![]() The good news for the cars and the MOTOR crew this time around was that the ambient temperature at Avalon airport wasn’t nudging its customary 40 degrees in the shade. About the only way to get it to accelerate faster is to drop it off a bridge. This feature was originally published in MOTOR’s April 2004 issueįact: in order to cover 400 metres from a standing start in 13.1 seconds or less, a hard-launching all-wheel drive’s acceleration can peak at around 1.0g. JAGUAR XK8 DRAG RACER V3 HACKED DRIVEREven with a professional drag racer’s reaction times, from the instant the driver sees the obstacle until the moment he pins the anchors, that same car will have covered more than 32 metres. The Jaguar XK8 may qualify for modern classic car insurance with Adrian Flux.Fact: at 290km/h, a car and its driver are covering a kilometre every 12.4 seconds. ? Always check that the roof on convertibles opens and closes smoothly and there are no leaks ? During your test drive, watch out for over-heating caused by a dodgy water pump, and check the front suspension bushes for wear ? Try to buy a car with a decent amount of tread on the tyres, which can be expensive to replace ![]() ? As with any older car, check for rust, mainly in the footwells and rear wheelarch. But you should still be wary of a rough sounding engine. ? Before 2001, the V8 engines could be damaged by fuels heavy in sulphur, which shouldn’t be a problem today because all fuel are low in sulphur. It may not be an E or an F-Type, but it’s without doubt the next best thing. It may be more of a grand tourer than the E-Type ever was but, in terms of design, pace and power it had everything that some felt had been lacking in the XJS.Īs with all older Jaguars, it’s worth buying the best example you can afford to avoid some potentially hefty repair bills, but take your time and choose carefully and you can enjoy the best value grand tourer money can buy. By the time the car was updated in 2006 to a more muscular, purposeful-looking model, 91,406 had been built worldwide. In 2003, the engine was upgraded to a 4.2-litre V8 producing 305bhp, with the supercharged version now chucking out 406bhp – the new engine being married to a new six-speed auto box replacing the old five-speed affair. Indeed, it warrants a second look on the roads even now.Īnd despite the passage of time, it still is. The new Jag was presented to the Geneva Motor Show in March 1996 and, with James Bond looks, it marked a departure from the more angular XJS and those curves, the long, bulging bonnet and open-mouthed grill are straight from the E-Type design-book. The XK8 and its supercharged XKR sister (0-60 in just 5.2 seconds) will almost certainly never hit the monetary heights of its illustrious predecessor, but as a luxury used motor for the price of a six-year-old Ford Focus it’s hard to beat. ![]() Something similar happened to the E-Type before the classic car boom set in and the best-loved Jag of all was taken well out of the range of ordinary motorists. Perfectly good examples of this 155mph beast are still available for well under £5,000. ![]() ![]() With the stunning new(ish) F-Type surely the first true successor to the sainted E-Type, the voluptuous XK8 has been almost forgotten along the way.īut with prices still at rock bottom, the car originally set to carry the F-Type name is surely among the best value on the classic car market in terms of bang for your buck. Can you afford to miss the affordable E-Type? Get the low-down on this beautifully sculpted sporty grand tourer. Well, you’d be well advised to take a closer look at the bargain priced Jaguar XK8, produced for 10 years from 1996 as a successor to the much-maligned XJS. Can’t afford an E-Type or an F-Type, but love the looks and lusting after a sporty big cat? ![]()
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