A little over a year ago , I experienced how much fun it is to take your Jaguar to the track and drive it the way it is supposed to be. Not racing or taking chances but just driving fast, finding the limits of what you and your car can do in a safe, controlled, legal environment. While it is something the BMW or Porsche clubs do on regular basis, we Jaguar owners are left cleaning and detailing our cars sitting on lawns which is currently the main club activity. Nothing wrong with that of course, we are grateful that our cars have a heritage and history behind them and a Concours d'elegance is the place to enjoy it. On the other hand, performance has always been a big part of Jaguar, driving them is fun... and a classic Jaguar in motion looks better. Yes, some clubs do organize rallies and slaloms but let's face it, driving around cones in a parking lot doesn't compare to blasting down a straight away at 100 mph or more. The Empire Division has been successful organizing a drivers school at Lime Rock Race Park for years now and we need to spread this to other regions.

After counting the months to my second trip to Lime Rock this year, and I know I wasn't the only one doing so..., I decided I wasn't going to wait another year for this and started looking at other groups organizing such events. I came across Chin Motorsports (CMS), a Florida group open to any performance car owner who wants to drive his car the way they were designed to. They rent various tracks around the South East for one day sessions which gives you up to 4 to 5 hours on track for around $ 250. For most normal people, that's more that you can handle in a single day...

CMS had two back to back events scheduled for August, Sebring followed by Atlanta Motor Speedway Two very different tracks in design, character, settings and history so I thought it would be fun to drive cars that sort of matched the tracks. Driving the E-Type at historical Sebring, on the famous 12 hour course was a no brainer, Sebring is a classic sports car track loaded with half a century of heritage . Atlanta Motor Speedway on the other hand is a modern facility, a big Nascar cathedral with an infield road course added on almost as an afterthought. A modern Jaguar should be fun on a modern track so I registered the XKR.

Having previous track experience, I was able to register for Sebring as a solo driver. For Atlanta however I would have to be in the novice class for safety reasons... as in very heavy concrete barriers right along the exit of tricky turn 1.

Sebring is a great track, although a little rough in many spots as it was built next to the Sebring airport using old runways and taxiways so the seams between concrete slabs are not always very even. It's quite a long track with 17 corners which do take a while to learn. It's also tough on brakes ( I was warned on the JCNA forum to bring some extra pads... ) but it has a number of fast sections where, in the E-type, speeds of 100 mph and can be reached. Fun !

The CMS events emphasize safety while also keeping things low key and relaxed. The rules are basic, logic and enforced for everybody's safety. No racing, no passing except in designated straights and only if the guy up front gives a passing signal. As they say at the drivers' briefing, they want to you to go home with all your sheet metal, shaped and painted the same way it when you get there... If you don't play by the rules, you're out. The fact that the track is open nearly all day ( save an hour for lunch and time for paced parade laps to give corner workers a break) means that you get plenty of track time. You can also take a break or take time to fix or adjust something on your car without fear of loosing your session as with clubs dividing drivers in run groups. And it works as there are no traffic jams, everybody doesn't hit the track at the same time and attendance is limited to 50 or 60 cars.

You can also drive at your own pace so that you do not stress yourself.. or your car... again, this is not racing and there are no trophies, no prizes and no talent scouts... Although the skill and performance level of many CMS participants is quite high, I never felt in the way with the E-Type, seeing a faster car coming from behind is usually a matter of letting him go by on the next straight... and enjoy the roar of a 911, Corvette or all out race car flying by.

Atlanta Motor Speedway facilities are first class... nice garages those Nascar boys have !

Having driven the E-Type on track before, it was really a matter of getting used to the track more than to the car. It has some suspension and brakes upgrades which, along with lower profile P Zero tires, make for a very nicely balanced and predictable car. Acceleration is reasonably quick, with plenty of low end torque. And having only glasspacks instead of stock muflers, the roar of that V12 echoing between the concrete of Sebring's front straight is music to my ears...

A week later, switching to the XKR was a very interesting experience. More power, more grip but less feelings because of modern noise insulation. Helmet on, I could barely hear the engine and the exhaust so it took me while to get used to it. I also had raised the air pressure too high, so the car didn't feel quite right which my instructor could sense right away. We gradually brought back tire pressures to just under 40lbs (hot) and handling improved dramatically. The 18" PZeros and the firm CATS suspension gives a lot of grip ( official test numbers are 0.90g on skidpad which is among the best of the GT and sports cars) and altogether a very predictable handling. Even when negotiating short Esses or a chicane like the one at the end of the back straight, by staying smooth I could actually toss the car left and right and still keep it very balanced and poised.

The big novelty for me was running on a banking and it is an experience that was worth the drive alone. While not very technical, it's a rush to get on the Nascar oval at turn 1, and accelerate flat out through turn 1 and 2 suspension compressing nicely in turn 2 just under 100 mph, and then gradually accelerating to just under 120 on the back straight before braking for the chicane. I'm not a big Nascar fan but these guys have guts running at 160 or more, all packed tight in those turns...

XKR on pit road at Atlanta ( picture Brian Rasche - CMS)

Braking is really the only weak point in the XKR as the stock brakes are not up to task of repeatedly slowing down 4400lbs from 120 to 60, lap after lap. I had to increase braking distance so that I could release the brakes a little bit during braking. For 2003, Jaguar has finally realized that upgrading performance also means upgrading stopping power and Brembo brakes are now standard on 2003 XKRs. For owners of 2000 through 2002 model year XKRs... it's a $ 4000 option. I did replace the brake fluid with high temp Motul 600 which helped and I had no problem with boiling the fluid.

One of the best moment at Atlanta, was while getting on the oval at turn one behind a line formed by a novice driving a Viper, a car which does require some respect in tight infield corners. Between me and the Viper were a pair of loud and modified NSXs and a 911 GT2. the 5 of us probably unleashed something like 2500 horsepower at once... what a rush !

Driving with an instructor was great as I learned a few things and got some good feedback. I was lucky to have a very good yet relaxed instructor, Brian Rasche, who knew exactly when to let me experiment and when to keep things under control.

The difference between driving the 30 year old E-type or the modern XKR on track is obviously huge but they do have some things in common. One of them is torque, lots of torque, coming from the 5.3 litre V12 or the supercharged 4.0 V8. There is no need to keep the revs up high which is less stressful for not just for the engine but easier on the driver too. The E-Type is a little more nimble but both cars can be pushed really to the edge and remain under control. If the rear kicks out a little bit, it takes very little correction to bring it back. The fact that a 30 year old classic can be enjoyed on track as much as its modern version says a lot about the original design.

Both cars performed very well especially considering the conditions... hours of running hard in temperatures well into the 90s. I did have to change the front brake pads on the E-type as coming back into the pits after a 45 minutes run, I could hear the pads were down to zero... The XKR performed flawlessly except for the solenoid connection on the starter mysteriously snapping off. Odd as there is no way anything could have hit considering how buried the starter is... To make matters worst I wasn't able to change the connector as the plastic insulation around the stud was brittle because of the heat and any attempt to undo the nut would have sheared the connector. A bit of wire and a simple alligator clamp wrapped in electrical tape allowed me to fix the problem to finish the day and drive home. And no Lucas jokes please.. the starter used in the XKR is a Niposomething probably found in a ton of other cars too... At least I made it home...

E-type on the front straight at Sebring.

Too much fun is only one way to describe these two week ends for I learned a lot about driving. Too often, race tracks are intimidating and the prospect of driving on one sounds dangerous when you do not know what it's all about. When such a day is well organized and properly run, it is actually a safe environment. Driving on a real track means following rules, benefiting from many safety features, under the watchful eye of race personnel. I felt far safer pushing my cars on track than during the drives to and from the track... suddenly the sight of someone zipping his 5000 lbs SUV in and out of lanes at 90 mph is put in perspective.

There is a lot of interest within JCNA at this time to offer members similar events in various regions. It will take a while but when the issue comes up within JCNA or your club, support it so that you can give it a try. There are a number of JCNA members and Jaguar enthusiasts participating in other clubs' track days and it would be really great to make track days part of the JCNA mainstream just like it is for BMW or Porsche clubs.

Sunrise on the access road to Atlanta Motor Speedway

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Posted: 8/19/2002