1991 Jaguar XJR-s
Discussion
1991 Jaguar XJR-s, the largely forgotten XJS.
A bit of a backstory to this particular car and how it came about - It was purchased by my dad about 4 years ago, a lifelong Jaguar fan and former owner of a Series 1 E-Type when I was a small child. Here it is up for sale at JD Classics a few years back, long after we’d sold it;
Without a doubt it’s the car that got me into cars, being able to sit on his lap and look down the bonnet louvres at the triple SU carbs is one of my favourite memories.
Fast forward to 2015 and he starts getting itchy feet about getting another Jaguar, and long story short he ended up with the XJR-s you see here. Not long after he’d purchased the car, Ford announced that they were to bring the new Mustang to the UK and his attention was diverted when he took delivery of his first Mustang late in 2016. The Jaguar wasn’t getting much attention, so it was agreed that I’d take the Jaguar and start running it as my own.
An image taken just before our ownership;
We didn’t get off to the best of starts - the car had turned a grand total of around 100 miles in 10 years, so there were a few niggles to sort. We tried to get to Goodwood twice. We had a 100% failure rate!
Since then it’s had a new ignition box, some wiring has been sorted, it’s had all 12 spark plugs changed, injectors removed and flow tested, new AC compressor condenser, 2 new thermostats, all relays and connectors have been removed, cleaned and refitted, new brake calipers and a new exhaust box.
With a friends R8
Next to the new Mustang, looks enormous in comparison
Private parking at the local supermarket!
At Harry's Garage open morning at JLR Classic a couple of weeks ago
At the Jaguar Breakfast Club meeting last weekend
Apologies for the poor photos, it seems I only take pictures from the front right of the car
Promise I'll try and get some better ones when it gets put away over the weekend.
A bit about my feelings and opinions towards the car starting with the engine; It's the complete opposite to what I’d imagine most people would expect. The engine loves to rev, you really need to get it over 3.5/4k rpm to get the best out of it, but it spins freely to over 6k with zero fuss. Never has the phrase “the most fun is between 40 and 120” been more apt. The 3 speed gearbox is adequate given the torque on offer, but I’d love to put a 6 speed manual in it with a much shorter final drive, if funds ever permitted.
Running costs; Hopefully I’m not going to curse it now, but it’s not been too bad. Tyres are a little difficult to find, at the time they were fitted about 3 years ago you could only get the original sizes with Toyo T1Rs. Fuel economy is ok, local trips yield a fairly terrible 10-11mpg, but a good run at 80-90mph will see just about yield 20mpg. 70mph will yield 23-24 which I think is very reasonable. For comparison my Range Rover Classic gives very similar results, and that has 2.1 fewer litres, 4 fewer cylinders and an extra gear. Servicing is ok, a standard service is much the same as any other car of the period, and parts are easy (if sometimes a little expensive) to obtain.
Driving; Without having driven a standard XJS it’s impossible to say whether this TWR version is better or worse than a standard XJS. What I can say is that even with its slightly stiffer spring and damper rates that were unique to the XJR-s, the ride quality is exemplary and could teach many modern cars a thing or two. The steering is heavier than a standard XJS, and it steers very nicely, very stable at high speeds and easy to place in town. Turning circle is dreadful, it makes a Land Rover Defender look like a London Taxi.
Plan is to get it out and about a little bit more next year, I've been slacking this year and really need to use it more!
A bit of a backstory to this particular car and how it came about - It was purchased by my dad about 4 years ago, a lifelong Jaguar fan and former owner of a Series 1 E-Type when I was a small child. Here it is up for sale at JD Classics a few years back, long after we’d sold it;
Without a doubt it’s the car that got me into cars, being able to sit on his lap and look down the bonnet louvres at the triple SU carbs is one of my favourite memories.
Fast forward to 2015 and he starts getting itchy feet about getting another Jaguar, and long story short he ended up with the XJR-s you see here. Not long after he’d purchased the car, Ford announced that they were to bring the new Mustang to the UK and his attention was diverted when he took delivery of his first Mustang late in 2016. The Jaguar wasn’t getting much attention, so it was agreed that I’d take the Jaguar and start running it as my own.
An image taken just before our ownership;
We didn’t get off to the best of starts - the car had turned a grand total of around 100 miles in 10 years, so there were a few niggles to sort. We tried to get to Goodwood twice. We had a 100% failure rate!
Since then it’s had a new ignition box, some wiring has been sorted, it’s had all 12 spark plugs changed, injectors removed and flow tested, new AC compressor condenser, 2 new thermostats, all relays and connectors have been removed, cleaned and refitted, new brake calipers and a new exhaust box.
With a friends R8
Next to the new Mustang, looks enormous in comparison
Private parking at the local supermarket!
At Harry's Garage open morning at JLR Classic a couple of weeks ago
At the Jaguar Breakfast Club meeting last weekend
Apologies for the poor photos, it seems I only take pictures from the front right of the car
Promise I'll try and get some better ones when it gets put away over the weekend.A bit about my feelings and opinions towards the car starting with the engine; It's the complete opposite to what I’d imagine most people would expect. The engine loves to rev, you really need to get it over 3.5/4k rpm to get the best out of it, but it spins freely to over 6k with zero fuss. Never has the phrase “the most fun is between 40 and 120” been more apt. The 3 speed gearbox is adequate given the torque on offer, but I’d love to put a 6 speed manual in it with a much shorter final drive, if funds ever permitted.
Running costs; Hopefully I’m not going to curse it now, but it’s not been too bad. Tyres are a little difficult to find, at the time they were fitted about 3 years ago you could only get the original sizes with Toyo T1Rs. Fuel economy is ok, local trips yield a fairly terrible 10-11mpg, but a good run at 80-90mph will see just about yield 20mpg. 70mph will yield 23-24 which I think is very reasonable. For comparison my Range Rover Classic gives very similar results, and that has 2.1 fewer litres, 4 fewer cylinders and an extra gear. Servicing is ok, a standard service is much the same as any other car of the period, and parts are easy (if sometimes a little expensive) to obtain.
Driving; Without having driven a standard XJS it’s impossible to say whether this TWR version is better or worse than a standard XJS. What I can say is that even with its slightly stiffer spring and damper rates that were unique to the XJR-s, the ride quality is exemplary and could teach many modern cars a thing or two. The steering is heavier than a standard XJS, and it steers very nicely, very stable at high speeds and easy to place in town. Turning circle is dreadful, it makes a Land Rover Defender look like a London Taxi.
Plan is to get it out and about a little bit more next year, I've been slacking this year and really need to use it more!
Time to update the thread a little, the car was in hibernation for much of the winter whilst I saved up to getting running perfectly for this year. I've covered about 400 completely fault free and very enjoyable miles so far this month.
Firstly, to answer a couple of members questions;
Facelifted XJR-s (launched in 1992 I believe) were all built at the Jaguar factory with Jaguar's own 6 litre V12. These had 333bhp.
So this year the car had a full service carried out by local Jaguar Specialists, G&D Jaguar in Welwyn (highly recommend these chaps), new front brake pads, a re-cored high efficiency radiator to get it ready for use this year.
Took some quick pictures of the car before I put it away dirty (bad I know) a few weeks back, if the weather is good this weekend I'll try and get some more!
Scary looking, but definitely delivers the goods. The 6.0 XJR-s have JaguarSport V12 badges on the inlet manifolds instead of the usual Jaguar V12.
Very difficult to get a scale of the size of the bonnet, but suffice to say it's absolutely huge!
Firstly, to answer a couple of members questions;
Welshbeef said:
Very nice car - I remember watching the touring cars with these ruling the roost.
What’s the power of the road version and is it the 5.3V12 or is it bored out to 6.0v12
The original XJR-s was built as a limit run of 100 units to celebrate Jaguar's win at Le Mans in 1988. These were built by Jaguar and finished by JaguarSport (joint venture between Jaguar and TWR) in Kidlington, Oxford. These ran with the standard Jaguar 5.3 V12, but the XJR-s launched in 1989 increased capacity to 6 litres thanks to up-rated cylinder heads and some trick cylinder liners (if memory serves). At the same time, the engines received a forged crankshaft, Cosworth pistons and a Zytek fuel injection system, amongst many other chassis, body and interior modifications all completed by JaguarSport. The standard 5.3 V12 had 285bhp, the 6.0 has 318bhp. This is one of the 6.0 V12s completed at Kidlington. What’s the power of the road version and is it the 5.3V12 or is it bored out to 6.0v12
Facelifted XJR-s (launched in 1992 I believe) were all built at the Jaguar factory with Jaguar's own 6 litre V12. These had 333bhp.
V8 TVR said:
Strange that the car was built in '91 but previously had a K registration plate!
The car was originally sold on the Isle of Man in 1991 (can't remember the exact date), and was brought back to the UK in 1993 where it was issued a K plate. So technically it should be on an H plate, like many other pre-facelift XJR-s, but due to the DVLA mess up back in the early 90s, we're still able to run a slightly later plate So this year the car had a full service carried out by local Jaguar Specialists, G&D Jaguar in Welwyn (highly recommend these chaps), new front brake pads, a re-cored high efficiency radiator to get it ready for use this year.
Took some quick pictures of the car before I put it away dirty (bad I know) a few weeks back, if the weather is good this weekend I'll try and get some more!
Scary looking, but definitely delivers the goods. The 6.0 XJR-s have JaguarSport V12 badges on the inlet manifolds instead of the usual Jaguar V12.
Very difficult to get a scale of the size of the bonnet, but suffice to say it's absolutely huge!
Edited by GiveItSomeWellie on Tuesday 30th April 15:07
fizmo100 said:
Lovely colour - Arctic Blue?
I'm unfortunately going to be selling mine soon, it's going to be a very painful day when it goes, they really are very special cars, and massively under-appreciated.
I believe it is, unfortunately I'm not near it at the moment to check the paint code inside the door.I'm unfortunately going to be selling mine soon, it's going to be a very painful day when it goes, they really are very special cars, and massively under-appreciated.
A bit biased here, but I completely agree with what you say. Have you had yours for long?
fizmo100 said:
Lovely colour - Arctic Blue?
I'm unfortunately going to be selling mine soon, it's going to be a very painful day when it goes, they really are very special cars, and massively under-appreciated.
I can confirm for those interested (myself included..) that this car is indeed Arctic Blue. I have looked up when Jaguar offered this colour, and it doesn't look like they offered the colour in 1991 (I've just checked and it was registered in the Isle of Man on 15th March 1991). I'm unfortunately going to be selling mine soon, it's going to be a very painful day when it goes, they really are very special cars, and massively under-appreciated.
Been meaning to order a Heritage Certificate for it for some time, but I've ordered them in the past for my 1990 Discovery and my 1991 Range Rover, spending nearly £100 on certificates to tell me the cars colour and build date hurts enough without getting another one for this!
dme123 said:
I sold my 1992 facelift car, and miss it a lot. That engine is just incredible, and none of the other variants of the Jaguar V12 sound anything like it. Even the later factory 6.0 (which made less power in the factory 6 litre XJS than the JaguarSport 6.0 in the RS) doesn't sound as good. Not sure if it's down to the cosworth pistons or the sequential injection.
I absolutely love the induction roar, especially between 4.5k and 6k rpm. What a noise! But then if you're driving sedately, at 50mph the loudest thing in the car is the dash fan. Pretty amazing for 2019, what it must have been like when it was new blows my mind. The way this thing picks up speed also makes you laugh out loud, the 0-60 figures don't do this thing justice once it's in it's stride which is why I'm keen to find somewhere to let it really stretch its legs, I've seen the needle in excess of 140mph and it was still accelerating at an impressive rate.I'd love to try a 5.3 or even a later 6.0 to see the personality differences between them. Did you ever get a chance to drive a 3 speed XJR-s and compare it to your 4 speed? I'd say that's the biggest letdown of the car, it operates absolutely fine but it also means you have 2.88 rear gears. I can't stop thinking about what it would be like with a 5 speed manual and some slightly shorter rear gears..
Thank you all for your kind words, I shall do my best to keep the thread updated
Unfortunately I haven't really used the car as much as I'd have liked this year, I've only just received the car back having gone away for some work in the 2nd week of August!
At the end of July I took the car to Duxford to try out a slightly different sort of V12, I was looking forward to testing out the newly re-cored radiator on what would be the hottest day of the year. It didn't quite go to plan, on the way home the temperature gauge was reading higher than I was comfortable with. which was disappointing given all the work that's been done on the cooling system. I switched it off and realised that the electric fan wasn't running, so at least it should have been a simple fix, right? Well, sort of...
On the day I called G&D to book the car in I noticed that the garage floor paint had peeled, right under where the rear diff is. The first thing I checked was brake fluid level, having inboard brakes it was probably brake fluid (it was also the easiest thing to check). Yup, it was leaking brake fluid.
A caliper needed replacing, which means you might as well replace the other one while you're there. And while you have the rear cage dropped out, you might as well renew everything else at the same time. So a simple electric fan issue eventually turned into a partial rebuild of the rear end! The only thing that proved difficult to obtain were the rear shocks, the original JaguarSport part number doesn't appear to have been superseded, and Bilstein weren't offering their rebuild service at the time. Bilstein B6 Sport shocks were fitted, I look forward to trying them on a proper drive out soon.
Thankfully everything else under the car is perfect, having been frequently under sealed and seemingly never really driven over winter, there is no corrosion at all under the car, not even on top of the rear cage which was good to see.
A rubbish picture, but my favourite view of XJR-s. It also looks tiny next to that SQ5.
And the other V12 I had a brief affair with earlier this year.
At the end of July I took the car to Duxford to try out a slightly different sort of V12, I was looking forward to testing out the newly re-cored radiator on what would be the hottest day of the year. It didn't quite go to plan, on the way home the temperature gauge was reading higher than I was comfortable with. which was disappointing given all the work that's been done on the cooling system. I switched it off and realised that the electric fan wasn't running, so at least it should have been a simple fix, right? Well, sort of...
On the day I called G&D to book the car in I noticed that the garage floor paint had peeled, right under where the rear diff is. The first thing I checked was brake fluid level, having inboard brakes it was probably brake fluid (it was also the easiest thing to check). Yup, it was leaking brake fluid.
A caliper needed replacing, which means you might as well replace the other one while you're there. And while you have the rear cage dropped out, you might as well renew everything else at the same time. So a simple electric fan issue eventually turned into a partial rebuild of the rear end! The only thing that proved difficult to obtain were the rear shocks, the original JaguarSport part number doesn't appear to have been superseded, and Bilstein weren't offering their rebuild service at the time. Bilstein B6 Sport shocks were fitted, I look forward to trying them on a proper drive out soon.
Thankfully everything else under the car is perfect, having been frequently under sealed and seemingly never really driven over winter, there is no corrosion at all under the car, not even on top of the rear cage which was good to see.
A rubbish picture, but my favourite view of XJR-s. It also looks tiny next to that SQ5.
And the other V12 I had a brief affair with earlier this year.
Thank you all for your kind comments!
Howrare said:
What a lovely thing. Always liked the XJS, and yours looks great.
Slightly green about the Spitfire flight. How was it?
The flight was so far beyond anything I could have ever imagined. I don't think I can add anything constructive to what's been said about the aircraft before, but to have the chance to fly over my childhood home and off down to the White Cliffs of Dover with my neighbour in another Spitfire right next to me was a real treat. The only slight issue was the searing sun and heat, being trapped under a glass canopy that trapped every bit of heat on a 30+ degree day began to get a little unpleasant after an hour or so, but I realise I probably won't get much sympathy Slightly green about the Spitfire flight. How was it?
swampy442 said:
These are so handsome, I'd never be brave enough to take one on! A friend of mine had an XJS and, lets just say it didn't end well for him financially..
It's often said that the best way to end up with a small fortune is start off with a large fortune and an XJS! In fairness this one has been pretty good for the last 3 years or so, only really requiring basic maintenance until this year. Most parts are easy to find and aren't that expensive, but the labour costs can mount up very quickly.stickleback123 said:
The early TWR cars and XJR-S were a 5.3 with no engine modifications I believe?
The 6 litre in the facelift was the most powerful factory version of the 6.0, even the final version in the X305 with a proper ignition system was a couple of bhp down. Shame about the three speed slusher though!
Correct, the XJS TWR and original XJR-s were standard 5.3 V12s, though you could send your car back to TWR Ltd for engine modifications. I believe there are a few cars out there with TWR built 6.3 V12s!The 6 litre in the facelift was the most powerful factory version of the 6.0, even the final version in the X305 with a proper ignition system was a couple of bhp down. Shame about the three speed slusher though!
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