That would have been a painful and costly track experience...unfortunately, I can definitely relate

 

Here's a terrific comparison of performance, driving dynamics and driver involvement/satisfaction between the GT-R and Audi R8. The XKR is much closer to the impressions of the R8 on the road and track...and I've never once felt like nodding off tearing around the race track in it

 

First post. Just bought a 2010 HKR. Nice car so far .

To me, it was all about what else I own. With the M3, and especially the Porsche, I get all the raw, elemental, manual-shifting goodness a person could want. But the wife doesn't drive those cars. We had a 2004 XJR until recently, and it was very nice in its own way, but too sedate for my tastes, with steering that required high speeds to firm up sufficiently for me.

As many here and elsewhere have commented, the XKR can be great fun, but it needn't be, and therein lay its appeal for me as a car both of us could drive and enjoy. So, we'll see. Here's hoping she can enjoy it, because I know I can!

Itching to do a flash and maybe a pulley, but am holding back in the short term until I know the car better...

 

Welcome to the forum. Great choice of car Be sure to post in the "Intro" section to get you started. I wouldn't be in a big hurry to mod it until you've had a chance to read feedback from other here. Enjoy your new ride!

 

Bruce - thanks for posting the r8-gtr vid. I actually looked into purchasing a gtr previously due to its performance/value factor. However, I'm not a fan of its looks and after driving it, I realized I would have to push it hard in order to really enjoy it, so I didn't go that route.

 

I've been thinking about getting a late model M3. I think they all have sticks? Something smaller, lighter, less powerful to throw around on the twisties. The high power cars, 500hp and up with similar torque are a lot of fun but are a handful and do not put up with mistakes. Back in the mid seventies I had a Toyota ST. I put some Pirellis and good shocks and threw that thing into corners and was drifting before drifting was a word associated with driving. The car had so little power that I could only do that going down hill! My right hand was always on the stick and the rear end was always hanging out. I loved that car and I was much better at driving it than my XKRS. For non-professional drivers - like myself - super cars kind of take the fun out of driving because mistakes tend to be serious when you're driving a 500 hp+ car. The track is really the only safe place to drive them hard. There is a lot of fun to be had with momentum cars like the Lotus, Miata, etc. A lot of older guys who drove muscle cars - back in the day - think they can treat the new muscle cars the same way and quickly find themselves pointing in the wrong direction, been there - done that!

 

I couldn't agree more. And things seem to have conspired to limit the driving enthusiasts fun. Volume of traffic on the roads, speed limits and enforcement, safety equipment and features on cars adding weight and reducing the connection with the road...and the more that automakers increase handling at the limits the more it reduces the fun at an everyday pace! At least when I drop the top it amps up the excitement, and that helps to satisfy.

But, there's no replacement for getting it out on the track...any track. Auto cross is fun, and you can learn and hone your car control skills there safely, but the higher powered performance cars are made for the higher speed stuff found on the road course. Newer tracks are generally laid out with lots of corners and lower top speeds. A good balance for most drivers, but for cars like the XKR the high speed road course is the Holy Grail. I've driven the more eastern ones, and iconic tracks like Road Atlanta, Road America, Watkin's Glen, Virginia International and Mosport have all given me the occasional fix I need to still enjoy responsible day to day driving.

DRC, wasn't the ST a first generation Celica?

Bruce

 

I think discussions like these are always very interesting. I did about 12 laps of a race circuit in an XKR and came away very impressed, having driven the same track in an Impreza Turbo that needed a break every 5 laps...

"All things to all men" cars are always going to fall prey to specialists in analyses of situations. The temptation is to compare a car like an XKR with something smaller, lighter and more focussed, then find the XKR lacking in driving appeal. The reverse comparison ("My track weapon is RUBBISH in town") never seems to have the same emotional resonance.

Is it buyer's remorse?

Many of the contributors to this thread own multiple cars (myself included). We should be familiar with the concept of "horses for courses", whereupon any complaint about "vehicle X" is really a reflection that when leaving the house we picked up the keys to the wrong car.

If I decided to buy another performance car, it'd be unlikely to be another Jaguar. Would I really want two cars that were essentially the same, just with a different body? No, I think not. I'd be far more likely to go buy a Caterham, or a BMW 1M Coupe.

My own experience of buying the XJL was that the sales folk in both Jaguar and BMW dealerships couldn't believe that I was comparing the SuperSport with an M5. They just weren't seeing it from my perspective ("5 seat saloon car, very very fast").

So my attitude is to quit beating yourself up about what your car isn't, and enjoy it for what it is.

I am sorely tempted by an exhaust to release some of that lovely V8 noise though!

 

Checking back in. I cannot believe that on my first post, and in my first sentence, I called my car an "HKR". How embarrassing. And how discreet for no member to point it out.

Good news on the wife front, though. She loves it.

DRC, I'm not sure what you mean by a "late model" M3, but in my opinion, starting with the e46, M3 cars all got too heavy. The real purists think the same of the e36, too, and rave only over the e30. The more recent models have great engines, balanced chassis, etc., but at least in my view a truly fling-able, agile sports car like the M3 was first conceived should not be 3700 to 4000 pounds. Add lightness.

But I suppose it's relative. Depends on what else you've driven, for starters, and the feel you are looking for.

 

Good thing I only have 400+ hp!

 

Heh - took mine through the Dartford Tunnel (under the Thames, for non-Brits) with a mate today, on our way back from watching a display by the last flying Vulcan bomber. And, of course, we wound the windows down, I knocked it down into to second, and gave it some beans. Ohhhhh, yesssss

You can take the boy out of the hick town, but...

 

Bruce,

We all knew what you meant. Figured you had a "senior moment"

Mike