Post by alf on Mar 12, 2018 11:16:36 GMT
I saw the Thruxton dates for this tour advertised only last week and applied speculatively, amazingly I got a place on Friday afternoon and took a half day, very welcome after a crazy work week and Mrs ALF having recently had minor surgery so I'm being mum at home currently too.
It was superbly organised, free, and without major Jaguar sales pitch (which seemed a bit crazy TBH!). My group started with a couple of "follow my leader laps of the circuit in the XE V6S, presumably the newer 370bhp one, which is a possible next car for me (though they are barely cheaper than a similar aged XFR second hand, so that's where I'd go I think!). Nice car - I don't know what some journos are on about saying this engine lacks character, it sounded great and felt very responsive, and quick. The XE is a nice handling car and I was very impressed with this one, it feels very "together" and the Jaguar trademark excellently programmed ZF box was a joy too.
Then into the E Pace (top power petrol engined version) for the same. Nice interior, shame about the lack of rotary gear selector which (like in the F Type) is a stick I didn't find easy to fathom, selecting reverse instead of park a few times. The handbrake button too - so logically next to the selector in the XE/XF/F Pace was on the right, for me hidden by the wheel. On the go this car surged annoyingly on the throttle (especially in "sport" mode, damn them all) and had a strangely long, hard brake pedal at odds with most Jaguar products. One reason I was excited to go on this day was that I've barely driven a modern SUV besides the Disco Sport I hated so much as a loan car. The E Pace felt more supple and handled better, but even on a piss-wet day and with speeds very controlled, there was no disguising the mass and height - it rolled more than the Disco (in a good way, some roll is useful) but ultimately was totally outshone by the XE, which in V6S petrol form is a car I'd happily own.
Then two laps - not in convoy but with an instructor and speeds limited to 80 ish - in a 3.0 V6 supercharged F Type (not sure if "S" or not). Lovely car, my first time in one, sounded good and drove really well. I'd need a lot more time in one to really make a judgement but on first acquaintance, yum!
Followed by a single "hot lap" in an F Type SVR, all 575 bhp worth. On road tyres, in the wet, this thing had incredible grip and the driver was really hammering it, great fun! My main surprise with this thing was that although it's many times louder than my car from the outside, inside at high revs the sound is not much different.
Then a 45 min road drive in an E Pace - a very high spec but 160PS diesel engine. This was split with another punter (as were the convoy laps), swapping half way. Again I thought it looks nice outside and in, and has more space in the rear that I expected (and a small boot as a result, I'm assuming) though with small high windows that kids would not like. It drives perfectly well in "comfort" mode (sport being a throttle and gearbox hyperactivity nightmare) and handles pretty neutrally for this sort of car, with decent engine refinement, but with this example having a £47 OTR price (!!!!!!!!) and presumably strong residuals, it won't be troubling the ALF drive any time soon. Honestly, our C Max has considerably better primary controls and handling - and just sheer driving enjoyment - than this car. I've been driving the C Max a lot recently with Mrs ALF being unable to drive, and it still amazes me how good the brakes, steering, handling and gear change are. Jaguar should have been able to top that at least, although the C Max is only slightly raised in height from the normal car so physics is against them.
Then a short skid pan session in E Pace which showed how excellent the "snow" mode is at keeping it in shape, especially in a straight line when accelerating.
Then a bizarre Top Gear esque random sequence of gates in a big square tarmac area, with lights flashing to indicate which gates to drive through next, timed against others in the same group. The E Pace handled this well, digging out good grip, and the instructor reckoned I had the inside rear wheel off the ground much of the time in the corners, which is not something you get to do every day. For this and slaloms I copied the technique learned from Calum Lockie, Don Palmer, and others when I had instruction from them in my Caterham Academy and watched them do it - don't be shy of briefly flitting from throttle to brake occasionally if a simple lift is not enough to aid turn-in sufficiently.
Then lastly a chance to slalom in an XF estate (I'm guessing a higher-powered 4 pot diesel) and a V 6 S diesel F Pace. I love the looks of the F Pace and inside it's a fantastic place to be, however once more - even in pouring rain (giving a 4WD SUV a chance to shine) the XF simply murdered the SUV in the direction changes, feel, and braking - and it was not just me that thought that, everyone I spoke to noticed it.
Overall this was a great, well organised day and a chance to see what SUV's are like. I was surprised just how limited the handling of the SUV's seemed compared to a saloon or estate, the car mags all say this but now I've driven them back to back and proved the difference is night and day. I get why people like SUV's and if Mrs ALF wants one then fine, but I would not for my car, and I had been slightly tempted by some. If I were Jaguar I would not put SUV's alongside saloons/estates on the exact same activites - it just leads to unflattering comparisons and SUV's are the ones they are wanting to sell more of! Also some Jaguar sales people (even if bussed in from the local dealerships) to give it a bit of a harder sell would not go amiss, it seemed a wasted opportunity. But a great free driving day for me!
It was superbly organised, free, and without major Jaguar sales pitch (which seemed a bit crazy TBH!). My group started with a couple of "follow my leader laps of the circuit in the XE V6S, presumably the newer 370bhp one, which is a possible next car for me (though they are barely cheaper than a similar aged XFR second hand, so that's where I'd go I think!). Nice car - I don't know what some journos are on about saying this engine lacks character, it sounded great and felt very responsive, and quick. The XE is a nice handling car and I was very impressed with this one, it feels very "together" and the Jaguar trademark excellently programmed ZF box was a joy too.
Then into the E Pace (top power petrol engined version) for the same. Nice interior, shame about the lack of rotary gear selector which (like in the F Type) is a stick I didn't find easy to fathom, selecting reverse instead of park a few times. The handbrake button too - so logically next to the selector in the XE/XF/F Pace was on the right, for me hidden by the wheel. On the go this car surged annoyingly on the throttle (especially in "sport" mode, damn them all) and had a strangely long, hard brake pedal at odds with most Jaguar products. One reason I was excited to go on this day was that I've barely driven a modern SUV besides the Disco Sport I hated so much as a loan car. The E Pace felt more supple and handled better, but even on a piss-wet day and with speeds very controlled, there was no disguising the mass and height - it rolled more than the Disco (in a good way, some roll is useful) but ultimately was totally outshone by the XE, which in V6S petrol form is a car I'd happily own.
Then two laps - not in convoy but with an instructor and speeds limited to 80 ish - in a 3.0 V6 supercharged F Type (not sure if "S" or not). Lovely car, my first time in one, sounded good and drove really well. I'd need a lot more time in one to really make a judgement but on first acquaintance, yum!
Followed by a single "hot lap" in an F Type SVR, all 575 bhp worth. On road tyres, in the wet, this thing had incredible grip and the driver was really hammering it, great fun! My main surprise with this thing was that although it's many times louder than my car from the outside, inside at high revs the sound is not much different.
Then a 45 min road drive in an E Pace - a very high spec but 160PS diesel engine. This was split with another punter (as were the convoy laps), swapping half way. Again I thought it looks nice outside and in, and has more space in the rear that I expected (and a small boot as a result, I'm assuming) though with small high windows that kids would not like. It drives perfectly well in "comfort" mode (sport being a throttle and gearbox hyperactivity nightmare) and handles pretty neutrally for this sort of car, with decent engine refinement, but with this example having a £47 OTR price (!!!!!!!!) and presumably strong residuals, it won't be troubling the ALF drive any time soon. Honestly, our C Max has considerably better primary controls and handling - and just sheer driving enjoyment - than this car. I've been driving the C Max a lot recently with Mrs ALF being unable to drive, and it still amazes me how good the brakes, steering, handling and gear change are. Jaguar should have been able to top that at least, although the C Max is only slightly raised in height from the normal car so physics is against them.
Then a short skid pan session in E Pace which showed how excellent the "snow" mode is at keeping it in shape, especially in a straight line when accelerating.
Then a bizarre Top Gear esque random sequence of gates in a big square tarmac area, with lights flashing to indicate which gates to drive through next, timed against others in the same group. The E Pace handled this well, digging out good grip, and the instructor reckoned I had the inside rear wheel off the ground much of the time in the corners, which is not something you get to do every day. For this and slaloms I copied the technique learned from Calum Lockie, Don Palmer, and others when I had instruction from them in my Caterham Academy and watched them do it - don't be shy of briefly flitting from throttle to brake occasionally if a simple lift is not enough to aid turn-in sufficiently.
Then lastly a chance to slalom in an XF estate (I'm guessing a higher-powered 4 pot diesel) and a V 6 S diesel F Pace. I love the looks of the F Pace and inside it's a fantastic place to be, however once more - even in pouring rain (giving a 4WD SUV a chance to shine) the XF simply murdered the SUV in the direction changes, feel, and braking - and it was not just me that thought that, everyone I spoke to noticed it.
Overall this was a great, well organised day and a chance to see what SUV's are like. I was surprised just how limited the handling of the SUV's seemed compared to a saloon or estate, the car mags all say this but now I've driven them back to back and proved the difference is night and day. I get why people like SUV's and if Mrs ALF wants one then fine, but I would not for my car, and I had been slightly tempted by some. If I were Jaguar I would not put SUV's alongside saloons/estates on the exact same activites - it just leads to unflattering comparisons and SUV's are the ones they are wanting to sell more of! Also some Jaguar sales people (even if bussed in from the local dealerships) to give it a bit of a harder sell would not go amiss, it seemed a wasted opportunity. But a great free driving day for me!
