So I test drove a 2015 R Saturday in further exploration of my contemplation of a move to an f type from my 2016 Cayman S.


And I have to say I walked away a little disappointed:


I didn't find the sound anymore wonderful than the V6 (still wonderful but not sure I see any real enjoyable difference)...they both sound really good.


But my real disappointment was that I found I couldn't access the power without losing traction on DRY pavement!
No doubt it is an extremely powerful car, probably the fastest I've ever driven (my cayman's pedal felt like it was broken when I drove it immediately after), but if I felt like it was always teasing me. Everytime I tried to stab the pedal to access all that power, the car lost traction and I had to back off.


So I didn't find the power all that fun because I couldn't access it. The salesperson said I was being too abrupt with the pedal, but isn't that the point of a sportscar...sometimes you want to be abrupt with the pedal? He tried to demonstrate how to access the power, push the pedal moderately until it hooks up and then let it loose. It seemed to kinda of work, but it seemed too deliberate and thought out to be fun!


Am I missing something?

 

Cold pavement ?
Crappy Pirelli tires?
On warm pavement mine hooks up quite well.. also with Michelin PSS tires the improvement is very noticeable.
Lawrence

 

Having just lost our 981CS, and having a V6S F at the same time....

I can tell you that I test drove countless times over 2 years, waited for the couple, waited for the MT, and ended up preferring the V6S RWD over the other choices.It's plenty of power for anything you could do on the street. It will still land you a felony charge if you aren't careful, and frankly, I think it sounds way better.



When Clarkson says it "too much"........

 

No, I don't think you're missing anything. My feelings are identical to yours, and after test driving both extensively, I purchased the V6 two years ago. I'm still delighted with it and prefer the V6 exhaust note.

The V8 is massive overkill, and the power is mostly unusable on the street, except for those occasional "hooligan" moments, which can be fun if you don't get busted. You can also easily wag the tail and break traction in the V6.

Of course the same could be said of other highly desirable cars like the 911 Turbo and the Z06 and after owning many "overpowered" street cars over several decades, I got over it. :-)

 

You might want to try the AWD. I had a similar experience in terms of traction but found I could put the power down much more effectively with AWD.

 

After driving dozens of cars over the years with 400-500 hp on relatively skinny tires and without any electronic aids at all, I can tell you that high hp rwd cars take practice if you want to extract all the performance from them.

To some the V8 RWD is overpowered but that didn't stop experienced drivers from extracting pretty decent performance (in excess of that offered by the V6) in both a straight line as well as track tests. Yes, as Foosh said, you aren't going to extract 100% of the V8's potential on the street without getting into trouble, though the same can be said for virtually every high performance car on the market today. ;-)

V8 vs. V6, AWD vs. RWD. Auto vs. manual, coupe vs. convertible.....all have their place with no right or wrong answers IMO. You can justify any one of those choices if you try...

This video shows both sides of the question;

Dave

 

The salesman is correct. Those of us that drive a 2015R have learned that you can't just "stab" the pedal to the firewall... you have to learn to modulate the GO pedal! Use a little finesse... After you have driven a few hundred miles, you would learn the nuances of how hard you can "punch it" in relation to the desired effect at the time.

If you want your cat to chirp her paws at each shift, pretty easy to do thru at least 4th gear. Want her to wag her tail, even easier to do at will, she loves to showoff her beautiful tail. Want to hook-up the tires from a dead stop or even a rolling start, that requires some finesse, a steady foot, and a bit of practice...

Oh yeah, and what Lawrence said... Lose the PZeros and move to Pilot Super Sports as fast as you can. The difference is substantial.


.

 

I used to drive sport motorcycles (last two was Yamaha R1) both on street and track. When I stopped after 23 years on two wheels, the one big thing I missed when driving a car, was the challenge of having too much power in the first gear(s), and having to learn how to modulate the throttle - AND have enough power at higher gears to be able to accelerate hard also well over 130-150 mph (for track use and German autobahn, where I usually travels a couple of times each year).

The rwd R is right on that target, and I could not be happier with it

 

You don't need R power to spin stock tires.

Also, with F-type power you need to practice gradual throttle application. That is, you can't stomp on accelerator and expect it to hook up. It will spin and slide. This will be true for any car of this caliber.

 

Those are good reasons, and if my street use was the German autobahn, I'd be in a 500HP something. Likewise, if I lived in the deserted plains of the western US, I might have made a different decision.

However, I live in a part of the US, which is basically one giant metropolitan area extending from Richmond VA to Boston MA, and the "autobahn" is 70 mph max, except for the 50% of the time where it's gridlocked between 5 and 30 mph. Other than on a track, there just isn't any place to safely use crazy HP more than 1% of the time, and then you're pushing your luck.

My 500HP cars in the past were nothing more than objects of desire without purpose.

 

Wouldn't 15 R-type have launch control feature? When used, the car will do fastest possible standing start when you activate it, no need to learn to moderate throttle.

 

The V8s do not have launch control, never have. Only the V6S has it for reasons that defy logic.

 

This isn't a 'smart' launch control, where the ECU controls the throttle. With the stall speed dropped on the torque converter, the car is really straining against the brakes when you apply the throttle. I could see how you could damage something in the V8. Plus, since it isn't managing the throttle, it would be just that much easier to smoke the tires, so I can see how this implementation wouldn't be useful on the V8s.

 

+1. On a good motorcycle, stab either the throttle or the brake and die. The power on the V8 RWD cars is not wasted as they can use all of it in certain gears within certain rpm ranges. You just need to acquire the skills to do so.

 

I think the real question is why JLR hasn't developed a "smart" launch control for their big power cars.

 

This!

The R can hook up quite well and is a stark difference from the S. You would notice the most difference during acceleration from 50-120. The car pulls pretty hard and that is what you get with HP.

As for sound, they both make music. The S has been tested to be even louder than the R.

 

When I tried "Dynamic Launch" over the weekend, I feathered the throttle and waited for the signal in the display (which never happened). What happened was that when the RPMs got around 2k, the ECU took over, dropped the RPMs to 1500 and stopped responding to the throttle.

 

Well said on both counts. FWIW....I raced motorcycles for over 30 years most of it was offroad but I also had several high performance streetbikes as well; Honda Interceptor, Kawi ZX6R, etc.

Just as though cars are getting better and better, I can't help but think that all the "crutches" being added every year are making the average driver less skilled.... no one here of course, just in general.




Dave

 

Yes the 550+ HP in the RWD coupe is overkill, especially with 295s in the back. My stock tires have 10,000 miles on them and if I stab the throttle I'm going no where fast with a traction control icon blinking furiously. I am really hoping the Michelins are as good as everyone says they are. I read somewhere the the f-type was like "Carl Lewis in stilettos".

One could make the argument that 550 is too much power a RWD these days. Cars have become so powerful that they are requiring more sophisticated traction control systems to keep them being wrapped around a tree.

Yes the car is bonkers and yes you have to be a little more judicious with your throttle application but I would not want less power. I love the car for what it is. I have learned over the years never to stab the throttle in powerful RWD cars. It's about finding the sweet spot where the car hooks up and Go.

I love having passengers in the car when cruising at 4000 RPM in second gear and nailing the throttle. Their expression is priceless. I love loafing along the highway at 2000 RPM doing almost 80 mph while getting 28 mpg. I love trying to pretend to keep up with the Mclarens on their rallies.

In short the V8 RWD does require some effort and it is not the effortless handler a Cayman or Lotus would be , but I believe it can be just as rewarding as the V6



MC

2015 Jaguar F-type R
1996 Acura NSX-T sold ((((((
1995 Mazda Miata #02
2010 Cadillac Escalade

 

That's because you have the V8S. The V6S is the only model to have this feature.