Jaguar XJR, 4.o v8 supercharged...opinions pls....
10 August 2004, 07:02 PM
#1
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 2,458
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Jaguar XJR, 4.o v8 supercharged...opinions pls....
Does anyone have any experience of the XJR, approx 99/99 onwards?
Obviously they will be heavy on petrol, but what are they like in terms of
a) performance, 0-60 in about 5.5s, but what are the 0-100mph times, and in gear times....how much torque etc?
b) Handling....what are they like? Presumably they have traction control
etc....
c) reliability? Do these cars have any issues? Anything to look out for?
d) image? old mans car, or purist drivers car??
Cheers!
Obviously they will be heavy on petrol, but what are they like in terms of
a) performance, 0-60 in about 5.5s, but what are the 0-100mph times, and in gear times....how much torque etc?
b) Handling....what are they like? Presumably they have traction control
etc....
c) reliability? Do these cars have any issues? Anything to look out for?
d) image? old mans car, or purist drivers car??
Cheers!
10 August 2004, 07:41 PM
#2
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 204
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
They are fast capable cars, can be absolutely abused or driven slowly and comfortably. Yes they have traction control. They do have an image of being an old mans car, but generally only by people that have never driven one. Bloke I know used to work at Jaguar, he used to race cars out in the states, embarressed many cars that thought Jags were just for fat businessmen.
10 August 2004, 08:26 PM
#3
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 566
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I owned a 1999 XJR about 2 years ago for just over a year! In that time the car had 2 x engine replacements, the climate control failed 3 times and all in all was the most unrealiable car I have ever owned. I believe there is a common problem with the piston rings not seating properly and eventually failing....!?!?!?!
No doubting that it was quick in a straight line and would do 150mph in 4th gear, but it didn't handle well and the brakes were rubbish. IMHO it is an old mans car with a bit of grunt.
I brought a M5 when I sold the XJR and there is no comparison, the M5 is 10 times better in every departmant and the M5 is much more practical and spacious.
The one thing about the XJR is that it was a very cool car to the people in the know, and a few 911, Subaru etc owners where very red faced after a blast from the lights!!!!! I timed mine at 12 sec's dead from 0-100mph...maybe the reason the engine kept failing.
I wouldn't recommend buying one.
Dom.
No doubting that it was quick in a straight line and would do 150mph in 4th gear, but it didn't handle well and the brakes were rubbish. IMHO it is an old mans car with a bit of grunt.
I brought a M5 when I sold the XJR and there is no comparison, the M5 is 10 times better in every departmant and the M5 is much more practical and spacious.
The one thing about the XJR is that it was a very cool car to the people in the know, and a few 911, Subaru etc owners where very red faced after a blast from the lights!!!!! I timed mine at 12 sec's dead from 0-100mph...maybe the reason the engine kept failing.
I wouldn't recommend buying one.
Dom.
10 August 2004, 10:45 PM
#5
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 1,126
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Don't do it....lot of car for the money, lots of repairs for lots of money! The replacement engine thing is a common problem, and well documented. Believe it's due to the fuel having a chemical reaction to the coating on the bores and doing for the compression. They also have the endearing habit of jumping the camchain in the following scenario: Jag is on drive and needs to be moved a short distance, say, to let another car off the drive...so, move Jag, return to original spot and switch off. The problem occurs when you next go to start it. The oil pressure from the previous start-up would not have had time to sufficiently tension the camchain tensioner before the engine was turned off. You go to start up next time and the chain leaps its teeth...seems peculiar to this engine. No cheap fix.......unless it's under warranty!
10 August 2004, 11:04 PM
#6
I thought they would have sorted the nikasil bores by 1999 ??
edit: tell a lie...just checked, they dumped the nikasil from 2000 onwards - so that's the ones to go for, unless you find an earlier one that has already had the engine replaced with a steel bore version
Oh and gearboxes play up, power steering racks, diff bearings. Ummm...all sorts electonic too. So get one with a nice big water tight warrentee
edit: tell a lie...just checked, they dumped the nikasil from 2000 onwards - so that's the ones to go for, unless you find an earlier one that has already had the engine replaced with a steel bore version
Oh and gearboxes play up, power steering racks, diff bearings. Ummm...all sorts electonic too. So get one with a nice big water tight warrentee
Last edited by ALi-B; 10 August 2004 at 11:09 PM.
11 August 2004, 09:20 AM
#7
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Ashford, Kent
Posts: 1,371
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I looked in to getting one of these a while back, aren't they also known for cracking manifolds?
A £1k job if I recall.
Lovely looking thing but I ended up with an M5 with manufacturers warranty though
Cheers,
Phil
A £1k job if I recall.
Lovely looking thing but I ended up with an M5 with manufacturers warranty though
Cheers,
Phil
Trending Topics
I have never been in a car that accelerated so quickly over 100mph 
He reckoned it was suffering with a missfire then too 
11 August 2004, 09:37 PM
#15
Originally Posted by what would scooby do
Per disc 
seizing up due to lack of use from the old fart using "park" instead of the handbrake.
Go for a long run, they overheat, boil your brake fluid and melt your diff seals.
Wonderful
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post