Jaguar XJR vs the rest
Discussion
I'm seeking some advice on the Jaguar XJR - hope some of you on the forum can help.
I'm looking for a V8 saloon for circa £15K with the following atributes:
fabulous sounding engine!
very good performance
very good levels of equipment
So far, at the top of my (not very) short-list is an XJR with a paramount performance exhaust. I've never really considered Jaguars before (currently on my third consecutive BMW), but an early V8 XKR just seems such amazing value, especially compared to something like an M5. For a similar price, the other cars on my list are 540i/740I BMW, 4.2 A6 or A8 Audi. Does anyone have any experience of these cars vs the Jag; certainly the XJR looks favourite on performance and value for money.
Also, I'm used to a manual gearbox, but all of these cars are autos. What is the XKR autobox like in terms of responsiveness - does it restrict performance - the 30-50 and 50-70mph times seem to suggest not!
Thanks very much.
I'm looking for a V8 saloon for circa £15K with the following atributes:
fabulous sounding engine!
very good performance
very good levels of equipment
So far, at the top of my (not very) short-list is an XJR with a paramount performance exhaust. I've never really considered Jaguars before (currently on my third consecutive BMW), but an early V8 XKR just seems such amazing value, especially compared to something like an M5. For a similar price, the other cars on my list are 540i/740I BMW, 4.2 A6 or A8 Audi. Does anyone have any experience of these cars vs the Jag; certainly the XJR looks favourite on performance and value for money.
Also, I'm used to a manual gearbox, but all of these cars are autos. What is the XKR autobox like in terms of responsiveness - does it restrict performance - the 30-50 and 50-70mph times seem to suggest not!
Thanks very much.
It's bloody quick! 
The box is a Merc 5 speed and can handle the power and is just sublime. Handles pretty good for a 2 tonne barge too, I left a Mitsubishi FTO V6 Mivec for dust around the twisites and he was trying, just beggining to wind me in on the straights because I got my change ups wrong (slight delay with auto and to be honest the computer can do a better job in sport mode than you can manually shifting) and a big thumbs up from him after. You'll hit 155mph in not time on a private track officer
and it'll scare you at just how quickly and with not much fuss it sets about it.
It just oozes quality inside and the smell? mmmmmm!
Make sure you do your homework on nicasil problems, and timing chain pre-tensioners on pre 99 and some 00 cars.
Sorry I can't do a comparison with our German versions but I'm sure somebody will be along in a bit!
>> Edited by schueymcfee on Saturday 19th June 01:35
The box is a Merc 5 speed and can handle the power and is just sublime. Handles pretty good for a 2 tonne barge too, I left a Mitsubishi FTO V6 Mivec for dust around the twisites and he was trying, just beggining to wind me in on the straights because I got my change ups wrong (slight delay with auto and to be honest the computer can do a better job in sport mode than you can manually shifting) and a big thumbs up from him after. You'll hit 155mph in not time on a private track officer
and it'll scare you at just how quickly and with not much fuss it sets about it. It just oozes quality inside and the smell? mmmmmm!
Make sure you do your homework on nicasil problems, and timing chain pre-tensioners on pre 99 and some 00 cars.
Sorry I can't do a comparison with our German versions but I'm sure somebody will be along in a bit!
>> Edited by schueymcfee on Saturday 19th June 01:35
I bought a 98 XJR 2 months ago.
57,000 miles Full JAG SH lots of Extras, British racing Green. £14000
Its been brilliant, the smoothest vehicle to 100 mph you will find, you cant feel it changing gear sometimes. If you want to blat it the sport mode is excellent.
I test drove a 4.2 A8 quattro on the same day and it didnt come near on performance, looks or quality of spec or finish.
Servicing is reasonable and speaking to my Jag dealer the Supercharged V8 hasnt had any reported nigasil problems. His words were, they are bullet proof and they rarely see them apart from regular service intervals.
It was good enough for me and no regrets so far.
They are a bit different, classically british and less common than the GERMAN equivalent.
I also know a Chaffeur who has done 300K in one and says its fine.
Good Luck
sorry but the supercharged v8 is just as prone to the nikasil problem as the unblown v8.try to buy a 2000my or later if you can or do as i did , find one which has had a main dealer engine replacement. the engine numbers are available on the net. jaguar and their dealers treid to hush up the nikasil issue. take a look at roadfly.com in the jaguar forum.
I worked on the XJR transmission when I worked for Jaguar - it really is very, very good. Actually the project was the best I have ever worked on.
In this car you can carry yourself, 3 friends and luggage at stupid speeds with remarkable ease. It is a stunningly easy car to drive very quickly, and you can do a very long journey without feeling tired as you would in many cars.
It's probably the most economical Jag V8, better economy than a 3.2 or 4.0 NA. Most of that comes from the transmission.
On a coldish day you can easily better the published 0 to 60 time of 5.3 secs.
They are also very safe. If I had to choose a car to have a big accident in it would be this one.
In fact if I had to choose one car to drive every single day regardless of how much cash I had it would probably be one of these.
In this car you can carry yourself, 3 friends and luggage at stupid speeds with remarkable ease. It is a stunningly easy car to drive very quickly, and you can do a very long journey without feeling tired as you would in many cars.
It's probably the most economical Jag V8, better economy than a 3.2 or 4.0 NA. Most of that comes from the transmission.
On a coldish day you can easily better the published 0 to 60 time of 5.3 secs.
They are also very safe. If I had to choose a car to have a big accident in it would be this one.
In fact if I had to choose one car to drive every single day regardless of how much cash I had it would probably be one of these.
The XJR is a strikingly beautiful motor. The X300 shel is elegant and really rigid. I worked on the 4.0 litre supercharged engine of the XJR.
By all means go with the exhaust- Modern cars - due to European Draconian laws are way too stifled in terms of sound -to my mind- so its always nice to liberate a rorty noise. However, I wouldn't reccommend fitting any after market chips to "up the power"- ESPECIALLY on a Supercharged engine. The ECU engine management adaptions are set to a fine limit and the M112 Eaton blower is spinning at twice the crank speed with the intercooler tank temps carefully balanced- I wouldn't risk mucking about with this.
Good luck and have fun!
By all means go with the exhaust- Modern cars - due to European Draconian laws are way too stifled in terms of sound -to my mind- so its always nice to liberate a rorty noise. However, I wouldn't reccommend fitting any after market chips to "up the power"- ESPECIALLY on a Supercharged engine. The ECU engine management adaptions are set to a fine limit and the M112 Eaton blower is spinning at twice the crank speed with the intercooler tank temps carefully balanced- I wouldn't risk mucking about with this.
Good luck and have fun!
I'm not sure if it is true that Jaguar don't replace blown nikasil engines any more. I looked at a 97 xjr yesterday which had just had a new engine paid for by jaguar. Maybe you have to know the right people or make a lot of noise or something ?
Incidentally, do all XJ's have rusty wheel arches ? I'm on the point of giving up ever finding a decent non rusty one.
>> Edited by Dougt on Saturday 3rd July 14:45
Incidentally, do all XJ's have rusty wheel arches ? I'm on the point of giving up ever finding a decent non rusty one.
>> Edited by Dougt on Saturday 3rd July 14:45
Have had '98 XJR since March after 12 years of BMW's. Anthracite and ivory, 117K - fantastic car in every way, no other saloon looks so elegant, fantastic build quality and sublime performance (in a straight line at least). However, even with full Jag service history and extended warranty, a rattle at the front end of the engine has proved to be timing chain tensioners.......no sure if waranty will cover it....
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