IvoDC
New member
So; my F-Type is back in his garage
. I took my F-type (P300 Coupe MY21) on a weektrip to Normandy, France. It was the first big trip I made with it. The trip included a journey of approximately 540 km, daily excursions through Normandy for a week, and then the journey home.
Just my positive findings:
1- The luggage space turned out to be adequate. As long as you use flexible bags, you can easily fit 2 weeks worth of luggage in it. Hard suitcases are not recommended.
2- The car was really comfortable to drive. I had a good seating position (I'm 1.80 m tall), and the seats provided perfect support (I have the regular seats). I have a bad back, and had no problems at all even after hours behind the wheel.
3- On some rough asphalt sections the rolling noises were quite strong (I still have the standard Pirelli's). Certainly more then in my daily car. However, my wife never found the sound disturbing for having a normal conversation. Once on modern whisper asphalt it was very quiet cruising-
4- I have the standard Meridian sound system and have read a lot of negative comments about it on the forum. But in my car the music is clear, with nice bass and free of interference. Perhaps the new installation has been upgraded compared to the earlier pre-facelift model ? I had a USB stick with mp3 music files fitted in my console, and I had no problem accessing it via the infotainment screen.
5- Over the entire week trip I had an average fuel consumption of 7.2Lt/100km (39mpg). As my wife was sitting next to me, I had to keep my driving smooth and calm
. On the highway I got about 6.4 Lt (44mpg). But I kept the speed just below 120km/h (75 mph) so the spoiler did not rise.
Some minor points:
6- I used the standard GPS and found it quite good and very clear in indicating changes in direction. You can have this appear on the infotainment display or on the smaller instrument display.
On the instrument display I used the speedometer in the middle, and to the right of it the small GPS indication. One time driving on the highway , the road information suddenly disappeared (that part of the display went blank), and I had no way of getting it back on the display. However, at the next parking stop, the information suddenly appeared again after switching on the ignition. Very strange. That error never occured again. Probably a one off software glitch.
Also, the new bridge at Le Havre was not known by the system and it wanted me to drive an extra 120 km (so that time I used Waze). But this is no system fault; I just have to update the Jaguar GPS and that problem is solved (I hope)
7- I have a wireless Android connection to the 10" screen via an adapter. That works very smoothly. This way I can use Waze and Google Maps perfectly on the large 10" infotainment screen. You can not put Waze or Google Maps on the instrument display, only the native JLR gps. But I didn't use Waze or G-M. much, as the volume of the indication was ample loud enough to raise above the music. There may be a way to turn that volume up, but I have yet to look it up.
8- I found the adaptive speed limiter to be practical to use on back roads where the speed varied a lot. However, there is an annoying error in the system for France. On French National roads you are allowed to drive 90 km/h. But this is incorrectly registered as 80km/h in the Jaguar. Which makes the A.S.L. not usable on those roads unless you manually increased the limit each time.
9- In Belgium the GPS always beeps when you approach a fixed speed camera. This does not happen for France. JLR probably disabled that function for France because it's forbidden there.
All by all, traveling with my F-Type was a very positive experience. I will certainly repeat it in the future.
The F-Type attracts a lot of interest. Mostly positive. The only truly negative experience was a black Mercedes van that deliberately blocked me 3 times when I wanted to pass a slower truck on the highway. I did let it pass whithout reaction. You do find idiots in every country.
Also a bit annoying are cars who overtake you, and then suddenly slow down and continue to drive diagonally behind you in order to view or photograph the F-Type. Certainly when you are closing in on a slower car or truck. I'm sure this has happened to you too. But I also had that same phenomenon in my Speedster so I'm used to it.
My advice to those who are unsure about a longer trip with their F-type. Don't hesitate. You won't regret it !!!
Just my positive findings:
1- The luggage space turned out to be adequate. As long as you use flexible bags, you can easily fit 2 weeks worth of luggage in it. Hard suitcases are not recommended.
2- The car was really comfortable to drive. I had a good seating position (I'm 1.80 m tall), and the seats provided perfect support (I have the regular seats). I have a bad back, and had no problems at all even after hours behind the wheel.
3- On some rough asphalt sections the rolling noises were quite strong (I still have the standard Pirelli's). Certainly more then in my daily car. However, my wife never found the sound disturbing for having a normal conversation. Once on modern whisper asphalt it was very quiet cruising-
4- I have the standard Meridian sound system and have read a lot of negative comments about it on the forum. But in my car the music is clear, with nice bass and free of interference. Perhaps the new installation has been upgraded compared to the earlier pre-facelift model ? I had a USB stick with mp3 music files fitted in my console, and I had no problem accessing it via the infotainment screen.
5- Over the entire week trip I had an average fuel consumption of 7.2Lt/100km (39mpg). As my wife was sitting next to me, I had to keep my driving smooth and calm
Some minor points:
6- I used the standard GPS and found it quite good and very clear in indicating changes in direction. You can have this appear on the infotainment display or on the smaller instrument display.
On the instrument display I used the speedometer in the middle, and to the right of it the small GPS indication. One time driving on the highway , the road information suddenly disappeared (that part of the display went blank), and I had no way of getting it back on the display. However, at the next parking stop, the information suddenly appeared again after switching on the ignition. Very strange. That error never occured again. Probably a one off software glitch.
Also, the new bridge at Le Havre was not known by the system and it wanted me to drive an extra 120 km (so that time I used Waze). But this is no system fault; I just have to update the Jaguar GPS and that problem is solved (I hope)
7- I have a wireless Android connection to the 10" screen via an adapter. That works very smoothly. This way I can use Waze and Google Maps perfectly on the large 10" infotainment screen. You can not put Waze or Google Maps on the instrument display, only the native JLR gps. But I didn't use Waze or G-M. much, as the volume of the indication was ample loud enough to raise above the music. There may be a way to turn that volume up, but I have yet to look it up.
8- I found the adaptive speed limiter to be practical to use on back roads where the speed varied a lot. However, there is an annoying error in the system for France. On French National roads you are allowed to drive 90 km/h. But this is incorrectly registered as 80km/h in the Jaguar. Which makes the A.S.L. not usable on those roads unless you manually increased the limit each time.
9- In Belgium the GPS always beeps when you approach a fixed speed camera. This does not happen for France. JLR probably disabled that function for France because it's forbidden there.
All by all, traveling with my F-Type was a very positive experience. I will certainly repeat it in the future.
The F-Type attracts a lot of interest. Mostly positive. The only truly negative experience was a black Mercedes van that deliberately blocked me 3 times when I wanted to pass a slower truck on the highway. I did let it pass whithout reaction. You do find idiots in every country.
Also a bit annoying are cars who overtake you, and then suddenly slow down and continue to drive diagonally behind you in order to view or photograph the F-Type. Certainly when you are closing in on a slower car or truck. I'm sure this has happened to you too. But I also had that same phenomenon in my Speedster so I'm used to it.
My advice to those who are unsure about a longer trip with their F-type. Don't hesitate. You won't regret it !!!