now that looks much better!

 

Oh I'm really serious about it, I just turned down a set of HRE's for $4200 because I didn't like how they looked, not because of the price. If I could have gotten C20, 21, 90, 91 or 97 for that price I would have pulled the trigger.
Problem is companies don't have templates for 17" wheels because they never did the research for making them. Why? Because everybody wants that DUB/VIP look which leaves those of us who are more interested in performance in the dark.

 

Hit up Vivid Racing they are a huge HRE / ADV1 supplier... Talk to Jon (chico) or Dan and they will hook you up.

 

I've been talking to Rob for about a week and a half now, I think he's tired of me. LOL
Rob is the one that gave me the quote on the HRE's.

 

Wow, you are actually focused on performance with an X-Type? That's funny. I am selling my Volvo C70 convertible (not a performance-car either) and it has about 70HP more than my X-Type 3.0 and weighs the same or slightly less. The X-Type is the slowest car I've owned in 5 years, so I'll never think of it as having any performance prowess. For the first time in my life, I am thinking about a supercharger or something, given how pathetic the X-Type is compared to my previous cars (Volvo high pressure turbos)

 

You haven't had it on a roadcourse yet, have you?
I had an SVT Mustang Cobra and an SVT Contour at the same time (for those of you that don't know both the Contour and the Jaguar [along with the Mercury Cougar and Mazda6] are all based on the CDW27 platform developed in Germany - aka Ford Mondeo) and the Contour pwned the Cobra on the road courses. Now the Contour was anemic at best when it came to straight line acceleration but it was fantastic in the turns.

 

I'll give you the handling benefits from AWD, but as your example sounds a lot like the old Audi IMSA and SCCA vs. crappy-handling American RWD cars, I would have gone with something that had forced aspiration if performance was a concern. For homogolation, it makes sense in racing to do normal aspiration in accordance to rules, but it makes less sense for the average weekend warrior in my opinion. That said, it is nice to have a bit of variety at the track and Audis/BMWs are like a--holes as the saying goes

 

Yeah... The X is pretty anemic on the straights but the 40/60 AWD is pretty decent for handling. I cant wait to see how coilovers transform it.

Before my computer crashed I used to have links to some companies in the UK that did turbo kits and whatnot for it but the main problem with the car is the tranny/differential. Itd be super easy to slap a custom turbo kit onto the car, but then you'll get killed by the weak links in the drivetrain. Not worth it to me, that's why I'm going for the "Low N Slow" approach and just building a completely different car to be fast on the track with. I might take the X to Streets of Willow one day just for ****s and giggles though.

 

Wow, it's like we are exactly on the same wavelength. I have the same drivetrain concerns (same with Volvos by the way). I would love to get another 30 or so HP to make it more driveable, but I really miss it most when I drive my old car - so I just need to sell that and naively forget about how much quicker that car was and not drive anything but my Eurovan.

I'll probably wait until midlife crisis to buy a 911 for the track though.

 

LOL AWD has nothing to do with how it handles but that's opening a whole can of worms getting into what makes a car fast on the track or not. Basically the most important thing when it comes to making a car fast on the track is it's ability to maintain a flat contact patch where the tires touch the road. That's a VERY simplified version of it as lots of other things come into play. The only thing the AWD does is provide more grip on acceleration - but like I said if your tires aren't touching the ground in an optimum contact patch it won't do you any good. AWD cars can still have an open diff and spin wheels in the air. That was one of the reasons my Contour was so fast, good suspension from the factory, factory OEM upgrades to the suspension and an LSD. I was able to brake late, maintain a flat stance through the turns and lay on the gas on exit.


But like I said, there's a lot that goes along with it and I don't want to steal the thread.

 

Steal away. We are like the only 4 people on this forum who care about modding our X-Types recently. I like this tangent compared to most of the rest of the X-Type forum content. Let's keep going.

The body lean looks good in the SVT. So that car with an LSD? Do the X-Type Sports also have the same underpinnings as the SVT, or was that one better? My car seems pretty stable in terms of sway.

 

AWD does make a difference in the handling...

Our cars which have a 40/60 split are prone to handling a little more like a RWD car than say an Audi A4 which is a 50/50 split. Either way, our biggest problem from the factory is that our cars understeer like pigs when you push them.

exexpat where are you from?

 

Again I maintain, AWD does not help with 'handling', only acceleration coming out of turns. Which, over time I will admit, does help with lap times.
There are four directional forces on a car's tires, the weight of the car pushing down on them into the pavement, acceleration (which is where the AWD comes in), deceleration (braking, AWD does nothing) and lateral forces, i.e. steering input and the desire to turn. AWD does nothing for that, either. The only two things that aid the distribution and handling of those forces is weight of the car (less is better and given how little these cars weigh for the AWD drivetrain, we're actually not doing that bad) and suspension design - meaning how much of tire contact patch you lose when you turn the car. At high speeds when you turn the wheel the car will want to continue on it's path and it will lean to the outside, lifting the inside wheels. Performance suspensions are designed to take this into consideration and will compensate for this. Again, AWD has nothing to do with what type of suspension is on the car, i.e. Macpherson struts, SLA, Watts Link, etc.

The X-Type is based on the same chassis as the Ford Mondeo (which if any of you watch Top Gear it's one of the two cars all three actually like). The Contour was modified to be sold in USA and other cars share the same chassis/platform as I said earlier. The X-Type is basically a stretched Contour - Jaguar wanted more rear seat room. The basics of the suspension and chassis are all the same but I'm sure there may be small differences due to slightly modified mounting points of the suspension due to necessitating AWD and an IRS.

My Contour had a few things done to it: 3L swap, 3 valve head porting with bigger valves, 10.7:1 compression, knife-edged crank, lightweight flywheel (that thing revved so friggin' quick), MSDS headers, 2.5" Brullen catback (best sounding exhaust I've just about ever heard), 3" hi-flo cat, Ford Mondeo ST220 suspension (rebadged Eibachs and Bilsteins, IIRC), Quaife LSD, Ford Cobra brakes, hi-flo intake, 17x7.5" lightweight wheels (two sets, both were awesome), 235/40-17's and I think that's about it. LOL That car (when it ran right - which wasn't often) terrorized other cars on the track. Everybody was like WTF is in that thing? It was fairly light so I could brake late, coupled with the 13" rotors and twin piston PBR calipers it had great brakes, the suspension was fantastic so I could carry a LOT of speed through the turns and the LSD allowed me to lay on the gas coming out of corners - coupled with the 200+hp and 190ft/lbs of torque at the wheels it really scooted. Problem was it ate all the ancillaries with alacrity. I went through two alternators, three starters and I sheared the power steering pump. I got tired of fixing it all the time, it's somebody elses problem now. LOL

 

wow thats a ton of mods you had there, sounds like it was a sleeper. looked stock, but was fast as hell.

and yes our cars do understeer somewhat.

as for the corners i had a lot of body roll until i installed my H&R springs. remember the x type was made to be a luxury sedan so ride quality was pretty important for the customers. but after the spring install, it has definitely stiffend up my car.

 

I'm debating between the KW's and Mina right now. I emailed Mina asking a few questions about their setup but nothing back yet. Oh well.

 

i would def. go with the KW's, brand name vs mina plus a lot of other cars use them.

what is the price difference?

 

+1 (if all four wheels are moving through a corner, it helps, if under braking or coasting, then I agree with contour man.)

I am from the Seattle area, but worked in Europe and Asia for a 5+ years after college. You can see more of my cars here: http://www.cardomain.com/id/shanghaid

Greetings presently from Dubai,
Jeremy

 

WHOA I love your C70... Do you still have it? Seriously, let me know when you want to sell it. The Porsche wheels/calipers are sick!!! Definitely feeling your style for modding cars. When I saw your X Type with the 20x9.5 rears thats what convinced me to keep mine and do the stance'd build.

Do you have Brembos on the X Type? Who made the brackets to fit them on the car? I've seen some pretty cheap sets of Brembo calipers/rotors off the S Type R around ebay but havent gone through with it because I dont know who I can get to make a good set of caliper adapters.

 

yeah i also looked at the volvo and the wheels look pretty sweet, i think the front end of that car is super good looking.

 

It's for sale - $7500 gets it with whichever wheels you want, Porsche Brembos, ECU and everything you see but the subwoofer/amp. I can't PM for some reason, but you can reach me jeremychapman1 (at sign) hotmail.com