Post by alf on Mar 27, 2020 11:46:05 GMT
Obvs I have not posted much on here last year, so a couple of things of note regarding the XFR. Overall I still absolutely love it. I loved the old one, but this late model facelifted one feels more like an entirely new model than a facelift. It's much nicer inside, tighter and better handling overall, the 8 speed ZF is amazing and the engine makes a lot more noise. It has never had any snags, only the slightly loose door seals (with a tad more wind noise around the driver's window than I'd like) stop it feeling German. This one uses no oil either, the other one did (albeit I only bought the other one at about the mileage this one is now on, 40k). It can also do borderline ridiculous MPG for long motorway trips now I use the 50mph section of the M4 a lot, I have had some at 34+MPG, and all my long work trips are over 30.
Anyway, some may recall I had a big "moment" on the test drive with this car, the rear P Zeros only had 2-3mm on them and even in the dry seemed to have lost interest in grip. I replaced all 4 and the car was superb. This winter I still had 4-5mm on the winter rears (old pattern sottozeros, bought "new old stock") but this was their 5th winter on an XFR, and they gave up. I had increasingly silly "moments" - silly because with some I was not remotely pushing on, and got a bit of a sad-on about the whole 500bhp / RWD thing for all year round UK driving. Then I replaced the rears - again for "new old stock" old type sottozeroes (there always seem to be some available from German Jag dealers, and they are a third of the price of full budget new ones at £105) and hey presto, the car is transformed. From being terrified of going near the throttle except in a dead straight line I can drive it assertively again and the only moments are when I choose to have them. Bit of a learning curve for me - with this level of power, its not about getting the maximum tyre life, at some point the weight and power has killed the tyre as a useful object and it needs changing. I get decent life from them so can't complain...
Wax next - I love the Jaguar red colour (especially, against my expectations, with the black "summer" wheels) and the car has always looked good but in some lights, like street lights at night, it clearly had a lot of swirl marks from poor cleaning or polishing before my time with it. It also has a few paint-only door dings from my 9 months parking in a Winchester public car park last year before moving to Newbury to my partner's house. So last summer I spent almost a whole day clay barring the car then using Meguiars "Ultimate Compound" to treat the paint, then I added a layer of the previous style Meguiars NXT wax (which I have always loved, this bottle has lasted since the GTA). It was bastard hard work applying and removing by hand, machine polishers are more normally used, but the results were stunning. I have only now applied a gloss coat on top, the paint continued to look absolutely amazing every time the car was washed, even 8 months after I did it. I have not noticed the swirl marks either - they may still be there in some lights, but overall the improvement to any damaged paint, and the way the rest of the paint just looks so much brighter and deeper in colour, has been superb.
Unfortunately I reversed into a post in Newbury station car park over the winter so need a chips away type repair for a couple of inches of the rear bumper - the post was bloody miles away from the pavement it was protecting, and my beepers didn't see it at all, may be some time before I can get that done but it's not that bad....
Anyway, some may recall I had a big "moment" on the test drive with this car, the rear P Zeros only had 2-3mm on them and even in the dry seemed to have lost interest in grip. I replaced all 4 and the car was superb. This winter I still had 4-5mm on the winter rears (old pattern sottozeros, bought "new old stock") but this was their 5th winter on an XFR, and they gave up. I had increasingly silly "moments" - silly because with some I was not remotely pushing on, and got a bit of a sad-on about the whole 500bhp / RWD thing for all year round UK driving. Then I replaced the rears - again for "new old stock" old type sottozeroes (there always seem to be some available from German Jag dealers, and they are a third of the price of full budget new ones at £105) and hey presto, the car is transformed. From being terrified of going near the throttle except in a dead straight line I can drive it assertively again and the only moments are when I choose to have them. Bit of a learning curve for me - with this level of power, its not about getting the maximum tyre life, at some point the weight and power has killed the tyre as a useful object and it needs changing. I get decent life from them so can't complain...
Wax next - I love the Jaguar red colour (especially, against my expectations, with the black "summer" wheels) and the car has always looked good but in some lights, like street lights at night, it clearly had a lot of swirl marks from poor cleaning or polishing before my time with it. It also has a few paint-only door dings from my 9 months parking in a Winchester public car park last year before moving to Newbury to my partner's house. So last summer I spent almost a whole day clay barring the car then using Meguiars "Ultimate Compound" to treat the paint, then I added a layer of the previous style Meguiars NXT wax (which I have always loved, this bottle has lasted since the GTA). It was bastard hard work applying and removing by hand, machine polishers are more normally used, but the results were stunning. I have only now applied a gloss coat on top, the paint continued to look absolutely amazing every time the car was washed, even 8 months after I did it. I have not noticed the swirl marks either - they may still be there in some lights, but overall the improvement to any damaged paint, and the way the rest of the paint just looks so much brighter and deeper in colour, has been superb.
Unfortunately I reversed into a post in Newbury station car park over the winter so need a chips away type repair for a couple of inches of the rear bumper - the post was bloody miles away from the pavement it was protecting, and my beepers didn't see it at all, may be some time before I can get that done but it's not that bad....
