8bit's Jaaaaaaag

[FWDRacer]

Effjay said:

Looking really good mate! I'm going to order myself a set of those paddles too.

The price does make me baulk though, and I'm not one to resist a frivolous purchase! They do look much better than the standard ones though.

Drop me a PM ref Paddles.

[8bit]

Ooops, been a bit lax with this thread again.

Car was serviced in Feb, and had a rear wishbone changed and the transmission fluid and filter service done by local dealer.

Noticed recently that the alarm sounder seems to have stopped working so I have a new one to swap it out with when I get time. Also the aircon needs a service too.

Been watching eBay and the forums lately and have slowly assembled a new collection of the interior trim parts. I had these painted by a friend of a friend, in a piano black finish. Much nicer than the original metal-effect ones.

Old:


New:




Gave it a decent wash on Saturday, in time for the JaguarForum.com meet in Crieff on Sunday. Car is back on summer wheels for now too:



Thanks for looking

[Andy665]

Stunning - it really is a timeless design - in fact, like most Jaguars, it gets better with age

[8bit]

Thanks Andy

So this arrived the other day




This is the Elite RR back box from Elite & Performance Jags in Derby. No time was wasted getting it fitted, a friend came round the same evening and we cracked on, finishing the job in about 90 mins total.

Old one off and brand new heatshield fitted:






New box in place:




Nice shiny new tips:








And of course I did a couple of video clips for those interested in how it sounds

First start:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_l6V1UVmwk



And some revs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur8ySFRAxCo



I was a little worried that it might be a bit loud with the Spires stage1 pipes but it's fine - quite barky on cold start and until warmed up but once it has it's still possible to avoid making excessive noise, which is what I wanted, but plenty of volume when hoofing it. Chuffed

[anonymous-user]

Love your car, a much underrated beast is the XKR and beautiful to look at too! Love what you did with the piano black finish in the interior. The metal finish has never appealed to me.

The new exhaust sounds spot on to me.

Seriously tempted by one of these as they are a brilliant buy in terms of bang for your buck right now!

[8bit]

Thanks for the nice comments I didn't mind the silver metal effect trims really, just liked the piano black better. The exhaust, well it had to be done really I already had the mid section upgraded which released a little more noise than stock but the new back box really lets it sing.

Get out there and drive some

[8bit]

Had my first track day in the XKR on Saturday, at Knockhill. Loads of fun, despite getting passed by a lot of smaller cars as Knockhill really favours smaller/lighter cars. I didn't take many photos as a friend of mine was there with his good camera so I'll put some of his up once he's sorted through them, but I thought this one was kind of funny



That was shot after five laps and the "economy" really didn't get any better...

[alecescolme]

Looks very nice 8bit, I remember seeing this at the last Jag meet and it looked great!
Piano black trim looks so much better than the alloy.

Very tempted by the 5.0 XKR next, as a F-Type R is just a bit too expensive for me

[8bit]

Thanks Were you at the meet at the distillery back in June?

[alecescolme]

Yep, that's the one! Came in my Black Super V8.

[James B]

I've just realized that I know exactly where you stay and have admired the car a few times. I'm up on Queens Rd (across from Westholme) and one of my good friends stays over the road from you. He used to have a nice 997 Turbo and is running an S3 until he settles on what to replace it with. My wife and I are out walking around the area most evenings so i'll keep an eye out!

[8bit]

alecescolme said:

Yep, that's the one! Came in my Black Super V8.

Ah right, was I talking to you? I spoke to a number of people that day.

James B said:

I've just realized that I know exactly where you stay and have admired the car a few times. I'm up on Queens Rd (across from Westholme) and one of my good friends stays over the road from you. He used to have a nice 997 Turbo and is running an S3 until he settles on what to replace it with. My wife and I are out walking around the area most evenings so i'll keep an eye out!

Ah yes, Ross. I've only spoken to him once or twice I think but he always waves and says hi. The Porsche was lovely, I wondered if it went when their kids arrived but the S3 being a 3-door put paid to that theory. He has a 1-series of some sort now I think?

[8bit]

Managed to get round to this on Saturday with the help of a friend:



Black grilles fitted in place of the standard silver ones. The 4.2 XKR-S had black grilles as standard but they're like rocking horse poo so I got a set of normal ones and painted them for the same end result. I like this much better than the silver ones, makes the front end look more modern, to me anyway.

[8bit]

Had to change the front discs and pads recently. Long story short, grinding noise under braking from the front was caused by both inboard pads looking like this:



Not much of an excuse but the outboard pads didn't look as bad. Note to self, change them in plenty of time next time. Installed EBC black geomet coated discs and RedStuff pads. Much better now and noticable improvement in braking over stock items. The Geomet coating wears off the faces quickly but stays on the outer edges and hubs to stop these areas corroding and looking tatty:



I took the car for a run over the holidays and had my camera with me for a change. Intended to get some landscape shots but they didn't turn out as I'd hoped, took a few of the car while I was at it.

[BrettMRC]

Looks appropriately brutish!

[8bit]

[8bit]

Noticed some flaking paint on the NSR caliper recently:



Diagnosed as a fluid leak, due to the fluid level dropping and this area being a bit damp Didn't realise how bad it really was until I got the old caliper off to change it out on Saturday there:



Looks like the piston boot failed, allowing fluid to leak out. I didn't get a photo but the inboard face of that disc and the inboard pad surfaces were copper in colour, I guess due to reacting with the fluid! New one installed and some fresh discs and pads: