I went to Jaguar's Drive Alive event today with my roommate. First we drove the XJL around a little bit. It must have been amusing for onlookers to see a train of about 10 XJs driving about. The XJL was as awesome as I thought it would be. That's more or less exactly what I want from a car.
Then we did a little autocross in an XKR. We got two laps, one to get a feel for the course, and one timed. I really should have done better, but it was tough to override my instincts. I'm pretty much the most passive driver I know. Still, it was fun, and I figure: the longer I take, the more time I get to spend doing it.
After that, I stepped into an XKR-S to do an acceleration test. The area they gave us was enough to get it a little over 90 mph. I'd say the acceleration is slightly slower than a CTS-V, but still plenty fast.
They had an area where you could test out the XKR and the XF in a course set up with speedbumps and fake potholes and such to get a feel for the ride quality. I'm not sure what it is about the XF, but I just don't like it as much as the other two. Still wouldn't complain if I had one.
Finally, we went to an area where they demonstrated how the XJ's AWD and traction control performed. There was a an area to represent a snowy hill, another covered in sand, a banked turn, and then finally another area covered in sand where we were supposed to do a quick turn and acceleration from a stop. When I drove, the traction control was off, which was...interesting. Started fishtailing and nearly completely lost control on the last part. When my roommate drove the TC was on, so the Jag took everything like it didn't even notice there was a difference.
In short. I am so glad I did it. It was really a blast. And then I had to get in my Chevy Malibu and drive 2 hours home...
Very nice job dude.
