Too Much Creative Energy To Sleep

I think this is progress; the high energy state is returning.  Like an excited electron, the decay to my base state will output some energy for the rest of you to observe.

The Jaguar is an absolute thrill to drive.  It is very nearly as quick as the Corvette, but with the ride, quiet, and comfort of my X-type. Maybe quieter.  It is a supercharged engine, not turbocharged.  In a supercharged engine, the power to pump in more oxygen under pressure comes from the crankshaft.  In a turbocharged engine it comes from a turbine spun by the exhaust gases.  As a result, turbocharged engines usually exhibit "turbo lag," a gap between when you increase fuel and the time power shows up, because the gases have to move through the engine to the exhaust, and spin up the turbine.  With supercharged, you don't have this delay.  Stomping the gas results in immediate power, much like doing so in the Corvette.  The acceleration feels a bit more seamless, because the automatic transmission is gong from 8th gear to 7th, then 6th, then 5th, then 4th, each a relatively small change in ratio compared to cars with only four forward gears.  What a great time to be alive!

The cornering is probably not quite as intense (or is it insane?) as the Corvette, which approaches 1 g lateral acceleration, but will still embarrass nearly all 1970s sports cars.   The full-time AWD helps, too.  The turn from State St. to Idaho 55 is a high speed right turn, and the Jaguar went through the turn very comfortably at the speed limit of 55, and could doubtless have done it at 85.  This is a heavily patrolled section, so both traffic safety and tickets restrain me!

On the lousy gravel road that is Sunburst, the ride was much more controlled than any car that I have driven over it.  The sunroof works well, although it is not the panoramic sunroof of the Cadillac CTS, which looks like something you would use to do a drive-by with something belt-fed from the back seat.

Many of the features that Rhonda thought were just wreteched excess on the CTS are in the Jaguar as well, but a bit more elegantly designed. On the CTS, if you get someone in your blind spot, you get an illuminated marker in the side view mirror on that side, and your seat vibrates a warning to you.  The Jaguar also warns you, but the radar ignores blind spot objects that aren't moving at least 10 mph.  I suppose some runners and bicyclists are at minor risk.

Rhonda had a scary experience during the Jaguar test drive, where she thought someone had tapped her bumper.  No, the Jaguar noticed it had no engine demand at a light, and turned itself off and then back on again when needed.  She noticed this little jerk.  There is a way to disable this energy saving feature.

Reading through the Jaguar manual is a chore, and for many features, it makes more sense to go through it in the car..My smartphone is now pairbonded with the Jag, so I can use voice command to make phone calls and talk to people without touching my phone.  Setting up the garage door opener on the mirror will require a little more work, because rolling code openers require you to press a button on the motor while doing likewise on the rearview mirror.

Rhonda is very happy about the heated driver's seat, which alleviates some of her hip muscle ache when driving.

What an awesome car!  Everyone needs one!  The Obamacar program needs to pay for of these for every American.  Yes, it's a budget buster..We'll tax green cars to pay for it.

I perhaps could have held out for more than $8500 on the Corvette, but the guy who bought it has I suspect terminal cancer, and letting have the chance to own his dream car seemed worth $500 to me.  I am hoping he will pay it forward.  If not, I feel good about helping him.

The X-type is still for sale, but I am reluctant to let it go much cheaper than $6700, because having a third functioning AWD car is always useful, and the car insurance when it is in winter storage is almost nil.