I just picked up a 2015 XF Supercharged.

I remember reading on here some time ago that someone or a company had obtained the stock XFR-S tune and could flash it to the XF Supercharged. I can't find the thread now.

I know there are multiple aftermarket tunes available, but I would prefer to have the manufacturer's stock tune from the XFR-S if that's available.

Does anybody know if and where I can get that flash, or if I'm misremembering?

 

A thread that comes to mind to is this one (which in turn leads to this one) covering flashing of an XKR-S tune to an XF Sueprcharged - the reason for the XKR-S tune (IIRC) is that the XKR-S still uses Denso engine management (used by the -2012 XFs). Yours being a 2015 means you'd still be looking for an XFR-S tune though.

 

1st.Its completely different ECUs as you most likely have the Bosch vs Denso on XKRS .
2nd. There is no point to do this as you can get over 600 hp safely on your car as I have done on my personal XJ SC 5.0 with Bosch. In either case Denso or Bosch I Can help you out ,send me a pm

 

Well there is a point to some. The point would be whether or not the individual would care to remain OEM or aftermarket. There could be several reasons for this like extended warranty, Non-OEM DTC, preference etc.

 

Flashing a file thats not meant for your car/model car has a lot more potential for probelms than simply adjusting your own file in a " proper tune ".
Actually when I redo the original file, the name, software version and all identification parameters stay the same as in OEM vs when you load XKRS file in with identification marks will be for the XKRS ...

 

Fair. For us Californians (as I see you're in socal), what about the recent smog testing rules around tunes? Is keeping the parameters the same enough to pass these or do you need to flash back to stock for them?

 

I Doubt they will be able to detect the tune ..

 

I recall from older discussions around this subject, remapping the ECU leaves a flag that cannot be deleted.

 

Jaguar can tell if you've mapped it from stock, because as mentioned there are bits that get set in that instance, but these are likely manufacturer-specific.

In terms of whether a smog-test station's computer can know, in my mind there are only three possibilities.

1) There is a checksum* available that can be read as part of some OBDII standard, and the manufacturers have all been required to share a) the current checksum b) new checksums as vehicles are released for all of their cars with CARB, so that when your car goes in for a smog test, they can validate the checksum against a list of approved ones. This strikes me as unlikely but I guess possible.
2) There is a flag available as part of some OBDII standard that indicates if any car's ECU has been altered from factory mapping. I have no idea if this is the case but it should be easy to find out.
3) There is no way of them knowing, but they have made press releases/changed the rules to make people believe that there is, and to allow for the possibility in the future.

* Alex if you're mapping ECUs you obviously know what one is but for the benefit of those reading who don't, a checksum is a (fairly short) string of characters that is generated by an algorithm based on the contents of the ECU. If you change one thing (e.g. a value in the fuel tables, the checksum changes. It's usually used in computing to validate that data has not become corrupted.

I don't know which option is correct, but I will tell a quick story: You may be aware that in the UK (where I lived for the first 34 years of my life), you are required to own a TV license to watch live broadcast TV. These cost about $150/year, and they are enforced via a database where they know which households have a TV and which ones don't. They money mostly goes to fund the BBC, which is a public broadcaster. They assume (quite correctly) that it's incredibly unlikely that a household in 2021 does not own and use a TV, so for any houses that don't have a license at that address, they'll send letters and eventually an "inspector" round to see if you're using a TV without a license. Here's the thing: in the 1970s & 1980s they didn't have the technology to keep a database like that, although they obviously could keep records it was less efficient - so they used to have "TV Detector Vans", that the BBC claims (and still does) could detect which households were watching a TV, so they could drive round neighborhoods tracking down people that might have a license quicker than going door-to-door. I regularly remember seeing adverts for these vans on TV, but anybody who even vaguely understands technology knows that this is a hoax, and that there's no possible way in reality that they could do what they were claiming to do. They were relying on the fear keeping people complying.

 

I can tell if the car has been tuned using SDD and one of my better aftermarket scanners can see it too. If I can see it I am sure Jaguar can IF they look for it? I have had my car serviced by the Jaguar dealer and the VAP tune came back unchanged. SO did they find it and leave it alone or did they even look for it? I don't know.

We have had claims made that this can be covered up but if VAP can't do it I really don't believe this guy can do it either.
I posted what code is set with an ECU tune in this thread.

Detecting an Aftermarket Tune

Turning Out the Service Light

I have found it sets this code.




It's a permanent code that I could not erase either. Asked VAP if they could erase it but never heard back from them?
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We could go back and forth with our views for why which one is better or more favoured. But my point was that there is a point, and the point is preference.

P167F can be removed in a preventative way i.e before you know you're going to flash. And also only on some ECUs.

Agreed. But only about the technicians in the service centres. Any decent individual in Jaguar Engineering HQ will know.

 

Jaguar for sure can tell, as can their software.

My thought process was more specifically around whether Smog Test centers in California can. Currently, or at least, before the aforemntioned rule change, they were just checking the OBDII "ready" indicators that change after successful driving cycles to show eg evap systems are working correctly. These are defined in the OBII standards, but I'm not sure that manufacturer-specific stuff is, so how will they know, dictating whether the car passes/fails the Smog test? Are they just going to be checking for (e.g.) P167F? In which case as MoJo said, I'm sure there are workarounds.

Plus, the last time I got a smog test, which was at a STAR-approved center no less, he just plugged a fairly ordinary-looking handheld device into the OBDII port to check the ready indicators. I doubt this thing would ever have the ability to do any more than check for a specific code, which can likely be prevented anyway (since the manufacturers are able to during software updates), and I can't believe they'd make all the smog test centers buy new gear to be able to enforce this. So yeah, I'm currently doubting too, until I hear otherwise.

 

A Proper tune will not set off any CEL lights detectible with SDD or any obd2 scanners. I have done plenty of reflashes on Jaguar , Range Rover with both Denso and later Bosch ECU and never had a Code detectable by Jaguar dealer or by SDD equipment (I have both more sophisticated scanners and SDD at my disposal). Now a smart Jaguar engineer can sure find the tune , but Jaguar dealer is very highly unlikely since their diagnostic equipment is not able to detect it.
Back to the smog in CA , Time will tell although I suspect that they will not be able to find a proper tune as it will most likely require much more sophisticated equipment which will be capable of reading the factory file and then comparing it to the database for changes.