2014 Jaguar F-Type S V-6 Convertible Long-Term Update 1
Birmingham, We Have a (Tire) Problem
Ah, Hollywood. So glamorous -- all that glitter, those parties, the life! Because quite obviously that's what life is like for those who appear on the shiny side of the camera, right? I mention this because as you're probably aware, some of us Motor Trend types spend a whole heapload of time making videos. While the finished products are fabulous (right?), the process ain't. As John Saxe very well may have said, "Videos, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made." From my point of view, the days consist of hours of hurry up and wait while the video boys change lenses and who knows what else. I'm not complaining, just stating how it is.
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The above is key because we were recently filming an episode of our car comparison show "Head 2 Head" at the Streets of Willow. The one where the Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG took on the BMW M235i. We of course brought Randy Pobst out from Georgia to fully exploit the limits of the two wee Germans. Randy and I found ourselves with a bunch of free time on our hands, so in between takes we'd take the Jaguar F-Type S out for hot laps. Because it's a Jaguar, the handling comes across as a bit of initial understeer followed by throttle-on oversteer. Not as wild and crazy as the hairy V-8 F-Type S, but a fun, satisfying handful.
Randy kept saying our Italian Red long-termer is a great drift car, so I had to ask, "Randy, think you can give me some lessons?" I wish you could have seen the size of his smile as he said yes. Like any proper coach, he showed me a few demo laps before it was my turn to make some smoke. Randy made it look easy, drifting the car around the skidpad just before turn 1. My series of attempts more closely resembled donuts than drifts, or accidents than drifts, but I too made plenty of smoke. Then we looked at the tires. Oops!
The poor Pirelli P Zeros on the rear wheels were shredded up pretty good. Still drivable, but for a car with just over 4000 miles on the odo, they looked terrible. Two birds with one stone time. Since the Jag showed up I've always thought the silver 19-inch Propeller wheels that come standard look a bit dull and frumpy, especially with the shiny red paint. Best to order up some black 20-inch Tornado Gloss dubs and a new set of tires. They're being installed as I type. The best part? We're keeping the old wheels and tires for track days.
More on our2014 Jaguar F-TypeS V-6 Roadster:
When I was just one-year-old and newly walking, I managed to paint a white racing stripe down the side of my father’s Datsun 280Z. It’s been downhill ever since then. Moral of the story? Painting the garage leads to petrolheads. I’ve always loved writing, and I’ve always had strong opinions about cars.
One day I realized that I should combine two of my biggest passions and see what happened. Turns out that some people liked what I had to say and within a few years Angus MacKenzie came calling. I regularly come to the realization that I have the best job in the entire world. My father is the one most responsible for my car obsession. While driving, he would never fail to regale me with tales of my grandfather’s 1950 Cadillac 60 Special and 1953 Buick Roadmaster. He’d also try to impart driving wisdom, explaining how the younger you learn to drive, the safer driver you’ll be. “I learned to drive when I was 12 and I’ve never been in an accident.” He also, at least once per month warned, “No matter how good you drive, someday, somewhere, a drunk’s going to come out of nowhere and plow into you.”
When I was very young my dad would strap my car seat into the front of his Datsun 280Z and we’d go flying around the hills above Malibu, near where I grew up. The same roads, in fact, that we now use for the majority of our comparison tests. I believe these weekend runs are part of the reason why I’ve never developed motion sickness, a trait that comes in handy when my “job” requires me to sit in the passenger seats for repeated hot laps of the Nurburgring. Outside of cars and writing, my great passions include beer — brewing and judging as well as tasting — and tournament poker. I also like collecting cactus, because they’re tough to kill. My amazing wife Amy is an actress here in Los Angeles and we have a wonderful son, Richard.Read More
