8bit's Jaaaaaaag

[8bit]

Picked this up last week, a 2008 XKR Supercharged. Chuffed

Only a couple of my own pics and a few from the dealer so far, will get it washed and some decent ones taken soon:









Spec wise, plus all the standard stuff it has front and rear parking sensors and heated screens, front heated seats, B&W stereo with Dolby ProLogic-II and electric memory everything. I had the dealer fit the iPod/Aux module to the stereo too.

Thanks for looking

[8bit]

Yes, it sounds fearsome on full chat. The exhaust has an active valve which opens at high throttle input to liberate more noise. The actuator is fed power through a fuse which, when removed, causes the valve to stay open all the time. I might have removed that yesterday before taking the wife out for a drive...

[8bit]

Thanks everyone

TheHeretic said:

EFA

I see what you did there, very good

[8bit]

DannyScene said:

0a said:

Cooler than an Aston, Ferrari or Lamborghini

It's a nice looking car but surely not cooler than those you've listed

understated yes, cool no


OP this is one of the few cars I actually like in black, very nice, enjoy it

"Cool" is subjective anyway - if money was no object I'd probably still have one of these but I'd have got the newer 5.0 XKR-S, but I'd probably also have one from each of those other marques too

[8bit]

DannyScene said:

Totally agree mate

Hope my post previously didn't sound like I was slating your motor.. I wasn't

Not at all, no worries

Diderot said:

Miss mine Yours looks lovely - enjoy!

Thanks!

BorkFactor said:

That is stunning!

Will keep a look out for you round and about Aberdeen

Cheers, will have to get a discreet PH smiley or two on it somewhere, maybe small black ones in the rear windows. Watching the Scotland section for any news of another PH run too.

[8bit]

Washed the car on Sunday, had forgotten how tough it is trying to keep a dark colour clean :\ Thought I'd been pretty thorough, still got some residue from bug splats and bird crap though so will have to break out the clay next time and use some decent sealant.

Went out and took a few pics around Aberdeen area last night...

[8bit]

Couple of issues cropped up with the car. For a spell on Sunday the passenger seat adjustment controls stopped working but they started working again after the car had been switched off for a bit then started again. Also, I seem to get an intermittent warning about the front right indicator lamp being bust, although it seems to happen all the time now.

Bit of searching online suggests battery condition sensitivity is an issue with this model, also potentially grounding points - apparently they're known to come away from the body of the car. Anyone know where I should be checking?

The car is booked in to Jaguar to get a couple of other things I spotted just after I collected it fixed but have a couple of long drives this weekend so wouldn't mind seeing if I can rectify at least the indicator issue before that...

[8bit]

Otispunkmeyer said:

Love the look of these from the rear 3/4

I have to say though, the green illuminations on the dash do look rather old school! I thought jag had got all cool and in with the crowd by using (equally naff) blue lighting? Or did the XK just miss out on all that?

The photo makes it look a stronger green than it really is but yes, it does feel a touch dated. As does the satnav if I'm being completely honest. That said, I've yet to see a dash illumination colour scheme that looks really good and for me, the above points are small sacrifice for the rest of the experience

[8bit]

So, update time. Car was in getting some minor issues sorted under extended warranty, a low-speed knocking sound turned out to be an ARB link bush worn through and the squeaky belts were fixed by changing both the supercharger and accessory belts and their tensioners. Cost to me - £0.00.

They did a full healthcheck on the car and found the rear discs and pads were needed replaced. I tried to get the dealer I bought the car from to cover at least part of it since there's no way they can have been in much better shape at the time I bought it but no joy. Oh well, won't be buying another one from them.

So I was quoted £500 to change rear discs and pads by the local Jag dealer so I thought "sod that" and went and got EBC Redstuff pads, Pagid discs, a new piston wind-back tool and the adaptor for the Jaguar caliper pistons for £150 and set about it at the weekend. Out with the old:



And in with the new:



Took a bit longer than planned but it always does when I do car DIY. Made a pleasant discovery while doing the job:



Goodridge braided hosts as standard, result

Brakes feel a little better already. OEM Jaguar pads are really, really dusty, the EBCs are meant to be much cleaner so if they're much better and the performance is improved I may change the front pads later on. The front plates on the calipers are supposed to have the //R logo on them but the R flakes off with heat, I'll order some new ones for all four calipers and give them a good coat of lacquer before changing them out.

Also managed to get a wee sound clip at the weekend, In case anyone's interested...

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/4824/k8vbmtlekg...

Thanks for looking

Edited by 8bit on Tuesday 15th October 23:56

[8bit]

Cheers Eggs and thanks for the tip. Yeah it seems the later ones are prone to electrical gremlins too. it gets used though, at the moment once or twice a week for mundane trips and "makes progress" most weekends. I do have it in mind to keep an eye on that and get something like that come winter though, although I won't be laying it up.

[8bit]

Oops, been neglecting this thread again...


Went for a bit of a run a couple of months back, route is here:



At the Lecht...



Somewhere else I forget the name of...



And some time, some great roads, a slightly dull stretch on the A9 and a lot of mud later, Glenshee...






Decided to freshen the car up a little. The R badge on the tailgate and the logo plates on the brake calipers were all looking in poor state so got some new ones.



I've applied a few coats of very high-temp resistant lacquer to these, will get them fitted sometime soon.

The carpet mats that came with the car look a bit tatty, think they're the original ones and they're just the standard items. I fancied a set of the luxury versions and a like-new set came up on the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club's classifieds website for a great price so I had them:



Given the seal of approval by our tame mini-Jaguar

Finally, this arrived today...



Spires stage 1 exhaust. This replaces the standard middle section which has two additional silencers and doesn't have the crossover. This should free up a little more of that noise and maybe a pony or two. With any luck the rain will stop for a bit at the weekend and I'll get it fitted

[8bit]

Exhaust now fitted. Chuffed!

Before - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4obnA0AJFMA

After - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyI6jT1s_74

The difference is a bit more marked in reality than the video clips let on, particularly in terms of volume. It's maybe 10 or 20 percent louder at full chat, still nice and civilized when driving normally. The tone has become more rounded and sporty but still Jag-like. In short, still has the grace and manners it had, just has a little extra "cad" on tap for when the mood arises...

[8bit]

Thanks everyone Yes the new pipes are a little barky, should settle into more growl once they get a bit of soot in them.

On the subject of photos, had some really good ones taken by a local PHer recently, here they are

1.

Jaguar XKR #1 by Sko77y, on Flickr

2.

Jaguar XKR #2 by Sko77y, on Flickr

3.

Jaguar XKR #3 by Sko77y, on Flickr

4.

Jaguar XKR #4 by Sko77y, on Flickr

5.

Jaguar XKR #5 by Sko77y, on Flickr

6.

Jaguar XKR #6 by Sko77y, on Flickr

[8bit]

Kev T360 said:

Great photos! The only thing I dislike about these is the silver vent on the wings, would be nicer cooler coded, but that's just me.

Thanks! Credit is all due to the photographer though. My wife says the same thing about the vents, they can be colour coded though but personally I quite like them. At one point I did think about doing the window surrounds with black wrap, if I did that I'd want to do the wing vents as well, and probably the front grilles too.

[8bit]

On Saturday past there we were blessed with some nice weather around here, so I took the opportunity to go for a drive. For those that know the area, I went up over the Cairn o' Mount road, first time in the Jag, cracking stretch of road...







Got rather mucky, as you can see.

Got back and discovered I still had some time to myself so I set about doing some odd jobs. I still had the new brake caliper logo plates to fit so managed to get the front ones done, didn't get any photos of that yet. I didn't get round to doing the rear ones yet as one of them wasn't dry yet (I gave them all a few coats of high-temp lacquer to try and stop them deteriorating again) but I managed to get the front indicator and side marker bulbs changed. Here are the ones I used:



Before:



And after:



Looks much tidier now I think. One of the side marker bulbs appears to be DOA so will get that replaced and sorted out. I thought it was going to be a nightmare removing the lamp clusters but it turned out easier than I'd thought it would...

[8bit]

LewG said:

Lovely! It looks fantastic with that used and abused look!

Cheers, it spends most of it's time looking like that at the moment, with the weather and the fact that I'm always more keen to drive it than wash it!

[8bit]

Car recently serviced and couple of minor things sorted. Needed a new N/S/R track rod end gaiter, covered on warranty. Needed new rear brake hoses and bleed nipples, not covered on warranty. Also needs a new N/S/R upper suspension arm, not covered on warranty. Estimated cost for that including VAT and labour is about £750. The arm can be had for about £170 so I'll be doing that myself, thanks very much.

Did have this as a courtesy car though, which was nice:



XF Portfolio S, with the 3.0 V6 twin turbo diesel engine. Indecently fast for a diesel and perfectly happy to swing the tail out...

Had another wee run in the country a couple of weeks ago, reset the trip before I set out so this is just over this run:



Also managed to get round to changing the caliper logo plates recently too, look much nicer now:





Hoping to have the car detailed soon...

[8bit]

Oops, slipping again...

Got some new wheels These are OEM Jaguar "Cremona" wheels as standard on the special edition XKR Portfolio model. I got a good deal off ebay as they were painted in black and in need of a refurb. I know a guy who does refurbs at a good price and I needed summer tyres anyway so I bought these and the tyres and had him refurb the wheels in OEM Jaguar silver and fit the tyres.









Tyres are Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas which I really like. Just as grippy and predictable as they were on my Leon Cupra R.

Car also failed MOT recently, due to a binding brake at the rear offside corner. The wheel wouldn't turn freely with the back end jacked up, brakes off and in N but the other side was fine. I'd hoped it would just be a pad stuck on the carrier or similar so I took the disc and pads out, cleaned it all up and put it back together but when I was winding the piston back in to put the caliper back on the carrier it was very hard to rotate it. Ended up getting the caliper replaced under extended warranty, thankfully, and had the car successfully retested so we're back on the road.

Not sure when the piston got stuck but it took its' toll on the pads and disc. Note the blue tinge on the disc due to excessive heat:



This is the outboard pad (bear in mind I changed the discs and pads last October, maybe 4k or 5k miles ago):



Even worse was the state of the inboard pad:



I'd only changed the rear discs and pads last October I think so was a bit annoyed to have to do them again but at least they're not expensive!

Edited by 8bit on Tuesday 22 July 16:19

[8bit]

I still have the originals (Sentas), they have winter tyres on so they'll be back on in a few months until next spring. Each to their own! I like the Cremonas, something slightly more sporty looking about them.

These are a lot of car for the money right enough, especially considering what they cost new.

[8bit]

Some more recent jobs, new battery:



Not very exciting but it's sorted out some weird electrical gremlins so happy with that.

Also gave it a decent wash - prewash with Autofinesse Avalanche done as snow foam, 2 bucket wash with Meguiars Hyper Wash, rinsed and dried then chemical paint decontamination with Auto Finesse iron remover, rinsed and dried again then a coat of Auto Finesse Tough Coat: