Which tuners offer ECU remapping for the XF 5.0 SC? I can name two, but seem to have reservations about both.

• ECU Tuning Group -- Make claims that seem highly dubious, do not furnish dyno plots to substantiate their claims, make statements are are downright silly "we charge a lot of money, pose with exotic cars and claim to have celebrity clients, therefore you should trust us". Well, I don't trust them not especially with the highly negative reviews on various forums and... well... celebrities are probably amongst the stupidest clowns on this planet even if they are loaded.
• Eurotoys -- Gets their tuning file from Viezu in the UK. Not sure if that is optimized for 91 Octane with have here given that European Premium is closer to 95 (R+M)/2 Octane.

Anyone else? Or any 1st hand, instrumented account on the products the above?

 

I have talked to the guy at RSCtuning and he seems legit. No crazy performance statements like the others. They even have contracts with some Jaguar Dealers in FL and fly their to tune cars for customers and factory warranty remains intact. He seems to know his sh*t, give him a call and he will explain your concerns about the other companies. He is also a little pricey.

 

Here are the facts for ya : ETG has poor bed side manners without a doubt, but I have done all the before and after dyno testing needed to prove they are truly the best tune for the 5.0L S/C motors.
Eurotoys and Eurocharged, Veizu, Paramount, all fell short of the claims they stated. There are a few members here who were kind of enough to spend money with different tuners and see which is real. Well, We all are from NJ and went to the track before and after and also hit some dyno's and the ETG crushed the others hands down. Do some searching here on the forums and see what you find.

 

I spoke with them as well sometime back. Seems they all say it keeps the warranty in tact. Probably because the file the yare using is based off the XKR-S / XFR_S with a few tiny tweaks and the files are write only. That means Jag can not read the file in it and can only overwrite it. I had 2 of my local dealers try and they can only see how it is branded.

 

I have emailed Jerry at Eurocharged here in Houston several times (with the same couple questions), and he has only replied once to my original email in which I asked if they have ever tuned an XKR-S before. I then wrote back and asked him a few basic and simple questions but he has yet to answer them, so I am very reluctant to let them even touch my car.

They claim 85hp/90tq with a pulley and ecu tune on a XKR-S. I asked them if they dyno tune through OBDII or if it was a pre-written generic tune, but again no reply. I also asked if they have any dynos to show me, and no reply.

Doesn't seem like a great way to run a business, not replying back to prospective clients. I guess I could call in, but I think they have shown me what I need to know, so what's the point.

Good luck in the search and please keep us posted.

 

Actually,that sounds pretty good -- using essentially stock XFR or XF-S files on XF Supercharged cars. In fact, were anyone to offer those I am sure many owners will be more comfortable with them than any tuner's garage tinkerings. That is assuming there is no mechanical difference in the XF 5.0 SC engines -- which does seems unlikely despite ECU Tuning Group's claims to this regard -- given the 80 hp difference in output between the 470 bhp SC and the 550 bhp XFR-S*

I am new to Jags, but I am not new to engines or forced induction. 470 --> 564 hp is roughly consistent with a 20~25% increase in absolute boost pressure. And that is assuming your aftercooler is up to par. It is not like with turbo systems where you can up the boost by controlling when the waste gate opens, the supercharger's drive ratio is fixed based on the diameters of the crank and supercharger pulleys. The only way such gains are possible is if Jaguar basically makes 550 bhp motors, period, and the lower hp versions simply have restricted maximum throttle plate openings to castrate them. The C63 AMG's M156 engine basically does that and only opens the throttle about 90% whereas the E63 motors open it all the way. However, being a supercharged engine it doesn't seem to make sense to overdrive the supercharger and choke it with a partial throttle opening. All Jaguar has to do is use a bigger pulley which would have reduced drive losses and which would reduce intake charge temperatures and reduce after cooler demand. Compared to having different cams, intakes and air boxes like you would need to offer two tunes of an NA engine, the BOM difference imposed by two pulley sizes is essentially immaterial to the factory.

@ BIGCAT09: Can you share the Dynoplots? I tried searching the forums but the dyno postings are too small to read.

 

Oh come now, dwight. You don't believe that there is hidden HP in engines just waiting for the tuners to unlock the secret byte? heh, heh.

 

Too bad they don't make a tune for the 300C

 

European gasoline ISN'T higher octane than US gasoline, they use a different method of calculating octane.

We use the average of RON + MON, they use the higher of the two (I could google it but I'm lazy).

In short, their 95 is our 92/93.

 

The method of calculation is different, but they also have higher Octane premium that we do.

European Premium Gasoline is 98 or 100 RON. This is about 94~95 (R+M)/2 Octane by the US Index.

The highest grade available in California is 91 Octane and all US cars factory qualified on 91 Octane.

 

The method of calculation is different, but they also have higher Octane premium that we do.

European Premium Gasoline is 98 or 100 RON. This is about 94~95 (R+M)/2 Octane by the US Index.

The highest grade available in California is 91 Octane and all US cars factory qualified on 91 Octane.

 

Here is some you can see on my YouTube page. Before and after dyno's. Please note these are not linked Dyno's and the car freaks out and goes into limp mode after 1 pull and short shifts every time so I can not get peak numbers. But I did get very accurate and consistent numbers each time. We noticed before and after the pulley and tune the AFR never changed its stock target and was spot on every time! ETG tune is really spot on and by all means in the safe zone. These cars can make way more power but that ZF trans will not hold any of it as you can see the TCU starts to bleed the power off to protect that glass made tranny, lol.
Notice how the TCU starts to hold the TQ back to ensure its longevity .
See the car flip out and kick down a gear? Still made 480WHP


So , what have we all learned is to Dyno any 2010 to current Jaguar correctly you must use a 4 wheel linked dyno that will keep the front wheels spinning same as rear wheels to allow the car not to panic and get a full pull of the whole power band. And also when your about to stab that throttle make sure you do not click the micro switch at all on the gas pedal until your over the 4,500rpm range to prevent it from kicking down to 3rd gear. 4th gear is the ideal or closest to 1 to 1 ratio for accurate comparable readings. If you can not get a tach signal from the OBD port you can do like I did and unclip the coolant tank and remove the rubber heat foam pad on the coil packs and slide on your tach wire cable from the dyno. We did not see much of any difference in any of the modes like Dynamic, Sport, DSC, Trac DSC, DSC Off, Etc but a lower rpm peak.
I still suggest to use Sport mode and paddle shift to hold your starting gear, DSC Off, Dynamic on for best results on the first try.

I really hope I helped all of you for future fun, safe guidelines, and take all the guess work out of getting the best results going forward. I spent tons of money, time, research, and picking peoples brains from around the world on these newly built Jags. Feel free to sticky this as I am now gone from the Jaguar world for now.

Final thoughts, for those wanting the unicorn money numbers you can use 100 octane fuel but must drive hard greater than 40 miles for the ECU to adjust before your Dyno session. Do a late night Dyno session when the temps outside and your car is at its coldest and dew is low. But make sure your car is at proper warm up temps before nailing it on the dyno. You may also want to try and remove your air filters and close the air boxes as well for the dyno session only of course. I planned to do all of this for that record number but I wanted to get accurate everyday driving real world numbers first.

 

I don't have Dyno numbers but I am very impressed with the outcome of the ECU Tuning Group pulley and tune on my 2012 XF SC My Jag totally dominated a M5 today That thing sounded like a bunch of pissed off bees while the cat just purred. I had to lift a few times because I was overtaking him. Though I am sure it was fun for both of us I am sure he is scratching his head about the days events.

 

And to add I chose to use a DynoJet Dyno as they seem to be the most common used and a SuperFlow Dyno since they are used for emissions tests and can add specific real world loads to the rollers.