Jaguar XFR MK1 - 5.0 SC + ULEZ!
Discussion
I have always wanted one of these Jag XFRs, ever since I saw the Top Gear Episode way back when, and getting absolutely spanked by one on the A5 a few years ago, so about 6 months ago I got one!
The first and most important thing about this car is the sound. Its for me the most important aspect of a car, and why for me I'll never buy a weekend car which is powered by anything other than petrol, even in 50 years time.
I made my mind up within 20 seconds of test driving the car that I would buy it because of the sound alone. That is what actually happened. It is amazing.
It has/had a x pipe into two back boxes and two tail pipes as its exhaust setup. I soon discovered after that it made a really loud whistling noise on WOT from the rear tail pipes and back boxes despite the exhaust only being one year old. I don't know what the root cause was, but I replaced the tail pipes and back boxes with some new stuff from a well renowned exhaust place and the noise went away. Now the sound is pure V8 noises only! It makes the low rumble you expect but without any raspyness, which is what I prefer - a mix between a old school american V8 and a tuned Ferrari V8 - its astonishing.
Cosmetics
I always thought these sat too high out of the factory, and so I was super excited to come across a car which had already been lowered. Its on 35mm H&Rs! It gets over speed bumps just fine and the ride is not compromised as much as you may imagine, its still a Jag, just more of a hardcore version.
I have also added a 20mm rear spacers because the rear wheels do disappear when lowering these. I think it stands nice, and would be perfected with a 10mm spacer at the front.
I've toyed with the idea of blacking out the chrome, changing the wheels, but I realised this was more to "fit in" rather than what I like. The silver paint against the chrome allows it to "blend in" during the day time, but really stand out at night time. This married with the stock silver wheels makes the car look well matched without giving off any cheap vibes - at least in my view. Again for some reason I think understated saloon cars look best in silver, like the M sport E90 LCI in silver is probably my favorite looking understated saloon car of all time, with my overstated one being the Guila Qword
It has an aftermarket subtle rear diffuser which I think is a necessary addition to a car like this purely because its a supercharged V8 maniac. The exhaust tips are also super slim as I wanted to add an element of rawness to the rear end without vulgarity.
The interior is lovely, red seats, heated and cooled leather, really strong sound system .. nothing really more today.
Mechanicals:
The car has a full service history with frequent oil changes, and at 110k miles feels brilliant. The only gripe at the moment is that there is a slight vibration when dry when accelerating hard, which must be a worn bush or something along those lines, as when its raining there is no vibration at all - one on the agenda to investigate.
The car came with a recent supercharger rebuild which was nice, and also had an uprated upper pulley, but I suspected it wasn't tuned because it didn't feel like it - hard to explain and quantify why I felt that way, but I did. Turns out I was right. These make 503bhp from stock, and with the pulley on it was only making 500, due to knock. After the car was tuned it came out at healthy 565bhp on quite a warm day. Some of these make 600 with the same setup, but it depends somewhat on year of car (the newer ECUs unlock more power) but mainly whether you go to a BS tuner who chases numbers or an honest one who chases health- personally I wanted comfort the car was running right and healthy.
In terms of performance, as you can imagine its quick, and its quick everywhere due to that supercharger. That's a strong point, but I do sometimes miss the turbo lag I used to have in my Cupra. Its the fastest car I've ever owned for sure, although I did struggle reeling in a model 3 the other day, to be expected I guess!
Lets also talk about traction. I've used Michelin Pilot Sport 4S on my previous car and they were phenomenal. Same story here - coupled with the diff I can pretty much go flat out from 1st with limited wheel-spin - in the wet I can do the same in 2nd car, which is a real testament to how tyre technology has come on. Back in 2010 it did 0-60 in 4.3s, but its definitely a 3 second car now with the added traction and power.
Onto handling - the fear I had coming from a hot hatch was that this would feel like a barge, and to be frank here's no way of hiding that 500KG increase over my Cupra. But, thanks to the lowering it doesn't roll in corners, feels really planted for what it is and I have ultra confidence in its ability, which in truth I've got no where near to exploiting in terms of cornering.
Fuel - well I get 18MPG with enthusiastic driving and I've got over 35mpg on a really conservative run, which is cool. Whats more its ULEZ complaint so when I do need to go to London I can go in with a smug face, yet full of irony since this is not a low emissions vehicle.
I am really happy with the car - I need to get that vibration sorted and get the front subframe under-sealed to prevent it rotting, and, potentially take it on track to see how it copes!
The first and most important thing about this car is the sound. Its for me the most important aspect of a car, and why for me I'll never buy a weekend car which is powered by anything other than petrol, even in 50 years time.
I made my mind up within 20 seconds of test driving the car that I would buy it because of the sound alone. That is what actually happened. It is amazing.
It has/had a x pipe into two back boxes and two tail pipes as its exhaust setup. I soon discovered after that it made a really loud whistling noise on WOT from the rear tail pipes and back boxes despite the exhaust only being one year old. I don't know what the root cause was, but I replaced the tail pipes and back boxes with some new stuff from a well renowned exhaust place and the noise went away. Now the sound is pure V8 noises only! It makes the low rumble you expect but without any raspyness, which is what I prefer - a mix between a old school american V8 and a tuned Ferrari V8 - its astonishing.
Cosmetics
I always thought these sat too high out of the factory, and so I was super excited to come across a car which had already been lowered. Its on 35mm H&Rs! It gets over speed bumps just fine and the ride is not compromised as much as you may imagine, its still a Jag, just more of a hardcore version.
I have also added a 20mm rear spacers because the rear wheels do disappear when lowering these. I think it stands nice, and would be perfected with a 10mm spacer at the front.
I've toyed with the idea of blacking out the chrome, changing the wheels, but I realised this was more to "fit in" rather than what I like. The silver paint against the chrome allows it to "blend in" during the day time, but really stand out at night time. This married with the stock silver wheels makes the car look well matched without giving off any cheap vibes - at least in my view. Again for some reason I think understated saloon cars look best in silver, like the M sport E90 LCI in silver is probably my favorite looking understated saloon car of all time, with my overstated one being the Guila Qword
It has an aftermarket subtle rear diffuser which I think is a necessary addition to a car like this purely because its a supercharged V8 maniac. The exhaust tips are also super slim as I wanted to add an element of rawness to the rear end without vulgarity.
The interior is lovely, red seats, heated and cooled leather, really strong sound system .. nothing really more today.
Mechanicals:
The car has a full service history with frequent oil changes, and at 110k miles feels brilliant. The only gripe at the moment is that there is a slight vibration when dry when accelerating hard, which must be a worn bush or something along those lines, as when its raining there is no vibration at all - one on the agenda to investigate.
The car came with a recent supercharger rebuild which was nice, and also had an uprated upper pulley, but I suspected it wasn't tuned because it didn't feel like it - hard to explain and quantify why I felt that way, but I did. Turns out I was right. These make 503bhp from stock, and with the pulley on it was only making 500, due to knock. After the car was tuned it came out at healthy 565bhp on quite a warm day. Some of these make 600 with the same setup, but it depends somewhat on year of car (the newer ECUs unlock more power) but mainly whether you go to a BS tuner who chases numbers or an honest one who chases health- personally I wanted comfort the car was running right and healthy.
In terms of performance, as you can imagine its quick, and its quick everywhere due to that supercharger. That's a strong point, but I do sometimes miss the turbo lag I used to have in my Cupra. Its the fastest car I've ever owned for sure, although I did struggle reeling in a model 3 the other day, to be expected I guess!
Lets also talk about traction. I've used Michelin Pilot Sport 4S on my previous car and they were phenomenal. Same story here - coupled with the diff I can pretty much go flat out from 1st with limited wheel-spin - in the wet I can do the same in 2nd car, which is a real testament to how tyre technology has come on. Back in 2010 it did 0-60 in 4.3s, but its definitely a 3 second car now with the added traction and power.
Onto handling - the fear I had coming from a hot hatch was that this would feel like a barge, and to be frank here's no way of hiding that 500KG increase over my Cupra. But, thanks to the lowering it doesn't roll in corners, feels really planted for what it is and I have ultra confidence in its ability, which in truth I've got no where near to exploiting in terms of cornering.
Fuel - well I get 18MPG with enthusiastic driving and I've got over 35mpg on a really conservative run, which is cool. Whats more its ULEZ complaint so when I do need to go to London I can go in with a smug face, yet full of irony since this is not a low emissions vehicle.
I am really happy with the car - I need to get that vibration sorted and get the front subframe under-sealed to prevent it rotting, and, potentially take it on track to see how it copes!
Edited by Harrison-91xcg on Friday 22 September 14:02
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