Personally, the analogy falls apart because my Jag doesn't keep track of everything I've ever done wrong.

 

People CAN and DO tune them.

You can change the diff as others have done.

Maybe you just don't want to pay for things that already ARE available?

 

I didn't realize that admitting my distaste of the factory options somehow stated I was unwilling to pay for aftermarket upgrades.

Maybe there's a regional misunderstanding here regarding power.
There's no TS/TVS blower kit for these engines. There's no turbo kit for these engines. I've not seen an ECU tune with proof of gains that can't be easily chocked up to day to day temperature and humidity variation.

Maybe I'm setting my standards too high for power output - but nothing aside from a big ol' wetshot of N20 is currently offered to push this AJ34S to 600ish HP like it should be pushed to.

 

There is a TS. Where have you been????

Also, proven tunes. Get with it!!

The engine's being run at 700HP.

 

AVos decided to discontinue his kits. Not likely one will turn up for sale anytime soon. Buckhead Imports' twinscrew STR never came together. Another thread somewhere was of someone claiming to be able to turbo anything DEW98 based, no finished project.

So from what I can tell as of now - anyone reaching for 600hp+ is going to be dealing with custom fabricating a fair portion of the tvs/ts kit themselves.

That is a long way from being able to purchase a full kit with a known pricetag on it.

And where are these tuners who are confident enough in improving on an STR tune to show dynamometer graphs of pre and post tune? I've been looking.

 

Same has started happening on my '03 S-Type too. I can still manually move the driver seat in all directions, as all motors seem to be working as usual. But car can't seem to remember the memorized settings. Some other electrics (steering volume control, fuel gauge) are acting up as well. Pushing radio volume "-" button causes volume to increase; radio rocker button on left side of steering wheel is supposed to do one thing but does something else altogether different; and fuel gauge is moving erratically and is not showing accurate levels.

The radio buttons might be clockspring related, or even just contact corrosion. But regarding the seat memory & fuel gauge issues, my mechanic suggested disconnecting the battery, which we know solves a host of electronic problems on these cars. He said he recently worked on a GMC truck whereby the forward button moved the driver seat backwards, and the back button moved it forward. Battery disconnect reset the computer and now that GMC seat works correctly again. So I'll give it a try when I get time and see what happens.

I should note that I recently replaced my fuel pump/sender unit, so the erratic fuel gauge may be a consequence of that work. I'll try the simple things first, like battery disconnect. Just been too damn cold outside to mess with it.

 

Thanks, I knew about the battery disconnect, but reluctant to try it afraid I'd might screw something else. But I'll give it a go.

 

Remember there are certain things - EPB, windows, radio presets and a few other things I think - that will need to be reset after the battery disconnect. Best to check this forum or owners manual as my memory ain't what it used to be.

 

I bought right & left reconditioned halogen housings on eBay for about $280US total. The lenses had been newly polished and the adjusters had been upgraded to the better metal reinforced ones. An auto body shop then installed both for $100US.

I'd imagine the wiring harness and mounting points for both style headlight housings would be essentially the same, making the housings interchangable. From a manufacturer design and assembly perspective that would make sense. So I'd guess that replacing the HIDs with halogen housings would, as you suggest, be rather straightforward and no more expensive than what I paid above.

Now I have my old housings in hand which I can recondition and resell on eBay or elsewhere to recoup some of my $$ too.

 

[

 

You do know there are 2 styles?
One with 2 same size holders and the later style you have which has one bigger holder. They interchange so you can change them.
.
.
.

 

1) The "feature" that opens all the windows and sun roof to cool the car when the unlock button is held for more than 2 seconds... It is too easy to accidentally do this. I don't need this feature and it apparently cannot be disabled? I prefer to just crack the sunroof from inside and set the fan to max. That blows the hot air out quickly enough in the Summer. In the Winter, I want it disabled so the sun roof opening unintentionally doesn't dump snow across the front seats and console. Very bad feature. Also, I have one remote fob that developed a sticky unlock button and couldn't use it anymore bc it kept opening everything. Fobs can be repaired, the switch buttons are available for about 5 cents each and need surface mount microelectronics soldering to replace. Used fobs are available, but my dealer couldn't program the code into the door lock module. I wound up ordering a programmer from China for $150 and was able to program the fob code myself. Pfft...

2) Automatic A/C operation selects recirculate when the interior is hot, then automatically changes to outside air intake when the interior cools. By my thinking, that is completely backwards, and it is obviously so bc the way it is programmed, it doesn't stay as cool as with the way I do it manually. You get the best system effectiveness and efficiency when you use intake air from the lowest temperature source. That means use outside air when the interior is hot from sitting in the sun, then change to recirculate when the interior cools down to below outside air temperature. It needs to just do what the **** I tell it and not go off to do something else when I'm not looking.

 

Well that's odd. I have a hard time getting the open everything to work. Mine requires a very long time of holding the button to accomplish that? I wonder is that amount of time is programmable or just different in certain MYs?

Interesting about the key fobs. The solution sounds like a PITA as well though

I have one fob that went through the washing machine so the some of the switch contacts are a bit dodgy.

 

I have to hold mine ages, too.

But I don't have the worn kind he has (worn at 17 yrs old, whoda thought?).

 

IIRC, this feature can be disabled by the dealer, but am not positive. Maybe somebody else can chime in.

EDIT: I was less correct than usual. I was thinking about the automatic door locks. That can be disabled by the dealer. I didn't see anything in the owner's handbook about disabling the window/sunroof feature.



Not a perfect solution, but during the winter you can remove fuse #16 in the rear power distribution box. This disables the sunroof.

 

After 6 months of ownership, and I've thought carefully about this, I can't honestly say anything 'annoys' me about my S Type. Not yet anyway! in fact it continues to delight. With winter approaching I used the heated front screen and seat heaters for the first time a few mornings ago. The heated windscreen in particular is a great invention and I cannot understand why all cars don't have it but I guess Ford have a patent or something. I can honestly say, after years of owning various Mercedes, the S Type is, for me, the best car I have ever had.

 

Some people hate the wires. (They don't bother me.)

 

I have to ad my vote for no dipstick for the transmission. I take mine in at least once a year to have checked, so far no leaks. My car hesitates a little when I gas it, that's normal with the ZF transmission, isn't it? I wish that they had made the grill a little bigger too, not really an annoyance though. I'd like a grill that was more like the older ones from the sixties, oh well you can't have everything.

 

Define "a little". (Maybe yes maybe no.)

 

I'll have to agree with the no ATF dipstick, but this is a common "feature" on many vehicles now. My car has a Ford built 5R55N transmission, also with no dipstick, and I was having fluid leaks. It was supposed to be fixed, still leaked. kept taking it in for top-off at their expense until they supposedly fixed it again. We'll see. It was leaking about 1 qt every 7000 mi. Real nuisance.
Oh, BTW, this latest leak problem was from the *rear* seal which was most likely the fault of a careless service tech. They replaced the rear seal at their expense. That is the supposed fix. I had the servo bore problem some time ago and that was fixed after numerous repeat visits.