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Road trip musings

4K views 22 replies 14 participants last post by  dagtp 
#1 ·
Just got back from a road trip and I'd thought I'd share my thoughts....

I like this car. I mean really like. There's not one thing that I can complain about. I've just done 1500 miles in a week, with over 500 yesterday and I feel I can do it all again today. On the motorways I set it to 72 mph and let the ACC do its thing, safety sensors are like having another pair of eyes with you. If anyone passed a blue 30t on the M6/M74 that could have been me.

But it's on the twisty single carraigeways that it comes alive. On a 80 mile segment yesterday I was able to overtake at will and even forgot about the sport mode of the gearbox (Dynamic all the time for me). Mpg for the whole 1500 miles works out to an indicated 41mpg and even the 160 mile journey with the twisty segment worked out to 38.

The car has now done just over 13k miles and 6k of those are mine in the last 18 months. What with lockdown easing, I'm sure the miles will start to increase but the engine feels like it's loosening up and releasing more power. Being a Portfolio model it doesn't look overtly sporting but add in the 300ps engine and adaptive dampers etc it has the ability to surprise a lot of people...me included.

Everything works perfectly, even SS which I try to remember to turn off. Seats adjust every which way to find the perfect driving position. Supremely quiet at cruise but makes a nice sound when on it. Sat Nav updates are frequent and the sound system insanely loud ;)

My previous 25D was a cracking car which I only swapped out to get more toys but this one is on a different level. I know Jag do get a lot of stick but for now I am one satisfied owner.

Looking forward to the next road trip in 3 weeks!
 
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#2 ·
Its great to hear good positive views for a change.
Like you I love my Jaguar. It drives fantastically well and is a pleasure to be in. It is a drivers car and nothing else in its class comes close in pure RWD set up. I have always preferred RWD and most of mine have been larger engined automatics. Mine is only the 200ps Ford petrol engine but it has a superb balance of performance, economy and comfort depending on your mood.
I normally travel to Galashiels about four times a year so have a 300 mile motorway cruise and then a fun run up the rollercoaster that is the A7.
I usually do about 17000 miles a year in my two cars but have only managed just under 7000 miles in 2years in my Jag. Hopefully heading to Inverness via Gala in September and looking forward to it.
I have had a few issues with the car which is normal on any make you buy but the biggest frustration being my local dealer who are pathetic.
I am booked in with a local Jaguar independent for this years service so hopefully plain sailing with that aspect from now on.
The Sat Nav is a bit hit and miss sometimes but so are all the nav systems and I always have an atlas in the car which is also out of date the day it was printed! As a Cartographer I think it's always a good idea to know where you are going before putting your trust in the nav.
Like you on the motorway I set the ACC to 72 and let it do it work for you. I find it keeps you alert with the closing warning and then the instant deceleration if you don't react quickly enough. Too many cameras on the M6 now to be doing anything different. Meridian stereo is great, phone connectivity is great, climate seats probably the best accessory for comfort along with rear and side sun blinds. Build quality is good all round except for the well documented rear seat releases, enough said on those.
Yes it's a great car with the advantage that not everyone has one and comes in a great range of colours to suit all tastes, what more can you ask for in this class of car.
Andy
 
#3 ·
Quote: The Sat Nav is a bit hit and miss sometimes but so are all the nav systems and I always have an atlas in the car which is also out of date the day it was printed! As a Cartographer I think it's always a good idea to know where you are going before putting your trust in the nav.

Yes I'm old enough to have used paper maps when they were the only option and agree that they give you the "big picture" so you have a good mental picture of where you're going, rather than blindly following sat nav directions. Sat nav is good for the detail when you get to the area of your destination, and for being alerted to road blockages, diversions etc.
I've been critical in the past on this forum of the Infotainment system foibles and the madness of not putting an emergency key release on the boot lid when the battery lives there, but I agree that overall the XE is a great car and I can't think of anything else in its price range that I'd rather have.
But it looks like Jaguar are going to discontinue it in the not-too-distant future - it's been discontinued already in the US and in the UK is restricted (in RWD form at least) to a diesel engine. Shame!
 
#4 ·
My last Volvo had a compass in the rear view mirror which I thought was great if you had to follow a diversion as you always knew which direction you were heading at least.
 
#5 ·
Climate seats? Oh the luxury! :) Yes, they'd be nice to have but bearing in mind I'm mainly at 56.5 degN rather than 52 these days I'm happy with heated everything. My passenger even had their seat on yesterday, maybe I had the climate turned too far down! ACC and Forward Alert both set to max distance makes for comfortable cruising, watching the usual lunatics. That reminds me...must fit my dash cam soon.

If I'm going somewhere unknown, I've got a spare mobile running google maps as a backup :)

I've had a look at the boot release in the past and it should be straightforward to fit one. Just need to change the boot latch and fit a pull cable.
 
#6 ·
Interesting reading about your travels. We had a day out last week and also the week before. 134 miles last week and 180 the week before with no excessive speed just at the limits or under and managed both times to get 68 mpg. sadly both journeys were slowed with road works for dressing with chippings in North Wales around large stretches near Corwen and road works again in N Yorks. The latter were a bit annoying due to very few vehicles on one side getting through traffic lights before going back to red. Very refined driving and very comfortble seats. No harrassment from anyone either, which I find unusual not having someone on your rear bumper at 70 mph. To be fair the A55 seemed very quiet compared to normal.
 
#7 ·
For some reason, I agree pretty much with Rojo... :D

I don't get quite as many mpg out of mine, even though I'm sitting at sensible speeds, honest!

It isn't quite as economical as my last petrol motor was, overall, but that was a 135hp Vauxhall Vectra around the turn of the century, so the XE smiles per gallon factor is much, much better.

But what I do find, out on the real roads, is that I'll get bright sparks following me closer than I'd like on the straight bits, and then they drop a long way back through the corners, without me waking SWMBO up :mrgreen:

If there was anything that annoyed me with it, it would probably be the second or two delay on putting it into reverse, before the camera kicks in, but that is more me being impatient than a serious problem :oops:
 
#8 ·
Hillmangt said:
Like you on the motorway I set the ACC to 72 and let it do it work for you.
Andy
Given the optimistic speedo and tolerance on cameras, you could safely set it at 75 and still be within the limit
 
#9 ·
I know the speedo reads over by a good amount :) An indicated 72 is around 67 if I can recall correctly from when I last checked using GPS.

I'm not sure how much difference it makes, but I only use super unleaded in it. I did one chilled journey when down south of 87 miles at an average of 50mph with an indicated 48.9mpg!
 
#10 ·
Rojo, couldn't agree with you more about your views on the 30T. It's a fantastic car. Mine has only done 8k, 4k since I bought it last July. I too had a diesel before and loved it, but as you say the 30T is on a different level. I tend to drive in normal mode on our crappy pothole filled roads unless I'm on the twisty bits when with Dynamic selected, you can feel the adaptive dampers tighten up the suspension. I know the 4wd comes in as necessary and I have no idea if it is actually kicking in but it certainly goes round corners like it's on rails. Overall average consumption is 27mpg which is fine and does include a lot of short trips. On a run at around 70 ish, it goes up to about 38mpg. It's just so smooth and when you give it some boot, it really does move and without being over noisy, makes a nice throaty snarl.

Absolutely love it and no complaints at all!!
 
#11 ·
I do like the Jag for covering big distances. It's that dual personality of mile muncher and b road hooligan that I like. Careful with the speedo error level though, mine shows a consistent GPS measured 68 when indicating 70.
 
#12 ·
I too really enjoy my p250, the cooled seats in this weather are fantastic, i have had 2 trips away with it now towing the caravan and what a machine for doing that , the cameras on the end of the mirrors for the advanced tow assist are way better than any towing mirrors, i usually just set the car at 60mph when towing and in dynamic mode and it will just run all day effortlessly and have had a lot of compliments on jexy when parked up on site, the funniest being "you dont tow that caravan with that fancy car?" 😂 i had 1 guy asking me where my tow bar was, after saying its deployable he wanted me to show him, he was impressed. My sister in law isint a fan though says its an old mannie car and looks something like a bmw and an audi (bloody heathen!) So all in am very happy with my purchase and the wife seams to like it even though she isint a car person
 
#14 ·
I've just done a 500mile round trip on holiday, what a driving joy!

Just when I think I have a favourite thing about my car something else comes along... this trip it was the air conditioned seats! :cool: 29/30 celsius all week, and the aircon was just a dream! :D
 
#15 ·
Got another 1800 miles to do starting Monday. Will be a bit heavier loaded this time around but looking forward to it. Getting it serviced while down south so two birds one stone. :)
 
#16 ·
UV Blue said:
I've just done a 500mile round trip on holiday, what a driving joy!

Just when I think I have a favourite thing about my car something else comes along... this trip it was the air conditioned seats! :cool: 29/30 celsius all week, and the aircon was just a dream! :D
I've also been enjoying the very effective air conditioning in my XE during this hot spell. In fact I've been going out for runs just to get out of the too-hot house and cool down!
On the motorways I'm still seeing modern cars with the windows open and, presumably, the air conditioning switched off. I don't understand this - the buffeting and noise from the open windows at speed is most unpleasant and, reportedly, the extra air resistance that this causes negates the very minor fuel saving from not running the air conditioning.
Even if this wasn't the case I'd still happily incur a very minor fuel penalty for the comfort of air conditioning on a hot day.
 
#17 ·
My aircon works but I rarely find the UK hot enough to warrant putting it on. I'd rather have a window slightly open unless on a motorway when the aircon will be turned on and the window closed.

I've lived in truly hot countries where aircon is an absolute must but the UK's summer is mostly a pleasant temperature,
 
#18 ·
HaloJones said:
My aircon works but I rarely find the UK hot enough to warrant putting it on. I'd rather have a window slightly open unless on a motorway when the aircon will be turned on and the window closed.

I've lived in truly hot countries where aircon is an absolute must but the UK's summer is mostly a pleasant temperature,
I keep mine on all year round, even a moderately warm day can get really hot and uncomfortable in a car and in winter the aircon draws the damp air out of the cabin and reduces misting to zero.
 
#19 ·
I'd have to agree with 147daytona.

I don't think I've deliberately switched the Climate off in one of my motors this century :D

I know when I got my petrol Vectra in 1998, which was the first car I'd had with Climate Control and a trip computer, I tried a couple of trips with and without the Climate, and I couldn't find a significant difference in MPG, but the Climate made it much more comfortable...
 
#20 ·
Yep, climate on all the time for me. Let it do its thing and keep all the seals lubricated. Keeps the dust and road grime out of the car and trapped in the cabin filter.
 
#21 ·
Same here, climate permanently on at 20C all year round. No point having it if you don't use it, imo.
 
#22 ·
It is also worth noting that the climate control generally scales with the air temperature, so when the weather is not hot, the climate control will use very little energy. I always leave it on year round. Cool in the summer, dry in the rain or in winter. As others have said, it also keeps the system lubricated.
 
#23 ·
SWMBO and I just got back from the first road trip of any distance. Oslo - Larvik -ferry to Denmark- straight through Denmark to Neumunster in Germany. The next day straight to Bielefeld. 5 days later same way back. Just over 1000 km/620 miles each way. Denmark wasn't/isn't Covid Green then either, hence no stop at all. Germany and Norway (partly) are, and we have got our vaccines AND our EU certificates to prove it. They were checked going out of Norway, at the hotels in Germany, going back into and out of Denmark, and into Norway.

Like Rojo and others I love this car. Bear with me, and I'll list some of my learning points:
Planning: Used the planning features for the GPS. Once I entered the fact that I wanted to go through DK rather than Sweden, it worked perfectly. Again like some others, I keep a paper map in the car. Didn't really need it. The OTA transfer from my computer to the car worked first time. I got one nasty surprise though, but that was not down to the XE or the GPS system. This was the first trip abroad in the XE, and once arrived in DK, the system said "No internet connection". Google sorted out the directions for the rest of the day. From Neumunster in the evening I made a phone call to the ISP, and true enough; the SIM was not opened for use abroad. 20 mins later, everything was sorted. In retrospect, I think this is the same as what another lister experienced. I got the map, I got the indication of my location, but no directions without a working SIM. And BTW; Miss Google and the XE later agreed on the routes, the only difference being that the XE warned of junctions and deviations 100 meters after Miss Google did.

By the time we reached Neumunster, I had got used to the speed and the culture of the German Autobahn. Most of you will have seen firsthand the speed is high. Especially, of course, on the stretches without the speed limits. The Porches turn up out of the blue in your rear view mirror. After a while, I dared speed up myself, and found the XE totally stable and willing to give more, even when I was already doing 150 km/h (93 mph). But it has its dangers: I was chasing a Merc in the fast lane (3rd lane), when a big truck decided it was time to move into "our" lane. We were doing more than 85 mph, but at a good distance from each other. I was far enough behind to anticipate what might happen, but the Merc must have been a hair's breadth from hitting it. He was clearly in the truck's blind zone. :eek: The XE's dash flashed up a collision warning; big read square with some text I never really saw before it was gone. After that, I slowed down a bit, and settled at about 120kmh/75 mph. It is safe to say, that my brake disc are now totally clean and shiny.
3 lanes or not: There will be queues. Roadworks are ongoing...always.

Another neat feature I noticed: With cars passing, I of course got the orange warning in the side view mirror. What I was not aware of, and which gave me a shock the first time, was that if I used the indicator before the warning light was out, the light started flashing. Flashing lights while you are going at those speeds are scary! :?

Oil consumption overall: Approximately 1 dl. At those speeds: great!
Average fuel consumption: 43 - 45 mpg. Also great!
Car vs Google speed: Constant 5% deviation, the car having the highest indication.
Overall "driveability": Even in heavy winds from the side or passing big lorries she is absolutely stable. My conclusion: The car is not the limiting factor. The driver is; I am neither 25 nor 50 anymore. Pushing 70...

The car has now covered in total a little over 7000 km/4500miles, and seems to run better. It certainly is more willing to rev.
 
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