Hello everyone

After a few years of having no Jaguars, I am back. Good to see some of the old names on this forum. Let's see my list of previous Jags: (I do not remember the Model Years of the particular cars.

1978 - XJL-6 - The absolute worst car I ever owned. Kept me from even looking at Jaguars for more than 20 years.
2005 - XK first brave adventuring back to Jaguar. Never any problems with the car. Wife thought I was insane buying that car remembering the XJL-6....!
2008 - XK Zero issues with the beautiful car.
2012 - XJL - 5.0L Zero issues, other than a persistent minor vibration, reported on this forum by others, as well. I hated that vibration, never a fix for it..
2012 - XF - 5.0L Zero problems, love that V8.
2010 XKR - Zero problems and REALLY nice power delivery.
2017 F-Type R - Sweet power, good handling.

Yesterday I purchased a 2017 Certified F-Type R model with less than 10k miles. Drove to LA to get it and back home. I am sure I will learn a lot on this forum about the car. Right now, just a couple of quick questions, after spending 8 hours driving the car and trying to figure out the settings by trial and error;

1) I drove at the average speed of 76 MPH, which means a lot of the driving was over 80MPH and a quick test-sprint was WAAAY past that! For the first 200 miles the rear spoiler DID NOT deploy. After about 200 miles I suddenly spotted the spoiler deployed in the rear view mirrow. No chance that I would have missed it prior as I kept a constant eye in the mirror for my wife, driving our other car behind me. I do not feel that the "Boy Racer" style small spoiler belongs to the Jaguar image, besides, I thing it is FUGLY! Functionally it is worthless unless one drives way over 120 MPH (I am a retired track racer). I already searched this forum for a solution to disable it and found some older threads. Is there anything new, a good way to disable it? Wonder why it did not deploy for 200 miles but, after that it did deploy?

2) The car has an illuminated JAGUAR threadplate option but, it is not illuminated when opening the doors. Is there a setting that disables that illumination? I think that during my many hours of driving the car home I checked all settings...

3) Looks like the car still have the original Pirelli tires. I guess, they are non-run-flats? Correct?

Looks like I need to update the list of cars below my post....

 

The spoiler on my car deploys at about 120 kms per hour, always...yours probably needed to be awakened after a quiet life of only 10,000 miles...I have a suspicion that somewhere in RCMP training manuals there is a notice about this clear infraction signal! I actually like seeing it rise in the rear-view mirror because it means the F-Type is getting proper exercise. It can be disabled and there is a thread on that.

Job #1 for you should be to take those Pirellis PZeros OFF - they are not run-flats unless that was specified on your particular car. The Pirellis are simply horrible both in terms of handling and noise. An instant improvement can be made by fitting the far better Michelin Pilot Sport 4 - Some llike other brands.

can't help with the tread plates.
I have owned a LOT of Jags. All of them have been excellent, reliable, beautiful, luxurious machines...but this one has released my inner hooligan. There is something about Jaguars that no other marque seems able to match (I am a recovering BMW owner...but the recovery period seems interminable).

The current stable is listed below - the Mk2 owned for 18 years, the 2002 X-Type for 16 years, the 2005 for 8...great cars.

 

I was one of the first to figure out how to disable the spoiler.
For several reasons one being I reckon it looks crap when up.
Yep, dump the "P-Zero tractions" for some Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, you will be gobsmacked at the improvement.
I don't have the fancy illuminated tread plates although I would like to fit them one day, but I have read somewhere that you can't really see them light up in daylight and you can only see them in the dark / at night.

 

Oz - Thanks for the reply. I have read your solution. Got a call in with my dealer to see if there is some "simple" solution to disable the spoiler. I agree with you, IMO, it looks like crap. Can not understand why Jaguar, at the least, did not design it to be easily disabled. Any performance gains from such a small spoiler for a 4000 lbs car is absolutely negligible. When I had a large rear wing on my Formula race car it was good for about 400 lbs of downforce. That was on a 1300 lbs race car. This spoiler is a fraction of the size!

Regarding the Pirelli tires, I have lot of life left in them and may keep them for a while. I'm not planning to do any race driving in this car so, my initial spirited stints through my local winding canyon roads felt satisfactory for handling. When I do replace them I will see what would be the highest rated performance tire at that time. On my Stingray I took off the Michelin Pilot Sports and replaced them with wider (275 & 305) Bridgestone RE-71 R tires, which are definitely a step above the Pilot Sport performance.

The threadplate light issue is still in question. As I saw one car at the dealer showroom, there is plenty of illumination to see it, at least in that well lit indoor showroom. My garage is darker and it is still off. I assumed that a disable solution might exist because my personal experience with my later year Jaguars were that the batteries were very easily drained. Not a real issue, I have 2 + years of factory warranty and 1 more year of Certified warranty left...

 

On your door sill plates, check your other interior illumination like floor lights. I added the logo puddle lights and one shorted and everything including the door sills went out,

 

Welcome back.

I have the illuminated plates on both Jags. On our previous F Pace, I fitted them myself. They just pop out and pop in with clips, but be careful because those purple clips like to break if not loosened with a trim tool. Underneath is a simple plug that may need to be checked. Others have reported theirs disconnected. Not sure if the treadplate illumination is affected by the interior dimmer, but could be that as well, especially since it's both of them. You can tell if they are illuminated in daylight quite easily.

 

Thanks for the reply. I did try the illumination rheostat and set it to max brightness where it really nicely lights up the interior switches and the multi-colored mood-lighting. Not the threadplate. I'll try popping it out and check for being disconnected. I do have some trim tools to do that.

 

Found the settings that blocked the illumination of the threadplates. It is the "Stealth Mode" setting on the central screen that I had "ON" by default. When switching it to "OFF" the plates illuminated.

Was unsuccessful in programming my garage door opener. Tried everything in the book to no avail. Not sure what the issue is as the opener function worked fine for all my previous Jaguars.

About the spoiler, the manual does say that if the "Spoiler Not Available" message displays, the top speed will automatically be limited to 135 MPH. While I am not expecting to reach such speeds without going to a racetrack or the autobahn (neither will happen for me in this car) I still like the full function-abilities of the car to be available at all times. Guess, that means living with that FUGLY spoiler...? Really, Jaguar???

 

Nice, I didn't even know about that with Stealth mode. Never turned it on.
No clue on the garage door opener. Mine connected right away. Did you use the learn button on the opener itself, or the sync method with a working remote?

 

Given up on the garage door opener. Tried the methods described in the F-Type manual, as well as the learning method as suggested by Genie, the opener manufacturer. Back to the old fashioned use of a remote actuator.

 

Congratulations! Take it easy first couple days as the car can get away from you. Especially with OEM tires that have very poor traction it is very tail-happy.. F-type is quite a bit more of a sports car than your 2010 XKR and in that way it will also bite you back harder if you do something too brash.

AJ133 V8 engine is VERY sensitive to oil quality. Everything is controlled with oil pressure. At such low miles it is quite possible that PO neglected oil changes. Please attend to it right away, it pays to stay on top of it and to use recommended spec oil with good anti-wear additives.

Also - there is no low engine oil light, car will not warn you and you have to check it manually (through dash menu).

Yes, but still get rid of them right away. Michelin Pilot 4S will transform the way your F-type handles. Unless you like greasy slip and slide Pirelli offers for some reason.

 

Wouldn't a 2017 be AWD? I did the same upgrade from a 2010 5.0 XKR and found the F-Type on Pirellis to be far less of a handful than the XKR, which could be very tail happy. Of course, if axr6 has RWD all bets are off!

 

Congrats and welcome back.

This is my first Jag and it has reignited my passion for cars, which I kind of lost over the years even though I have owned many passion worthy vehicles.
The rear spoiler was my only disappointment so I replaced it the optional fixed wing spoiler. Some don’t like it but after the install I really like it and with the other mods I have done the car brings a big smile to my face every time I lay eyes on her.

MM

 

The original owner (Jaguar management) specced mine with the fixed wing spoiler and I really like it, too. The deployable one looks good when it's down, but mine looks good all the time!

 

I hear you and I understand your reasoning. I get where you are coming from and I'm here to say please, please rethink this.

For perspective, I have over 15 years of road racing experience. I used to be a co-owner of a track day company and all told, I have more miles on a track than I can add up (Thunderhill, where I held a lap record), Sears Point, Laguna Seca, Willow Springs, Buttonwillow, Miller Motorsports, Road America. The point is I know what it's like to bean ex racer and driving nowhere near track limits on the street.

The P-ZEROs are god awful tires that will cause you to lose the rear on an AWD car in places where you would never imagine. On ramps at partial throttle type of weird places. They are the single worst thing about the car and will try to kill you.

I did not replace my own P-Zeros until about 7,000 miles because of the exact same reasons as you. Then I went to a track day at Thunderhill and bought a used set of wheels and threw some Falkens on them.. I wish I had listened to everyone and done this much, much, much sooner. My plan was to have some track wheels and street wheels. Now, I just have the stock wheels with the P-Zeros in the corner of my garage gathering dust. You could not pay me enough to put them back on.

 

You might need a converter? I know I did on my 2014 XJR. It depends on how old your opener is too.
Take a look at this and see if it will help?
It's real handy to use the factory Jaguar buttons to operate the garage doors.
Repeater
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The only way I could get mine to work was to have it learn from the Genie remote. I think I youtubed how to do it and completely disregarded the Jag manual.

 

Garage Door Opener: Did you hop about on one foot while programming it? That's absolutely required for success....

Seriously, mine was a bit of a problem but eventually took after multiple unsuccessful attempts. One thing to try if you haven't already: Hold the mirror button down longer when doing the programming. This shows up in one of the forum threads. The f-type software requires the button to be pushed for like a second or second and half to recognize the push. If you're not holding int down that long during programming, it may not be registering the actuation. For me, that worked for both my doors but it took a couple of tries to get it to take. Mine are the type that have learn button on the garage door motor so not the newest type or the older dip switch type. When opening or closing the doors, you also have hold down the mirror switch for the second to second and half for the signal to be sent to the garage door motor. There is a special place in hell for software engineers..

 

How did you disable the factory rear spoiler without affecting the top speed? The manual is very clear that if disconnecting it, the top speed will be limited to 135 MPH. Not that I plan on going faster than that but, I still do not want to compromise the performance limits of the car. As I was driving my local roads yesterday with a speed limit of 50 MPH and because of a short acceleration had the spoiler deployed, I laughingly told my wife that a police could pull me over just by seeing the spoiler up and use it as a proof for exceeding the speed limits by a full 20 MPH. What the heck was Jaguar thinking by not allowing a spoiler disable setting?

I have raced many of the same tracks, winning multiple championships in the SF Region of SCCA in GT2, GT3 and Formula Mazda. These days I live in the Sacramento Foothills in Canyon Country with nice winding roads that I enjoy driving. The XKR never got away from me despite driving it pretty hard at times. I still own the '15 Stingray that I setup for max street performance with all kinds of suspension and tire mods. If I want to go really fast and hard that is my pick. The F-Type is a really nice, powerful car but given its weight alone will not touch my 3400 lbs Stingray in the twisties. Yesterday was the first time I took the F-Type out to the local canyon for a shakedown run and it behaved nicely on the Pirellis. Of course, I was not even close to the limits and learned from racing to treat the accelerator in powerful cars with care. I never get close to the limits in spirited street driving. But, I do appreciate every one of the suggestions here, regarding the bad quality of the PZero tires and will change to the Michelins.

Thanks for the suggestions about the garage door opener. It is NOT a priority issue for me as the F-Type in my garage is likely to remain a VERY low mileage car, meaning that it will be a "Garage Queen" with very limited use.

What I do have to mention is about the lack of the thread plate illumination as posted in my top post. I thought I had it solved with turning OFF the "Stealth Mode" in the settings. Indeed, both thread plates illuminated following the setting change and I was happy... until yesterday when I took the car out and.... no illumination...! Tried changing "Stealth Mode" status Off - On - Off and nothing helped. Ghosts of the old Jaguar electrical gremlins? Yes, I still remember my first Jaguar with Lucas electrics... :-). Don't know and probably won't know until I take the car in for a service to the dealer, which could be a full year away as the latest service was just done by the selling Jag. dealer. It is a nice to have the feature but, not essential, not worth a 2 hours round-trip drive and sit/wait at the dealer.

 

Sounds like a hardware issue to me!