My XK8 frankly, a bit scary

[wack]

If i'm honest I don't enjoy driving it as much as I did my Mazda MX5, the MX5 was nothing to look at but a real laugh to drive, handled like a go kart and I could throw it into the bends without worrying where it was going.

The XK8 is a different breed, fast in a straight line but quite frankly a bit scary unless the road surface is perfect, the one thing it does that the Mazda didn't is put a smile on my face every time I look at it, simply beautiful

[sjwb]

Might I sugges that you have the suspension / geometry checked out. It is not unknown for the front lower suspension rubbers to fail.
One thing that the XK is NOT is scary. Perhaps you are unued to the mass of the car and the lack of immediacy?

[NormanD]

sjwb said:

Might I sugges that you have the suspension / geometry checked out. It is not unknown for the front lower suspension rubbers to fail.
One thing that the XK is NOT is scary. Perhaps you are unued to the mass of the car and the lack of immediacy?

I agree with all of the above.

Another thing is are you running on Pirelli tyres, to my feeling they are not the best, I run on Toyo Proxes T1-Rs they make a big difference.

Another thing I've fitted that has made control much better is a Limited Slip Differential, I can then swith off the traction control with full confidence.

If you want to read all the other things I've done read this months Jaguar World Monthly

[UncleRic]

sjwb said:

Another thing is are you running on Pirelli tyres, to my feeling they are not the best, I run on Toyo Proxes T1-Rs they make a big difference.

Agreed. When I replaced the four Pirellis on my X300 I had to litterally beg the garage to fit a 'non-Jaguar spec' tyre' (Toyo T1-Rs) "we can't be held responsible / they aren't designed for the car like the Pirellis are etc etc" (One place even refused!). Anyway, the difference was litterally night and day, my confidence in the car doubled, tramlining virtually disappeared and I will never, ever put Pirellis anywhere near my wheels again..

Edited by UncleRic on Tuesday 11th May 12:50

[a8hex]

I've always been very happy with the P6000s on my X300. I've never noticed an issue with tramlining. You should try Avon cross plies on an XK150 if you want tramlining.

[varsas]

I assume tyre pressures have been checked? I find my X308 runs best on somewhere just above Jaguar's lowest recommended pressures, with more in it does become a bit skittish (although that is on 18 inch wheels, what wheels/tyres are you running?) but yes a geo check wouldn't be a waste of money.

[pete5570]

What tyre pressures are the X300 owners on here running at? I'm finding my car to be a bit twitchy sometimes, it's on P6000s at the moment, I think i'm running at 28 psi all round, does this sound right?

[Shar2]

I exchanged my Pirelli Pzeros for Dunlop Sportmaxx, they are brilliant, good grip, virtually no road noise and a lot cheaper. Another thing you might like to think about is getting the suspension lowered.

[wack]

My car is running on 18" Continental tyres, the front suspension has been checked out , NS front upper wishbone bushes were replaced but it still doesn't handle well, it tramlines quite badly especially under heavy braking, a while back I gave it the full beans for 7-8 seconds, took my foot off the power and stared death in the face, it was all over the place, the road was more uneven than i'd anticipated but the suspension couldn't cope at all, I was shaking when I got it stopped.

Haven't done that again, after that I got the tracking checked which was spot on, when you say suspension geometry do you mean 4 wheel alignment or something else, the tyres have at least 5mm on them so i'm reluctant to spend £600 on changing them on the off chance it'll improve the handling.

One thing I did notice when it was up in the air is it has green shock absorbers, would these have been standard when new, the car has had a lot of money spent on it by a previous owner, it's a XK8 Sport but has had the XKR look applied very well, bonnet, grille, kick plates and badges etc, I'm not sure if it's been lowered because i've never put it up against a standard car, can you tell by the picture of it

Edited by wack on Sunday 16th May 19:14

[the prescotts]

Hi Wack, XK's are not the greatest handling car in the world but your experience seems a little extreme. I see you are in Cheshire so if you ever find yourself around Southport I would be happy to have a look. I have owned XK's for the last twelve years so should be able to tell if there is anything wrong with the handling.

[Tame Technician]

The lower wichbone bushes and the ball joints on the rear part of the front lower wishbone's are the most likely cause of bad tramlining.

When I worked at jag we would drive a brand new XK one day, and a 100k miler the next, the car with big mikes on it would literally turn left as the N/S/F wheel droped off the camber as you exit a duel carrage way onto a slip road, the new car wouldnt.

A full set of lower wishbones bushes lower ball joints, + a full geo setup and the old car handled like the new one. But it was a £1500 bill, so you'dd want to feel the difference.

[cml]

I recently put new P6000s on all corners on my X300 Sport. If I had been better informed at the time I might not have. I do find them fussy about pressure, any imbalance appears to throw them off, say a couple of psi across the front. It always appears to drive better after I've equalised them. I run them all at 32psi - for high speed use according to the manual = actually I think it is specified as 32 front 34 rear, 28 all round for comfort. Perhaps I'll try a lower setting, I just saw the term 'high speed' and thought that's meant for me

It is more twitchy than I would like, tramlines a tad now and again, more so than the XJS I had before.

My 2p.

Edited by cml on Tuesday 18th May 03:28

[RW774]

Front bed mounts shot I wonder??. That would make the front axle beam squirm cornering.

[cml]

We, errr, we are still taking about cars right?

[UncleRic]

RW774 said:

Front bed mounts shot I wonder??. That would make the front axle beam squirm cornering.

Could be. More likely the front upper cross-mounts have perished, which would throw the rear-arm rubbers off camber and cause a suspension hub to come undone.

[wack]

I've read the manual regarding Tyre pressures, it says non jaguar approved tyres should be inflated to 40psi so I tried this as I couldn't find anywhere that said continental tyres were jaguar approved.

The handling has improved dramatically, it goes where I point it now, the major downside is the ride is very hard now, are jaguar approved tyres made with reinforced sidewalls as I'm starting to think a lot of my problems were due to sideways flexing in the rear tyres when any sideways force was encountered

Does anyone have a XK8 with Green shock absorbers as i'm curious to know if mine are standard

the prescotts said:

Hi Wack, XK's are not the greatest handling car in the world but your experience seems a little extreme. I see you are in Cheshire so if you ever find yourself around Southport I would be happy to have a look. I have owned XK's for the last twelve years so should be able to tell if there is anything wrong with the handling.

Thanks for the offer Paul, I'm in Warrington so it's a fair drive to Southport at XK8 fuel consumption rates

RW774 said:

Front bed mounts shot I wonder??. That would make the front axle beam squirm cornering.

UncleRic said:

RW774 said:

Front bed mounts shot I wonder??. That would make the front axle beam squirm cornering.

Could be. More likely the front upper cross-mounts have perished, which would throw the rear-arm rubbers off camber and cause a suspension hub to come undone.

Edited by wack on Thursday 20th May 20:40

You're scaring me now that sounds expensive, is it something that would be obvious by looking or is it take it apart and see.

Thanks for all the advice so far, it's much appreciated

Edited by wack on Thursday 20th May 20:42

[RW774]

Front axle beam mounts are part rubber part alloy. The alloy becomes corroded and the rubber insert simply breaks away. Then the front axle beam becomes live causing all sorts of issues. Check them on a ramp and using a transmision jack ,jack the front beam up.If they are shot they will part company from the alloy mounting plate. Costs are around 40 quid each plus the fitting kit, about 5 quid per side. not dear wack, even if you are from Warrington ( is that the home of Castrol?).
These mounts are located just above the rack fixings, they are visible.
The other issue is castor. Has your guy put the shims back in the correct place and checked both sides. Wishbone bushes seize causing the upper wishbone to flex and eventually snap.Check the other side for rust. thats` a sure sign they are fked.

[wack]

Not sure about Castrol but Warrington is the home of Rock Oil, I'll get the bushes checked out and the items you mention, thanks again for the advice, it does handle much better with 40 psi in the tyres, no fillings left in my teeth though

[pete5570]

What tyres are available for the X300 other than the Pirelli ones? Any owners got experience with different brands?

[Dominicc01]

I've taken the view that a 15 year old car doesn't need tyres worth more than the car! Pirellis are standard, but too expensive to be worth it now. Especially as they seem to pick up all the crap on the road. I get at least 1 puncture a year, and had two wrecked tyres in 5 years of ownership.

There are loads of makes which produce the standard tyres for my 3.2 - I think 225/55 R16s

I'm on Barum Bravuris, and they're certainly the best cheap tyres I've ever run. Grip is decent in all conditions (it was sufficiently adequate to make progress in the small amount of snow we had in the Channel Islands), and road noise is not too intrusive (though this is the biggest change you will notice between expensive and cheap tyres).