33 Mpg In A Jaguar S-type - Incredible....

[RX in NC]

Some of you have shown some interest in our new-to-us 2005 Jaguar S-Type since I practically stole it from our local Jaguar dealership the week before Christmas in a completely empty-of-other-customers Jaguar showroom....

My wife drove it from Raleigh to Tampa yesterday to visit her parents. She left with a full tank and had to stop for gas only once during the entire trip, previously unheard of in anything else she's driven to and from her parents' homeplace before. She said that she ran between 68 and 72 mph on I-95 and I-75 depending upon traffic flow. She managed to average right at 33 mpg for that trip, unbelievable for a 3,900-lb, 275-hp 4-door full-size European sedan. We bought this car as a highway cruiser and man, is it ever coming through for us. If any of you are looking for a beautifully unique, powerful, elegant, easy-to-drive luxury sedan that can be bought coming off a low-mileage lease for well under half of what it originally stickered for, go find a well-kept 2005 or 2006 S-Type and test-drive it yourself. It just might be the best bang-for-the-buck sedan out there that nobody knows about....

[SW03ES]

Yours is the V8 right?

It is incredible the mileage these big V8 sedans will get on the highway isn't it? My parents have an Infiniti FX35 and then the 04 LS430. My Dad always drove the LS until he retired last year and now he drives the FX most of the time since he's playing golf and going to the boat etc. They still take the LS on trips though because its just so much better on gas. They get in the low 30s on a highway trip too.

My V6 ES300 for comparison will get 26 on the highway tops.

[RX in NC]

Ours is the V6. While doing on-line research on the car before going to the dealership to drive it, I did not believe that the V6 would be enough engine to haul that S-Type chassis around. I thought that the V8 version would be mandatory even though I did not want to bring another V8 into our garage based upon the fact that gas would begin creeping up again (just as it has done). Actually driving the V6 version proved me wrong. Jaguar took the Lincoln LS Duratech engine, added variable valve timing and some other custom tweaks and turned the V6 into a gas-sipping beast. SW03ES, you would love this car. D.C. is apparently a hotbed for the S-Type along with Southern California and South Florida. Go find a just-off-lease low-mileage and babied 2006 S-Type 3.0 still under factory warranty and test-drive that sucker. You will be amazed what you get for so little money if you just stick to your guns and refuse to play the ol' sales shell game....

Now if you want the supercharger-equipped 400-hp 4.2-litre V8 S-Type R, they are rare but available. Man are they screamin' fast, but insurance, gas (15 mpg on your best behavior), and maintenance costs made that decision a no-brainer for me. I told my wife that she does NOT need to be driving a 4-door luxury sedan that is faster than my 5.9-litre V8 Dodge Ram....

[SW03ES]

I've ridden in one a couple times but never driven one, I'll have to check one out. I have a client that has an '04 I think, his is a 4.0 and he loves it.