Great article
- Thread starter JonGreen
- Start date
Taggy's Lad
New member
Yep, nice to see some love for the P300.
As a pretty practical (for my purposes) daily drive, I have no complaints after 8 months. I'm likely to reach MY limititations before I reach the car's, so will probably get more out of this one than I would a V8. I doubt I'll ever know for sure- I'm a very lucky lad as it is!
Going to spend a few winter evenings planning some European touring to flex the envelope a little!
As a pretty practical (for my purposes) daily drive, I have no complaints after 8 months. I'm likely to reach MY limititations before I reach the car's, so will probably get more out of this one than I would a V8. I doubt I'll ever know for sure- I'm a very lucky lad as it is!
Going to spend a few winter evenings planning some European touring to flex the envelope a little!
I donāt hate the p300 but I fail to see how the benefits outweigh the negatives.
The f type is a compromised car. Small cabin space, smallish boot, wide for U.K. roads, difficult to park, and quite hard to get I and out of.
Yet with the V8/V6 you have an engine so nice that overrides these problems.
So with the P300 you keep the negatives without the positives of a real power plant.
The weight advantage is just a red herring because itās not lightweight in the sports car world and a when a RWD V8 comes at 1650kg then the difference is not worth a jot.
The fuel consumption on a P300 is also pretty disappointing.
So the only reson to buy a P300 is just for the looks. And that for me is not enough.
The f type is a compromised car. Small cabin space, smallish boot, wide for U.K. roads, difficult to park, and quite hard to get I and out of.
Yet with the V8/V6 you have an engine so nice that overrides these problems.
So with the P300 you keep the negatives without the positives of a real power plant.
The weight advantage is just a red herring because itās not lightweight in the sports car world and a when a RWD V8 comes at 1650kg then the difference is not worth a jot.
The fuel consumption on a P300 is also pretty disappointing.
So the only reson to buy a P300 is just for the looks. And that for me is not enough.
I did a three day performance driving course (two days at Millbrook, one on public roads) in my P300 and soon realised that the carās capabilities greatly exceeded my own. At no time did I find the carās limits, even with the vocal encouragement of my coach; timidity, perhaps, but I was certainly going far, far faster than I had ever gone before. . I had a V6 previously and even as a rank amateur I notice the finesse the P300 displays in the twisty bits, which I feel in the real driving world more than makes up for the lessened grunt. A tidy segue at a busy junction around the folk still trying to find a gear (or notice the lights have changed as they stare into their phone) is as satisfying as a bend on a winding moorland road and far more accessible. Jaguar reckon it works best on the 18ā wheels (and it would handle our dreadful road surfaces with more aplomb) but Iām too aware of the impact on the resale value to dump the current 20ā set. Iām not flamboyant enough to worry about the lack of exhaust reverb, a degree of stealth is no bad thing in the times we live in. There is no shame in driving a car in part because it looks beautiful so long as it is useful as well (shades of William Morris). I firmly agree with the comment about fuel consumption; it is surprisingly poor compared to peers. Why, I wonder?
There's always something pleasing about an 'underpowered' car being driven well by a competent driver against something more powerful, and driven by a 'normal' person. Almost all cars on the road today will exceed the owners driving talent, mine included even though I've done advanced driving etc. As Millwheel alluded to, being aware of your surroundings allows you to make progress smoothly and quickly, keeping the 'bubble' around you, and driving around nincompoops
Many a time I've been overtaken on a dual carriageway as I'm sat there around 65-70mph, me in the knowledge that come the twisty bits in a few miles time after the point and squirt roundabouts, I'll be showing them a clean pair of heels with a smile on my face. Anyone can drive fast in a straight line but to do so on the twisty bits takes more than a heavy right foot
There's a lot to be said for a lightweight car with 250-300bhp which allows you to use the full rev range as we don't often get the chance to do so these days, unless you want to be walking or riding your bicycle everywhere
In a nutshell, it's not what you drive but how you drive. I did consider an Alpine A110 but the lure of the Jaaaag is just too strong for me
Many a time I've been overtaken on a dual carriageway as I'm sat there around 65-70mph, me in the knowledge that come the twisty bits in a few miles time after the point and squirt roundabouts, I'll be showing them a clean pair of heels with a smile on my face. Anyone can drive fast in a straight line but to do so on the twisty bits takes more than a heavy right foot
There's a lot to be said for a lightweight car with 250-300bhp which allows you to use the full rev range as we don't often get the chance to do so these days, unless you want to be walking or riding your bicycle everywhere
In a nutshell, it's not what you drive but how you drive. I did consider an Alpine A110 but the lure of the Jaaaag is just too strong for me
cj10jeeper
New member
Sandytim said:
Totally agree with your comments here and I certainly also don't hate P300's, rather it's not for me with all the advantages of the larger engines (noise, power, smoothness, supercharger, etc.:
Weight difference from 1525kg is tiny at 52kg Vs the V6 at 1577kg. If you wanted a lightweight sports and really cared then a Cayman at 1360 kg (165 kg less than F Type) & mid-engined is so much better or a Lotus (I'd never buy either though
)Fuel economy is no better based on comments made
Engine is a relatively nasty raspy 2.0 turbo that's much more stressed at 150 bhp per litre Vs the alternatives at a c110, needs revving to perform (relative to a V6 or V8)
I can however see why to buy for BIK, insurance costs, purchase price, etc.
cj10jeeper
New member
It's certainly something you have to advise them about, or risk failed payouts, policy cancellation, etc. should something unfortunate happen.ianp said:
The answer to costs is entirely dependant upon your insurer and their appetite for any car modification. The more mainstream your insurer the lower their tolerance to deviation from standard.
cj10jeeper said:Sandytim said:
Totally agree with your comments here and I certainly also don't hate P300's, rather it's not for me with all the advantages of the larger engines (noise, power, smoothness, supercharger, etc.:
Weight difference from 1525kg is tiny at 52kg Vs the V6 at 1577kg. If you wanted a lightweight sports and really cared then a Cayman at 1360 kg (165 kg less than F Type) & mid-engined is so much better or a Lotus (I'd never buy either though
Fuel economy is no better based on comments made
Engine is a relatively nasty raspy 2.0 turbo that's much more stressed at 150 bhp per litre Vs the alternatives at a c110, needs revving to perform (relative to a V6 or V8)
I can however see why to buy for BIK, insurance costs, purchase price, etc.
I looked at the Cayman but it didn't tick the boxes, not practical enough for weekends away and bloody noisey. I drove the V6S F Type which I've always loved there looks of, and that didn't tick the boxes, practical but didn't handle all that well. The engine sounded nice for the first five minutes then got a bit tiresome and forced, which it is given they chuck so much fuel in the cats to create the noise, so at that I walked away and considered going back to a Giulia Quad.
Then somebody suggested the 2.0L. Genuinely surprised me and I didn't think it would. It ticked all the boxes, yeah it's not as quick, but I've been there done that, a trip to Celtic released a bit more and sharpened the throttle and gearbox, and I would say that's plenty.
It's far more responsive in the bends, you can feel the weight difference over the front, in fact I'm not sure you multi cylinder guys would see which way a 2.0L had gone given some twisties
Cheers
Jon
Sandytim said:
Smallish boot? I think thatās an understatementā¦ā¦.tiny boot would have been more realistic.
Or so my ever loving other half keeps pecking my head aboutā¦..
She says we canāt even go shopping in itā¦ā¦ā¦result! Who wants to leave their big cat in a flipping supermarket car park?
Not moi
I think the boot is quite big, certainly big enough to persuade my better half it's suitable for weekends away and even normal holidays to be fair.
I've found you can tuck quite a lot of things into the sides and if you're happy to run without a parcel shelf you can fit even more in.
A question, are the flat bottom steering wheels smaller diameter than the standard ones or just at the obvious points?
I've found you can tuck quite a lot of things into the sides and if you're happy to run without a parcel shelf you can fit even more in.
A question, are the flat bottom steering wheels smaller diameter than the standard ones or just at the obvious points?
scm said:Madpig56 said:
Not tiny at all, it's plenty big enough for my needs. But I did choose the coupe.
As for "hard to get out of" - that's only because you want to stay in it and drive it!
To be clear, I was referring to the convertible boot which is tinier than a tiny thing.
But, now if we need to do anything which requires a proper boot, my wifeās Fiesta has to take the strain
The issue is that journos see so many cars that they lose any sense of desire or the sense of ownership experience ....
Of course all modern cars are effective, fast enough, reliable enough but people are irrational and there have been many cars in history that are more than enough and would suit most people but flopped.
Smaller wheels make for a more comfortable ride but bigger wheels look way better!
Smaller, still powerful engines, work really well but history will never say "remember that 4cyl" rather "do you remember that angry V8"
Electric cars are excellent but for me lack any sense of occasion, start up an angry engine and I still chuckle despite being in my 50s!
An active exhaust button is irrelevant but I wouldn't buy a V8 without one!
Very few people including me can nor should get any road car to its limit on the road yet we all buy overly fast, overly powerful, more expensive to insure, less economical cars .... that's called desire.
But importantly life is full of choices and who am I to say one persons choice is right or wrong, you get one shot in this world so do it your way
Of course all modern cars are effective, fast enough, reliable enough but people are irrational and there have been many cars in history that are more than enough and would suit most people but flopped.
Smaller wheels make for a more comfortable ride but bigger wheels look way better!
Smaller, still powerful engines, work really well but history will never say "remember that 4cyl" rather "do you remember that angry V8"
Electric cars are excellent but for me lack any sense of occasion, start up an angry engine and I still chuckle despite being in my 50s!
An active exhaust button is irrelevant but I wouldn't buy a V8 without one!
Very few people including me can nor should get any road car to its limit on the road yet we all buy overly fast, overly powerful, more expensive to insure, less economical cars .... that's called desire.
But importantly life is full of choices and who am I to say one persons choice is right or wrong, you get one shot in this world so do it your way
