I've a 98 XK8 coupé and just love the car. When I bought it I was looking for a XKR but since I couldn't find one ( there are very few XK8 and even fewer XKR's on my country ) I went to the XK8.
Now my dealer has a 99 XKR cabrio avaible.
What I would like to know is if the noise and confort levels on a cabrio are similar or not to the ones in a coupé, and if ride and handling is or is it not very different from one another.

Thanks,

Paulo

I have a '98 convertible. I'm sure the coupe is quieter than the convertible, but I find the convertible surprisingly quiet. The top is very well insulated. You can even converse without shouting and listen to music with the top down at 80 mph. Comfort level for front seat passengers should be similar. The seat back in the rear seat is more upright than in the coupe, so the rear seat will not be as comfortable. But then, who carries passengers anyway. I'll leave the question about handling to others.

I can confirm what Tom wrote. The coupe is quieter but the convertible is surprisingly quiet and there isn't that much difference. The back seat is another question: It is very uncomfortable to sit in the 'second row' in a coupe, but it is a special kind of pain to sit there in a convertible, even for small children. Maybe your dog likes to sit there?
Ride is in my opinion very different, but it depends on what tire size you are used to drive on your XK8. Normally they are equipped with the 17" which ride softer than the 18" used with the cat-suspension package and on the XKR.
So be prepaired that the XKR rides harder.
The difference between the cat and the standard suspension is close together. The tires play the more important part in that game.

Mark
(2000 XK8 coupe, antigua blue, 18" Pirelli)