I agree that a 5 ( or 6 speed ) manual is better for people who want to
really drive the cars but indeed here in the US most people want automatics,
probably 80% … just a guess… then a good chunk of the other 20% buy
manuals because it’s the cheaper base model… it will be interesting to see
how many 2.5 Liter X-type are sold with the $ 1250 optional automatic, Vs
how many 3.0 are sold with the optional no cost 5 speed.
I learned to drive in France where most cars are manuals, it may have
changed a bit in 20 years but automatic were the minority of the cars at the
time. … along with A/C …
The Benz tranny used by Jaguar on the Rs is certainly as good as an
automatic can be and coupled with the J-Gate, it’s a very good package. I
find it very easy to control upshifts with the throttle. For max
performance, I bring it back to 3, 4 or D early on depending which gear I
will end up in, and when I want the box to shift I release the throttle just
a bit. It doesn’t take much lifting to trigger the upshift, and it actually
feels / sounds very much like a manual, as soon as the box upshifts, I bring
it back to the power I need, in fact, the rythm is very close to what you
would do with a manual except that you don’t need to lift all the way.
Downshifting with the J gate is as good as with a stick, but less fun…
OF course on the Rs, you don’t have that slushy RPM rise when you first
press the throttle, so it feels as close to a manual as it could. I think
the XK8 has the same tranny as the XJ8, it doesn’t feel as direct on the
XJ8.
I don’t like the slapstick used on some german and japanese cars, but that’s
matter of taste. With the J Gate, I know which gear I’m on without having to
look at the shifter or at a display on the dash. It’s more natural.
unfortunately, most journalists who test the drive the car discard it as
obsolete because they don’t know how to use it… I just hope that Jaguar
stick with it for a while longer.
I guess, Jaguar should have added a push button shifting on the R or sport
models, it wouldn’t have cost much extra and would have been nice…
Pascal
Miami, FL
I will give it the credit that it is better than most that I have seen,
but
i’m a firm believer in manual transmissions (to the point of getting one
custom built for my XK8). I had started to get used to the J-Gate in the
last few months and believe the hype that it’s just as good (if not
better)
than a manual, until we took delivery of our 2001 911 C4 (with a manual of
course). What i’ve noticed is that the transmission (leaving it in drive)
goes past its peak on the power curve prior to shifting, therefore not
showing the best performance. To the J-Gate, the issue I have with it is
that it usually stays in the current gear for upto a second after I shift
it
to the next gear (though down shifting is more responsive if i’m in the
right speed band). My problem with this is that I listen to the engine
rather than watch RPMs for shifting. I end up shifting when the engine
says
its time, yet it keeps running the RPMs up (again past peak) before
acknowledging my command. With a manual there is no delay and no computer
to----- Original Message -----
From: “gnat” gnat@aol.net
out think you. I will give Automatics the credit of better gas mileage and
smoother shifting, but for someone like me that is more interested in the
power its not worth the lack of a manual.
Just my opinions that the internet makes it so easy for me to spread 
-dave
'98 XK8 Black/Black Coupe