jaguar xk-8 convertible 4.0 v8 review

Picture courtesy of Technophobe.

Average Ratings

Performance	8/10
Practicality	6.6/10
Reliability	8.2/10
Value for Money	8.2/10
Reviewer Rating	8.4/10
Overall Rating	8.3/10

80% Recommended4 out of 5 Reviews

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By Bert Padlock on 17th Nov 2004

Bert Padlock's Ratings

Year Manufactured	1998
Length of ownership	1 Year
Performance	9/10
Practicality	9/10
Reliability	9/10
Value for money	10/10
Overall value	9/10
Bert Padlock's recommendation

Good Points

Looks, comfortable, smooth but handles well and so fast.
Everyone and the mother stares at the car.
The Jag is now so affordable (18000-23000 for a good early one) this puts it in the range of new sports cars, but you will not get the feel good factor of the Jaguar.
Everone gives way to you as they want to drive behind the car to admire it, remember the Aston Martin DB7 is based a Jaguar XK8 body shell! that can't be bad.

Bad Points

Had a water pump go on it(early models suffer from this due to a plastic impeller (which melts when to hot) in the water pump, make sure the pump has been upgraded.
Under very hard use (Track days) the brakes fade so badly you would be better off slowing down by parachute, you would not expect this from such a sports car.
As its a 2+2 the back seats are really just leather parcel shelves, although I can get small passengers in the back, there is no room in front for a passenger if I do so as the front seat is so far forward, but a car like this is not for the family man so it can hardly be condemed for this.

General Comments

I have had my 1998 Jaguar XK-8 Convertible 4.0 V8 Sports Car for a year now and love the way this car presents itself on the road.

It comes with all the extras you would expect on a top range car.
The performance is fantastic and the fuel consumption is very good considering its a V8, I get between 16 - 23 mpg depending on if it is in sports mode or not, on a long run I have got nearly 300 miles out of a full tank of fuel.

Forget the Jags of old this car has been very reliable (apart from the pump which was fixed by Jaguar and paid for buy the dealer I got the car from).
From the inside when the roof is down, you would not know it was a convertable as the lining is finished so well, the road noise is so quiet thanks to the way the windows rise and seal themselves into the roof when the doors close.

The 0-60 mph is 6.5 (5.5 XKR) and the top speed I have achieved is the 155mph it is restricted to (on a private road of course officer).

Total Respect: +2