Originally Posted by rbobzilla

I think manufacturers run into a lot of flak, whether deserved or not, when they use a chassis that was originally designed for the "everyday" line, and then try to make it into the luxury line vehicle. The examples are very numerous and include:

Omega-Catera, X-type-Mondeo, Cimmaron-Cavalier, Taurus-Lincoln MKS, Fusion-Lincoln MKZ,

Inevitably the argument becomes "it was a great Ford, but not a very good Lincoln or it was a great Mondeo but not a very good Jaguar. Doesn't mean they're "bad" cars, necessarily, but they just shouldn't do it.

They run into less difficulty when the manufacturer trickles down the luxury platform for use in the lower line or when the platform is originally designed for multiple brands ie, Thunderbird-Lincoln LS-S-Type, or Bentley-A8-Phaeton (though the Phaeton hasn't exactly been a resounding success!)

Originally Posted by Mkii250

Personally I'm interested in pure electric cars. Hybrids seem overly complex to me, without the benefit of pure electric where you can put the motors right where they are needed, ie at the wheels. So I'd prefer the hydrogen approach if it could be made to work, at least until someone invents a truly revolutionary battery.

Originally Posted by rbobzilla

- almost like they're trying to hide the fact that it's a standard gas vehicle. Wonder if that will be a design trend - hiding the exhaust pipes (as though they're finding some kind of "modesty" in covering up their tail(pipes)...)

Originally Posted by rbobzilla

Here are two photos of MDXs - one a 2012 prominently displaying its exh***t, and the other the 2014 with the reflectors filling what must have been originally intended as exhaust pipes (why else would they look like that?).

2014 Acura MDX | Photos, Videos, Exterior, Interior | Acura.com

Originally Posted by ajmarton

I have a 2012 XFR and was given a BMW M6 convertible to test drive for the last 3 days. While the convertible top was a nice feature, I prefer the Jag overall. The BMW was quirky to operate and the acceleration had some lag although it did give you a kick in the pants when it engaged. But everything seemed so complicated. Buttons and options everywhere. I constantly had to put the car in Sport Plus and adjust the ride. There may be a way to reconfigure these performance options but it was a pain. The huge screen was nice as was the heads up display and parking assist which was amazing. You get a bird's eye 360 degree view so you see the curb and everything else around you. Very cool. But there's a lag time for everything - much worse than waiting for the shifter to rise on the Jag. There's no Park so you have to set and release the brake to move - a pain. The only real plus was the exhaust note that was very sweet. I think the Jag XFR exhaust note is too low and went with the Mina which was a good compromise for the money. Anyway, the BMW M6 does come across as a true no compromises performance vehicle but it really had no personality like the Jag or the cache. It was not an eye catcher as no one really pain much attention to it - other than other beamer owners. In contrast, the Jag XFR (and S and R-S) are exclusive and you see a lot less of them on the road (and I live in West Los Angeles - with the you are what you drive culture). The M6 styling is somewhat unique but still close to a 6 series and does not get the looks of inquiry that I see when I drive the Jag. Valets are constantly complimenting the Jag when they bring up the car. Even at Comic Con in San Diego, people were staring at and talking to me about the Jag XFR because it is not a common car. I also test drove a 2010 911 convertible for a week and a Maserati QP convertible for a week. Only the Maserati rivals the XFR. It has an incredible exhaust note and is a head turner. It looks gorgeous and people notice it and talk to you about it. But overall, IMHO there is nothing quite as enjoyable as driving the XFR. It has a lot of personality (like my older sports cars) and an immense reserve of power. In Polar White - it's a sleeper - it does not telegraph its status as a performance vehicle which I like - no speeding tickets to date. I was fortunate enough to see the F-Type production line in Birmingham, UK and that may be my next car.

Originally Posted by dr_zerocool

Also, I think my next jag will be an F-Type (when they finally coupe the darn thing)!

Originally Posted by DPK

Ditto...I was at the dealer this morning getting an alignment and they had 5 F-types, all rag tops and 4 was the 3.0L and one in BRG was the V8...I hope they keep putting in the V8 when the coupes come out (which they said very soon they'd be arriving) and I liked the Exhaust port arrangement better on the V8..The V6 has them centered in the middle of the rear...Yuk!

Originally Posted by XFactoR

I posted this in another thread, but it deserves it's own:

Jaguar reliability is no worse than BMW, Mercedes, or Audi. The problem comes from 30 years of building junk at high prices during the 70's, 80's, and 90's. That's an entire generation that was brought up thinking that Jaguars are crap. why do you think Jag's demographic, until recently, was virtually elderly. Because...only people over 65 remember Jaguar's prominence.

It takes a long time to purge such negative perception. Yet, I think they are doing a good job at changing perceptions slowly by building quality cars, with beautiful cutting edge designs, and with bonafide performance.

Still, there are things to work on....

Jaguar has to pin down the branding of their Performance line. Is it "S", "R", "R-S"...it may sound silly, but it matters. There is only 1 BMW M ...only 1 AMG....yeah, they now have "M-Sport" options....and AMG has Black Series....but both M and AMG are the core, and very established. Jaguar should call their performance brand "R Performance Division"....They should badge the high performance models "R" ...that's it. And on very limited edition versions that are SUBSTANTIALLY different...call them "R-S". Example: There should be an XKR, and the true version of the XKR-S should have been what wound up being the XKR-S GT. The XKR-S that was actually produced was too incremental ...not enough for the price premium. Stop with changing the ECU programming, putting gaudy ground effects, adding some carbon fiber here and there, and stiffening the suspension a bit, and then trying to pass it off as a huge upgrade. It's not...the numbers prove it. The R-S models should be ***** out super cars....configurable dynamic mode, smaller supercharger pulley with ECU, adjustable sport exhaust, significant but tasteful body modifications. It should be like AMG Black Series. Dump the "S" moniker, and please, please stop changing the logos....it's about branding!!!

Let's boost the tech...It's sad that the new Chrysler infotainment system puts the Jaguar/Land Rover system to shame....actually, it's better than the Germans too. We don't have head's up display, night vision, fully adaptive cruise control, or other driver assists that cars in this range should have...

I'm convinced that Jaguar can be a top tier brand...it's a completely different company than 10 years ago, and the next 10 years looks bright...but it needs to focus on its efforts....and please, please nothing that resembles the BMW 550GT or Mercedes R class should ever ever be built.