I'm usually satisfied about about the speed of my XK8, but yesterday we were overtaken by a 911 on some some fairly open and quiet country roads, what followed was (with permission, no instance from the Missus) a high speed pursuit. I kept up with the 911 until the bends started getting tighter then he began getting away from me. Admittedly I still have not had my alignment adjusted after fitting new tie rods which did not help at the speeds we were going but ultimately he was quicker then me. So I had to just console myself with the XK8's stately beige and walnut interior being far more stylish then no doubt reliable manufactured but bland black German interior!

 

911 is a loud semi comfortable sports car. XK8 is a quiet superbly comfortable GT car. Not a fair comparison in that situation. If the "race" had started with full tanks of fuel and been over maybe 500 km, I expect you would have come out on top simply because he would have run out of gas and been exhausted while you would have ample fuel and still been fine.

I used to own ( and rally ) a 71 Cooper S. On a twisting country lane ( especially with a bit of snow down ) I could leave a 911 or any sort of US muscle car behind. But get on the motorway and I had no chance. Horses for courses

 

Laguillotine,

Sorry you couldn't keep up with the Porsche 911, but as an owner of previous Porsches, please note that I traded my last Porsche for this X100 Jag.

No doubt Porsches are fabulous, fast, well handling sports cars, but their interior is functional (.....dull....) and let's face facts, the X100 has a far prettier body shape.

I also was bored with the Porsche in the garage.... it was just too reliable, and there was nothing for me to do on the car. I bought my 1999 XK8 convertible as a project car to work on things in the garage, and it's been fun in that way. Besides only with this Jag, do I sometimes just sit in the garage and look at my XK8.

 

True, the wife's MGF is also great on tight bends, I think a manual box helps too.

 

I like to think of it as in the X100 you arrive in style, feeling good, with no shortage of suitcases and enough room to take a box of something home

 

The good news is that even R cars are cheap enough that an upgrade is pretty easy to do!

The best part of the R cars is that you get a nice GT and decent power. They really are very reliable too, never less reliable really than the 8.

 

You are halfway there with the coupe already, since it's handling is much better than the convertible. With the R you also get the more reliable gear box.
The problem with the pursuit of power and handling is that it is very difficult to stop once you've started...which can be a great thing of course, time and budget permitting, as long as you don't end up with something that makes your fillings fall out over every bump.
All I can say is beware of worn Eaton supercharger bearings, before you know it your bank account is half empty from upgrades.
I can recommend an XK8 convertible for style and open air fun, and a souped up XKR coupe for looks and performance, as a nice combination. Of course an X308 XJR is tempting as well.......I need a bigger garage :-)

 

20+ years racing cars advice: for that sort of street derby the driver >>> the car.

A few track days with a good instructor, or a season or two of serious autocross, and you will be able to leave anything on the road in the dust with an XK8.

An even better outcome: more fun and much safer to competitively drive off public roads!