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Stuart Adair - 22 Nov 2004 18:24 GMT

Anyone see the S type trying to go fast around Nurburgring last night ?.

I quote Clarkson, "Its a diesel so all the power appears and then its time
to change gear"

You know my views regarding Jag engines - Only 12 cylinders will do !!!

Stu

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Matthew Haigh - 22 Nov 2004 19:08 GMT

>Anyone see the S type trying to go fast around Nurburgring last night ?.
>
>I quote Clarkson, "Its a diesel so all the power appears and then its time
>to change gear"

But being roundly thrashed by that German young lady (who took the best
part of a minute off his time on her first drive of the car, compared to
him spending a couple of days trying to get under ten minutes) shows how
little he knows about performance driving :-)

>You know my views regarding Jag engines - Only 12 cylinders will do !!!

I don't know about 12 cylinders, but diesel does seem plain wrong. Next
they'll be building a car that shares a platform with a repmobile...

Matt

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Matthew Haigh --$matthaigh{News06}$@haigh.org--
GCRSoft, providing SMS solutions since 1996...
http://www.gcrsoft.com http://www.moretext.com

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David Betts - 23 Nov 2004 07:41 GMT

>>Anyone see the S type trying to go fast around Nurburgring last night ?.
>>
>>I quote Clarkson, "Its a diesel so all the power appears and then its time
>>to change gear"

Simply a matter of technique. When you drive one all the time you soon
learn to keep it in the rev band and make the most of all those great
gobs of torque.

>But being roundly thrashed by that German young lady (who took the best
>part of a minute off his time on her first drive of the car, compared to
>him spending a couple of days trying to get under ten minutes) shows how
>little he knows about performance driving :-)

It shows how hard it is to learn the Nurburgring. Sabine is a legend.
One of the greatest drivers in the world. Nobody else knows the ring
like she does.

>>You know my views regarding Jag engines - Only 12 cylinders will do !!!
>
>I don't know about 12 cylinders, but diesel does seem plain wrong. Next
>they'll be building a car that shares a platform with a repmobile...

The 'S'-type diesel is superb. Easily the best in its class. No way
that Jaguar could not have a performance diesel in Europe when
everybody else does.

Incidentally, to put the performance of the car into perspective, the
first lap of the Nurburgring under 9 minutes was achieved by Phil Hill
in an F1 Ferrari in qualifying for the 1961 German GP.

David Betts (davidb@motorsport.org.uk)
The Classic Car Gallery: http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?m=17830847103&n=398038677

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Matthew Haigh - 23 Nov 2004 08:27 GMT

>>But being roundly thrashed by that German young lady (who took the best
>>part of a minute off his time on her first drive of the car, compared to
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>One of the greatest drivers in the world. Nobody else knows the ring
>like she does.

There was an element of tongue-in-cheek there. Sabine is a great driver,
and I've no doubt Clarkson could outdrive me any day on a track - but
it's still fun to watch someone as self-confident as him get knocked
back (as he does it to others regularly). That sounds as if I don't like
him; but I do.

>>>You know my views regarding Jag engines - Only 12 cylinders will do !!!
>>
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>that Jaguar could not have a performance diesel in Europe when
>everybody else does.

I'm sure it is a fine car, and it is the first I'd test drive if my
mileage went back up to make my XJ8 too expensive to sensibly run; but
there is still something wrong about a diesel Jag :-)

Matt

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Matthew Haigh --$matthaigh{News06}$@haigh.org--
GCRSoft, providing SMS solutions since 1996...
http://www.gcrsoft.com http://www.moretext.com

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