Weekend Driving

[Simon Lord]

Have to admit that my MX5 has only moved out of the garage on to the drive and
back again today, but I do have an excuse. For various reasons I won't bore
you with, I was lent a new Jaguar XKR for the weekend - that's the XK8 with
the supercharged 4.2 litre V8 putting out 400bhp. After a little photography
session today with the MX, the XKR and a friend's Nissan 200, we took it out
for a run.

Scary stuff - not because of the car having any deficiencies whatsoever but
because it is SO civilised you could get into a lot of trouble really fast. A
simple overtaking manoeuvre sees you doing 160 rather too easily for my
comfort, while the handling is so smooth and unruffled that you go round bends
a lot faster than you expect. After one corner, I asked my passenger how fast
he thought we had gone through it. He guessed 120, I confessed 140. It is hard
to find a road that challenges that car round here, and it would have been
really stupid of me to have tried. I believe that even with the 6-speed auto
transmission on this car, the 0-100 time is 5 secs or so.

At the end of the weekend, I have to say that the Jag is a fanastically
refined driving experience and if I did a lot of mileage and had $200k to
spare it would be a real treat. As a fan of cool jazz, the sound system alone
is dangerously enticing. But if I want to enjoy my driving, arrive places with
a broad grin on my face AND keep my licence, the MX is hard to beat.

Nice to have had the experience, though...

Simon
'97 SR Ltd