Hi there
I may have posted this before, apologies if I have:
Watch it, see his smile, hear his giggles, its over a month later since I got mine, and every day I still make, giggle like that. I can't really offer you guys a review yet as I am still learning the car and though I've pushed it where I know is safe to do so, I am yet to properly put the car through its paces simply as temperatures have struggled to get much over 5c during my ownership and its being more or less permanently wet. However what I will say is in these conditions the car is playful but also very capable and the fact this car can be so much fun in a British Winter I think really is testament to the amazing job SVO and Jaguar have done in building a truly capable and every day sports car or supercar, no idea which one Jaguar class this as but most reviews seem to refer to it as a supercar and it truly is an everyday all weather one.
He comments on the automatic in his video and people here will know how picky I am over automatics and find most of them not intuitive enough in auto to use them in auto and then not responsive enough on the paddles. Well this has to be one of the first automatics I've had where I am quite happy to just leave the car in drive, its fast, smart and just does as you would expect whilst being smooth. Yet flick it over to paddles and it is practically as responsive as a DSG but with some added kick which if anything makes it more fun. No idea what Jaguar/SVO did with this ZF8 but they made a truly fantastic transmission out of it and for the first time I am not longing for a twin clutch style box or a manual.
One thing I will say is I collected my M3 on Friday, once everything was upto temperature and fresh petrol in the tank I drove the car hard and the M3 always felt quick, proper quick when my other car was the Mustang, they were very equal in acceleration due to the M3 being light and the M3 is still as quick as it was, but compared to the SVR it kind of felt slow, a throttle you have to work much harder due to their being far less torque is what makes the SVR feel so quick as the car accelerates so hard, so instantly due to the supercharger, the response is unreal. Also I found myself in the wet/greasy conditions battling understeer in the M3 and either had to trim my line or slow down and then use power, whereas the SVR just turns in and is wonderfully neutral through a corner, but it is this neutral feeling that does make me weary through a corner and not willing to push it too hard yet because when the car lets go it lets go like a RWD car and due to the short wheel base can feel a little snappy, it does seem progressive though but as the slide begins it feels a little snappy, though a trait the Michelin tyres have greatly improved over the Pzero, grip is now higher but also more progressive and more warning on limit.
The M3 on the other hand can be driven very hard through a corner once you have it turned in, the chassis balance and lightness makes that very easy, also when it comes to braking the M3 is truly in its own league but in fairness it has 300-400kg less to haul up and it has much larger brakes and calipers all round, so that is expected. But even driving the SVR quite carefully through the corners and braking a little early, the outright grip and power on corner exit would just see it shoot off into the distance, it really is a fantastic road car. I suspect on track even in the wet the M3 would eventually real it in as long as it was a track with corners and not crazy long straights, simply due to its lightness and very powerful brakes.
As crazy as it sounds the M3 and Mustang were quite similar drives, though the M3 had the better chassis and more grip, but they both felt similar to drive each with its advantages and good feelings. But driving the SVR really just feels like its in another world, it is truly special and truly capable.
Made me smile when I parked up and went to cash point, a load of teenagers were walking buy, they had no idea I was the owner and were all pointing and going WOW, that is awesome, what car is it and none of them had any idea what it is.
