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I find the issue of the seats to be very interesting. My V has the Recaro's, and I find them to be VERY comfortable. Everyone who gets in the car immediately says "nice seats", without prompting, and much more often than any other car I have ever owned. It did take a while to adjust them properly, and as delivered they were not good at all. Either the testers did not take the time to adjust the seats properly, or maybe something wasn't quite right with them. The editors at Motor Trend had similar comments, and it looks like both magazines tested the same car. I drove an '08 CTS for 15 months, and while the standard seats weren't bad, they were never as comfortable as the Recaro's, plus their lateral support is much less.

I test drove a Jag XFR last weekend, and spent a lot of time adjusting the seat, but never found a comfortable position. My friend, who is also looking at the V, had the same comment. Perhaps more fiddling would improve things, but I disliked the seats on the standard XF, as well. The Jag's interior IS very nicely and expensively finished, as well it should for the price. I was surprised that they rated the Jag superior in ergonomics, though. The Caddy controls may appear daunting at first, but they are logically arranged, and less controls are buried in the touch-screen than the Jag. Many of the other controls on the Jag, while good looking, are haphazardly placed IMO. Important driving functions that you want fast and easy access to, such as the transmission mode, and the suspension and traction control settings, are more easily accessed in the Caddy. The rotary transmission "fob" seems especially unnatural to me.

I'm not bashing the Jag, because I think it's a really fine car. If I wanted a rapid gentleman's cruiser and was willing to pay for the finer level of furnishings, I would probably get one. But if I were doing the scoring at Road and Track, the point spread would be even higher in favor of the V. There IS a slightly harder edge in the V, but that yields palpably and measurably superior performance, and makes it a superior driver's tool. THAT is what's important to me, and the lower price is just icing on the cake (and very much appreciated).