I always think if you're hit by a car you're going to get hurt anyway. :roll: Still, they do say Jaguars are dangerous animals if you get in their way. I'm sure someone in Coventry could re-design it to retract or move like the tri-star on a Merc; I think it adds to the car.
I had the same feeling about the old and new XJ's. The older one looks more sleek, sporty, and sits lower. Jaguar were left with a bit of a problem though as while the old shape was good, there wasn't enough head or leg room in the back and the boot was only good for carrying bags of sugar. I don't think it's an un-attractive car, though. Maybe once people are used to it they'll like it more. The new XJR doesn't have that problem of looking too tall.
Ford Europe are okay, but ever now and then, someone in Detroit likes to flex their muscles and order some cost cutting etc. Thankfully, it hasn't affected Jaguar that much (maybe the X is a little too Ford-like for my liking), but the new Land Rovers will have revised Volvo and Jaguar engines, and the V12 Cosworth (ex-Cosworth now) engine is going to be produced at a Ford plant in Germany. :roll:
As for the bonnet mascot not existing on the XKR, I think it's to do with them never having been on the sports models. There wasn't one on the E-Type, and the XK8/R does draw much inspiration from its design. I think on the XK models they are better for not having one, but on the rest they are worse. I've heard of police here stopping Jags with mascots and ordering they be removed, but I see a few about that pass police cars and they do nothing about it. Personally I'd take the risk and get one.

[thepolarfoxqx]

seriously, the chrome cat is neccesary, how else would i know where the end of my hood was otherwise?

i really like mine, and odds are, if i hit you with my jaguar, you were A: stupid and should be impaled or B: I was trying to hit you with it.

i suppose, the old XJ needed a good chasis revision, but the new one is too tall. Anyhow, i never put that much in the trunk, and i never have to ride in the backseat, so why do i care?

Land Rovers are getting supposedly just Jaguar engines i heard. I own a land rover, and I can't wait. The pushrod 4.6L in my disco, while being a really cool motor, just isn't half what the AJ-V8 is. We were thinking of getting a porsche cayanne next year, but we may have to wait to see the redesigned disco first.

Ford has been a much better parrent, i think, than, say, oh, VW!!!!!!

[Paul XJR]

I know they are not really supercars, but out of interest, how many of the Ford RS models I listed earlier made it to the States?

Also, (to thepolarfoxqx), just how many cars have you got???

I assume you've got the three listed, an X-type, a 4.6 disco - do you run a dealership or something?

I guess variety is a good thing ....

[thepolarfoxqx]

ford RS models don't get here.

We had scorpio and XR4Ti for 2 or 3 years back in the late 80s.

And i've got:

1991 BMW 318i Dinan
2002 Jaguar X-Type 3.0L Auto
2003 Land Rover Discovery 4.6HSE
2003 Porsche Boxster S
2002 Suzuki XL-7 5spd
2002 Acura 3.5RL

See, i've got two houses, one in philadelphia, the other in minneapolis, i don't own a dealership, just a larger than average family with a taste for cars.