Local Jaguar dealers have received the new XK into their showrooms, and I received an invitation for their "Jaguar Days", so I took some time off this afternoon to go check out the beast in person (I never bothered going up on the Jaguar stand back in the car show... didn't really have the time).
So, after checking the car from one end to the other, a sales guy comes up to me and we start chatting. A few minutes later and he's getting the keys for the silver colored coupé sitting outside
During the test drive, I asked him about the R version availability, and whilst he wasn't sure when it'd be coming out in Switzerland, he asked me if I wanted to the try older R version as well. Of course I agreed, and after the drive of the XK, we took the XKR for a spin as well.
Since I drove two cars which are basically the same, yet very different, I'll give you my opinions of the rides in a sort of side on side comparison...
First, the looks. The new XK looks really nice. Similar design queues to an Aston Martin, but for half the price. The interior has a LOT of leather, very, VERY comfy seats, probably more comfier then in my SLK because they were a bit softer. All knobs look nice, a bit shame for the black plastic ones in the middle (but felt soft), and also a shame for the silverish plastic colored center console area. But it looked quite good nevertheless. Steering wheel looks good as well, and the dials were really nice.
In comparison, the older XKR had a very sweet gray wood center console area, looked more "classy" then the sportier new XK, but the bundle of hard, black plastic knowbs in the center look dreary. The steering wheel looks ugly as do the dials on the old XKR, and the seats were noway near as good as the new one. Exterior looks however are very nice, I like it.
One big problem for me however, came in the form of foot space. My right leg constantly got stuck on some b1tchin' plastic bits when I lifted my foot off one pedal in order to move it to another one. So. So. Annoying. I almost ended up in a few situations where I couldn't quickly enough change from one pedal to another... I've had this situation before in another car, the Peugeout 206 CC. I absolutely HATED that car for that reason alone...
Round 1: New XK.
Next, the noise of the engine. The new XK has a alot of insulation materials I would think, because while we were driving, it was all very quiet inside. Even pushing hard on the engine resulted in just a nice cool, but not very loud rumble. The run flat tires however made a bit of a whistling noise (RFT's... ugh... the car needs real tires IMO). Overall, engine/exhaust noise while driving around is pleasant, rumbly, similar to mine.
The old XKR had a supercharged engine (390hp), and made quite a noise! Drove through a tunnel with the windows down and WOW! When you hit that pedal, you begin to hear a "whi-whi-Whi-Whi-WHI-WHI-WHII-WHIIII" noise as it begins whistling, louder and louder. Most SC's tend to be very linear when they whistle, but this one made a sort of "tchak tchak tchak" noise, and at the same time, a "FRRRRRRRT" like noise gets louder and louder. Very pleasing, but... VERY LOUD! Whilst driving around calmy resulted in a very pleasant drive, it seems that the engine and cabin compartments are not isolated all that well. When you really push it, the cabin gets a bit loud, but I think in a mostly good way.
Round two: draw
Handling in the new XK was very nice. The RTF's didn't really cause any grief, the car felt very well planted. I feel that the car swayed a bit in roundabouts and when taking corners very hard, so I hope they add stiffer springs on the R version which comes out next. Having said this, it responded very well to small bumps and was a very comfortable ride.
The old XKR was also a bit swayish, but also felt a bit dull... maybe too comfortable for my "young guy" taste... I like a bit more action, and a bit more road feel. The old XKR had very little road feel... steering felt a bit sluggish, the new XK definitely had a more planted and in control feel on the steering wheel. Whilst at the same time precise, it was very easy to turn the steering wheel on the new XK, the old one felt... boring.
Round 3: new XK
Seating in the new XK was great. As I already mentioned, the seats were fabulous. Lots of buttons to move them around in tons of directions with lumbar support as well. Old XK's felt like they were too small... no support for sholder areas... not poor, just not interesting.
Round 4: new XK
Power wise, the old XK was clearly the winner. I think it does 0-100 in less then 5 seconds for sure, although I can't be bothered to pick up the numbers at the moment. The new XK however felt very good! Whilst the automatic in the old XKR required a little push to get the car rolling, the new XK moved along in a very brisk pace once you turned the engine on (via the nice, large red "START/STOP ENGINE" button, after which when pressed, you hear a pleasing mechanical whirr a pump starts off, the spark plugs ignite and BRUMMMMMMMM!!!
). The sequential gearbox in the new XK as real nice. Good clean shifts, you can go to manual mode by flicking a pedal, and whilst I'm not too fond of the fact that after 5 seconds it goes back to automatic (probably can be configured somewhere to avoid this), playing around with the paddles was very pleasing.
Round 5: new XK thanks to proper gearbox
Well, not sure if there's anything else to really add to it... but that was a very pleasant hour and a half that I spent trying those cars
Very decent rides, and the new XK was clearly the winner. When the XKR comes out under the new skin, it will be a very, very nice car I think! Just don't try to fit any adults in the back seats, they're waaaaay too small
I'll post pics tonight when I go home.
Test drove new Jaguar XK & older XKR (pics tonight)
Despite the ugliness new XK beats the crap out of older brother 
Linear Mode
