Discussion
Hello chaps, just checked my pressures up the workshop and yep the rears are well due for replacement. I've been looking at these Kumhos as they appear to have better ratings in everything and yet are far cheaper than Pirellis etc.
http://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/kumho/ku39/2...
Anyone using these?
http://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/kumho/ku39/2...
Anyone using these?
I'm using these on my RS6, no complaints and seem to be a good all rounder. I was worried about wear rates but 5K miles in, the rear tyres are holding up pretty well and expect to get maybe 12K miles from them.
Always liked the XJR's, in black with the big alloys seems very appealing to me
Always liked the XJR's, in black with the big alloys seems very appealing to me
Cheers Lee, I think that's what I'm going to go for, I honestly didn't realise how low the tread was it's knocked them out surprisingly quickly. Doesn't sound great saying it's got 'Kumhos' on but hey if they work, they work!
The fronts probably have another 2k or so left in them so I'll do those when the time comes.
I have to say I've been a bit lazy with it recently and haven't done any work on it as such. I am really looking forward to getting the bushes done though as I've no doubt that will make a huge difference to the way it drives.
Worryingly it had a message come up the other morning saying 'gearbox fault'. I really hope that doesn't come back in a hurry
The fronts probably have another 2k or so left in them so I'll do those when the time comes.
I have to say I've been a bit lazy with it recently and haven't done any work on it as such. I am really looking forward to getting the bushes done though as I've no doubt that will make a huge difference to the way it drives.
Worryingly it had a message come up the other morning saying 'gearbox fault'. I really hope that doesn't come back in a hurry
LewG said:
I've been looking at these Kumhos as they appear to have better ratings in everything and yet are far cheaper than Pirellis etc...
Anyone using these?
Yup. Paid 161 apiece for four in April 2012 and still got loads of tread on, but I have only done about 6k miles. Great grip in wet and dry. At the time, I bought them because they were advertised as having heavy duty sidewalls. No perishing. Have also left the car stationary on a trickle charger for a couple of months at a time. The tyres did deform slightly as you would expect but after about 40 miles were perfect again. Anyone using these?
castex said:
Proper car needs proper tyres.
Just my opinion.
Pirellis were great on the x300 straight six xjr, apart from lasting only 10k, but they are shockingly bad on the x308 xjr in my opinion. If a tyre grips very well and lasts ages then it is a bit crazy to pay more than twice the price for a worse product.Just my opinion.
TurricanII said:
castex said:
Proper car needs proper tyres.
Just my opinion.
Pirellis were great on the x300 straight six xjr, apart from lasting only 10k, but they are shockingly bad on the x308 xjr in my opinion. If a tyre grips very well and lasts ages then it is a bit crazy to pay more than twice the price for a worse product.Just my opinion.
castex said:
I don't know about this specific combination but with tyres I've learned that you get what you pay for. The big names tend to have a the lead on research & development at the cutting edge. Pirelli might not have the best tyre for this car but if not, Bridgestone or Michelin undoubtedly will.
I'm usually of that opinion too, I am looking at Michelin Pilot Sports as well as they aren't a huge amount extra and like you say it is usually a case of pay more, get more. A mate's sister works in the local tyre specialists and can get full discount so I've got her on the case. Got a bit more achieved today, update to follow.
Rensko said:
How many miles on it and would it be rude to ask how many MPG you are getting around town?
I've had a hankering for a XJ of sorts. Thing is, parts are meant to be through the roof here in Aus! Can always wish and dream of owning one....
This one has done 127k so not exactly a garage queen, as for the MPG I try not to look I've had a hankering for a XJ of sorts. Thing is, parts are meant to be through the roof here in Aus! Can always wish and dream of owning one....
realistically for my commute and pottering about driving, so a mix of dual carriageway, town and country roads it's getting around 16mpg. That includes the odd lead footed blat but yep, if you're looking for economy don't bother haha.That is a bit of a pain, at least you'll never have to worry about rust though!
Well the day got off to a fairly bad start when I saw this. My mate had obviously got out the car and caught the bolster with the metal bit on his jeans. 
While we were occupied with seats I thought I'd investigate a problem the driver's seat has had since day one, that is when you sit in the seat it suddenly shoots down and back. I'm a fat b
d but I'm pretty sure I'm not that bad. First things first, disconnect the battery to avoid getting punched by an airbag.
The mounting bolts came out no trouble at all, bugger are these seats heavy though!
After a while scratching my head I realised on the end of the seat tilt motor its toothed gear wasn't sitting in the female ratchet part due to the nylon bush now not sitting in the side of the seat where it locates. It must've had a fair amount of force to knock it out as nothing has any adjustment or is supposed to move.
Here you can see it is running totally out of line
Thankfully the teeth on the motor were still in good condition
With a bit of fiddling I managed to move the seat and it slotted back together no trouble at all.
Put it back in the car and tried it. No movement at all and everything works. Another cheap fix
While we were occupied with seats I thought I'd investigate a problem the driver's seat has had since day one, that is when you sit in the seat it suddenly shoots down and back. I'm a fat b
d but I'm pretty sure I'm not that bad. First things first, disconnect the battery to avoid getting punched by an airbag.The mounting bolts came out no trouble at all, bugger are these seats heavy though!
After a while scratching my head I realised on the end of the seat tilt motor its toothed gear wasn't sitting in the female ratchet part due to the nylon bush now not sitting in the side of the seat where it locates. It must've had a fair amount of force to knock it out as nothing has any adjustment or is supposed to move.
Here you can see it is running totally out of line
Thankfully the teeth on the motor were still in good condition
With a bit of fiddling I managed to move the seat and it slotted back together no trouble at all.
Put it back in the car and tried it. No movement at all and everything works. Another cheap fix
Well the day got off to a fairly bad start when I saw this. My mate had obviously got out the car and caught the bolster with the metal bit on his jeans.
While we were occupied with seats I thought I'd investigate a problem the driver's seat has had since day one, that is when you sit in the seat it suddenly shoots down and back. I'm a fat bd but I'm pretty sure I'm not that bad. First things first, disconnect the battery to avoid getting punched by an airbag.
The mounting bolts came out no trouble at all, bugger are these seats heavy though!
After a while scratching my head I realised on the end of the seat tilt motor its toothed gear wasn't sitting in the female ratchet part due to the nylon bush now not sitting in the side of the seat where it locates. It must've had a fair amount of force to knock it out as nothing has any adjustment or is supposed to move.
Here you can see it is running totally out of line
Thankfully the teeth on the motor were still in good condition
With a bit of fiddling I managed to move the seat and it slotted back together no trouble at all.
Put it back in the car and tried it. No movement at all and everything works. Another cheap fix
While we were occupied with seats I thought I'd investigate a problem the driver's seat has had since day one, that is when you sit in the seat it suddenly shoots down and back. I'm a fat b
d but I'm pretty sure I'm not that bad. First things first, disconnect the battery to avoid getting punched by an airbag.The mounting bolts came out no trouble at all, bugger are these seats heavy though!
After a while scratching my head I realised on the end of the seat tilt motor its toothed gear wasn't sitting in the female ratchet part due to the nylon bush now not sitting in the side of the seat where it locates. It must've had a fair amount of force to knock it out as nothing has any adjustment or is supposed to move.
Here you can see it is running totally out of line
Thankfully the teeth on the motor were still in good condition
With a bit of fiddling I managed to move the seat and it slotted back together no trouble at all.
Put it back in the car and tried it. No movement at all and everything works. Another cheap fix
Edited by LewG on Sunday 31st January 17:56
LewG said:
Hello chaps, just checked my pressures up the workshop and yep the rears are well due for replacement. I've been looking at these Kumhos as they appear to have better ratings in everything and yet are far cheaper than Pirellis etc.
http://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/kumho/ku39/2...
Anyone using these?
I've got a set on my XF S on 20's all round.http://www.blackcircles.com/catalogue/kumho/ku39/2...
Anyone using these?
I'm very pleased with them, good wet and dry grip, quiet and reasonably priced.
Mine has the wider rears (285's) and I had a set fitted for £621 at my local tyre dealer.
Gliptone Scuffmaster will sort that scratch out :
http://www.liquidleather.com/en/scuffmaster-dyes/5...
Their GT12 cleaner and GT11 conditioner are very good too.
Also, another thumbs up for Kumho tyres from me. I've just replaced P6000s with Ecsta HM KH31 on my X308 3.2. Direct replacement would have been P7 Cinturato but some reviews didn't rate them on the XJ and I wasn't that keen when we had them on our Galaxy.
http://www.liquidleather.com/en/scuffmaster-dyes/5...
Their GT12 cleaner and GT11 conditioner are very good too.
Also, another thumbs up for Kumho tyres from me. I've just replaced P6000s with Ecsta HM KH31 on my X308 3.2. Direct replacement would have been P7 Cinturato but some reviews didn't rate them on the XJ and I wasn't that keen when we had them on our Galaxy.
Edited by PlayersNo6 on Sunday 31st January 19:35
Changed the engine belts today and a pulley as the bearing was absolutely knackered. The rest of the pulleys and tensioners felt okay, I tapped out the threads on each as putting the bolts back in they felt a bit crusty, understandable going into aluminium really.
First things first take the fans out, I wouldn't recommend doing this job with them in as there really isn't enough space. Worryingly the bottom half was just flapping around and not sitting in its slots. Apart from that a couple of bolts and electrical plugs and it's off.
The belts weren't really cracked but they'd obviously been on there for some time as they looked real shiny and tired on the back edge.
A quick photo to remind myself how the belt runs, as it's quite a maze.
The belt is massive!
All back in place and with new supercharger belt and idler fitted. The pulley was in fact slightly smaller in diameter than the previous pulley. I would've swapped the bearing into the previous one but unfortunately the outer diameter of the bearing was smaller on the replacement part too. The spring tensioner has more than enough travel to take up any extra slack so hopefully it should be okay, even if it is rotating slightly faster than before.
Finally all the gubbins back in.
First things first take the fans out, I wouldn't recommend doing this job with them in as there really isn't enough space. Worryingly the bottom half was just flapping around and not sitting in its slots. Apart from that a couple of bolts and electrical plugs and it's off.
The belts weren't really cracked but they'd obviously been on there for some time as they looked real shiny and tired on the back edge.
A quick photo to remind myself how the belt runs, as it's quite a maze.
The belt is massive!
All back in place and with new supercharger belt and idler fitted. The pulley was in fact slightly smaller in diameter than the previous pulley. I would've swapped the bearing into the previous one but unfortunately the outer diameter of the bearing was smaller on the replacement part too. The spring tensioner has more than enough travel to take up any extra slack so hopefully it should be okay, even if it is rotating slightly faster than before.
Finally all the gubbins back in.
Had a peek under the car today to check the front suspension bushes. I was a bit disappointed to see the state of the front ball joints after only 2 months or so! 
Whilst I was there I changed the ARB drop links, we'll see how long these stay shiny..
Looking at the subframe it looks as if the entire lot needs to be dropped away and engine supported, so although it's a big job it shouldn't be too difficult. The main thing I'm looking to replace is the V mounts as prying with a bar it looks like the rubber is starting to separate from the metal. I had this problem on my XJ-S with replacement mounts so hopefully the new ones are better quality than those, and the ball joints for that matter.
Had the radio out too to try and find a serial number in order to find the radio code as it's been lost since disconnecting the battery whilst fixing the seat. No such luck unfortunately, and the override button combination doesn't seem to work. My plan is to ring Jaguar and tell them the vin, they should come up with it. Did give me a good chance to clean the crumb/fluff mix from around the trim though
Whilst I was there I changed the ARB drop links, we'll see how long these stay shiny..
Looking at the subframe it looks as if the entire lot needs to be dropped away and engine supported, so although it's a big job it shouldn't be too difficult. The main thing I'm looking to replace is the V mounts as prying with a bar it looks like the rubber is starting to separate from the metal. I had this problem on my XJ-S with replacement mounts so hopefully the new ones are better quality than those, and the ball joints for that matter.
Had the radio out too to try and find a serial number in order to find the radio code as it's been lost since disconnecting the battery whilst fixing the seat. No such luck unfortunately, and the override button combination doesn't seem to work. My plan is to ring Jaguar and tell them the vin, they should come up with it. Did give me a good chance to clean the crumb/fluff mix from around the trim though
Edited by LewG on Sunday 14th February 23:47
Dropped the subframe down today to change the V mounts, not a particularly difficult job in the grand scheme of things. I unbolted the power steering rack so I could hang that out the way separately, removed the engine mounts and with that supported I could then undo everything and drop it down, using the rear mounting bolts as a hinge. 
The mounts were well on their way to being knackered!
Gave the surface rust a clean up and a splash of waxoyl on the parts to keep it nice.
Didn't take long to get it all bolted back together again, went for a test drive and all seems well!
The mounts were well on their way to being knackered!
Gave the surface rust a clean up and a splash of waxoyl on the parts to keep it nice.
Didn't take long to get it all bolted back together again, went for a test drive and all seems well!
Hi Lew.... Hope all's well,
From reading your thread you got me thinking,the thinking was "What lovely cars these are"
But I've held myself back from the XJR and bought a X350 3.0,picked it up today
I won't put pics on your Readers car thread but in my profile is a nice little promo video from where I bought it.
I'll post up a little welcome note in the Jaguar thread soon ( I'm sure the Jag owners are as friendly as the TVR guy's)
I know absolutely nothing about these cars but it seemed good to me
From reading your thread you got me thinking,the thinking was "What lovely cars these are"
But I've held myself back from the XJR and bought a X350 3.0,picked it up today
I won't put pics on your Readers car thread but in my profile is a nice little promo video from where I bought it.
I'll post up a little welcome note in the Jaguar thread soon ( I'm sure the Jag owners are as friendly as the TVR guy's)
I know absolutely nothing about these cars but it seemed good to me
Edited by TVRJAS on Wednesday 23 March 21:41
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