Well Guy's....the LM Spec road car has arrived. I am really pleased with it. I haven't started it yet, but buying it blind on the internet was always going to be a big risk. The overall condition is much better than I expected. Hopefully I can get it Mot'd early next week and then I can get the application into DVLA to get it road registered.

 

Outstanding. Looking forward to seeing it on the road.

 

Today was a good day... Having spent some time preparing the new LM for its Mot, today was the day. Having checked with my local Mot station, I was informed that it was ok for me to drive the car to and from the Mot station, even though it wasn’t registered with DVLA. As with any XJR-15, taking the car out for a drive always involves preparation. Having warmed the car up, I climbed in behind the wheel. There is no elegant way of doing this. It all seemed very familiar based on my experience with the XJR-15 race car, however, from the moment I fired up the big V12 things felt quite different. The noise level inside the cockpit is about 50% less than the race car. Whilst inside the race car ear defenders are a must, they are an option in the road car. In fact it was quite nice to be able to listen to the fabulous sound of the barely silenced V12. I edged out of my drive onto a fast A road. The gear leaver which sits to the right of the driver’s seat, at about knee height, requires a firm movement from one gear to another and presented no problems as I took the car up through the gears. The five speed box is actually very nice to use. There is no fuss or effort required to switch gears, either up or down the box. The race car on the other hand requires a lot of concentration for the novice, such as myself, in shifting gears. The technique for upshift is somewhat different to down shift. It will be interesting to see how long it takes in the race car for the technique for shifting the crash box becomes instinctive. The race car definitely requires more skill, and provides a great sense of achievement when you get it right, whereas the road car is slick and positive, albeit a much slower change. Back to back I can see how the race car is likely to out-perform the road car in a drag race as the gear change can be 10 times faster when you get it right. Having overcome the first few gear changes, it wasn’t long before I was turning off the A road and onto a B road with twists and turns. I know some readers will think, ‘well you would say that wouldn’t you’ but really.... this car is a fantastic when you throw some tight bends and a few sweeping curves at it. The next big difference I noticed was the steering. In the road car the steering wheel is fixed, whereas in the race car it is removable. I might be wrong and will need to check the measurements to confirm, but the road car steering wheel seems to be a fraction further away from the drive, which is excellent. It means that your elbows are not held out quite so much. I will try to get both cars in an empty car park at some point, but my impression is that the road car has more range on the steering and probably has a tighter turning circle. The overall ride experience was similar in some ways to the race car. The LM is fitted with racing style bucket seats with a thin layer of leather, where as normal road cars have more of a bench seat arrangement and they look more comfortable. Perhaps Boxer can comment on that. I have to say that for a car bought on the internet and shipped from Japan it basically went really well straight out of the box. That is not to say that there aren’t some real issues to deal with, but overall it was a great thrill.
Having arrived at the Mot station, it turned into an interesting process. I decided to leave the splitter off the car until after the Mot....good decision. The car was very low and just made it onto the ramp. The car passed the Mot without any issues at all.
On the way home, Mot in hand, I drove the car with a bit more ease. Having arrived home I gathered up my paperwork and headed to the local DVLA office where the paperwork was lodged for the car to be registered. All went without problems, so its just a case of waiting to hear whether or not DVLA will just issue a V5 or call the car for inspection. Either way the car should be ready for the road in a few weeks.
Finally, on the road versus race version comparison, both are great but have very different characters. The road car is like a supercar, without all the driver aids, which gives the driver a sense of what it is like to drive a racing car. The race car is exactly that. The road car is softened in the way it behaves and handles. The race car is pure adrenalin from the moment you engage first gear. Both will put your driving ability to the test.

 

Can you post a picture of your seats. Mine are molded buckets with fairly thin padding.

 

Amazing to hear of an LM being driven and on our roads too.

Looking forward to some pictures in the near future.

 

I love reading this thread!

 

what a car....ticks all the right boxes

 

Congratulations on the arrival of a second XJR15 and thanks for sharing your experience with the car. Sounds like you definitely have the bug!

 

You seem to have taken a liking to this car Jas. it would compliment your collection nicely

 

These are the seats in the LM.