This 2004 XJR is the first car I've owned that states a respectful 0-60 mph (5 sec).OK........now I have to do it myself.I go out on my drag strip (a long country road in front of the farm) only to burn rubber for 50 feet and get around a 6.7 sec 0-60.I try again and ease into it with around the same time.How do they do it? A 90 pound man...perfect asphalt..no spare tire..bleach on the tires??? I have 20" wheels,high test gas,I'm 185 lbs.
I have to master this soon....I have a friend with a 6 cylinder older Camero who wants to line up with me.Please help me keep him from getting me out of the hole.Thanks for any advice.Take care,Dave

 

Hi. drive exactly same car, and colour!
I think the 5 sec is for european models as mine is, not for the USA market.USA models are well over 3-4oo pounds heavier, due to different security requirements in the States.Only the tank for example is in Europe 17 gallons, in the States 21.Am not sure is just a guess.

 

Softer tires perhaps?

 

Hope you have a generous tyres budget !!

 

Even the US XJR should be low 5. My US 2007 XJ8 is listed as 6.0 s ..

Is Sport mode activated? Tires inflated to correct pressure? Are the 20's standard or optional - I'm guessing they are heavier but should have more contact surface than smaller ones... Gearing could be affected if the wheels are not same size as standard..
How do you launch? Foot on the break and then slam on the accelerator or do you launch at a certain RPM?
Are you letting the auto shift or do you shift manually?

How do you time it? Stopwatch?

Rgds,
Mike

 

We had an active member about 2 years ago who was heavy into drag racing with his XJR (I think it was an XJR) Do a search. Maybe you can turn up his series of posts.
I do recall that he unloaded his spare, carried only enough high test gasoline to get him down the track and back, turned off the traction control, ran on cool days, oil hot but engine not heat soaked, etc,etc.
I don't know how many miles on your car but it is at least 8 yrs old. In people years that's about 55 yr old (I just made that up).

 

I just mash it to the floor and it burns rubber for 50 feet.If I would power break it ,I'm sure it would be worse.I think it came with 19" and now has 20".I thought the diameter was the same of both tires.Just less sidewall on the 20.Either way...there is plenty of power.Just no traction.If it were biting that whole time, it would surely be close to 5's.I was just using a stopwatch on my cell phone.I was probably within a quarter to half second of being right on.(about 6.5 sec)Traction control was off.Otherwise it would just shut down if the tires start spinning.I'll keep practicing.I'd hate to think my friends Camaro beats me because of traction.Take care,Dave

 

I can't imagine a 6-cylinder Camaro would be able to hold a candle to you. After 20 years of reading car magazines, I know that when stating 0-60 times, it's usually a pro driver & times are "corrected to sea level" or something like that (different barometric pressures around the country.) I think most of us would be shocked if we actually timed our cars. Keep in mind that an automatic usually saps a little of your acceleration. Is he running a 5-speed and possibly lower gear ratio?
On another note, whereabouts are you located? I, too, am near "long, empty roads in front of Ohio farms." are you near Brown county by chance?

 

I'm in Ross Co....sounds like a race to me LOL.I'm sure he cannot out run the jag.I just do not want him to launch out in front of me.He'll go on and on how he beat me the first 100'.This is not in the cards.I just need to practice my take offs.I thought there would be someone on this forum with some advice on the launch....since they are Jaguar owners.It's probably tires and technique.Thanks and take care,Dave

 

If I'm not mistaken, you can play around with your rear tire pressure to help your launch. I think letting some of the air out will allow the tires to have more surface area and be 'grippier'. You don't want to drive around like that of course because of uneven wear and poor MPG.

 

My V6 Mustang w/ performance package can definitely give an X350 XJR a run for its money...

 

Hello! That member may have been me. And after a long hiatus, I am back!

I've taken my XJR to the dragstrip more than a handful of times. Here is one of the videos of the car at the strip taking down a 350Z:

Jaguar XJR vs '08 Nissan 350Z 1/4 Mile Fontana - YouTube

Launching on the street is much different than the track. The surfaces at the track specially prepared to enhance grip and the magazine 0-60 times are almost always weather corrected. I've always found it hard to launch on the street even in warmer temperatures with the tires fully warmed up.

If you want to race your buddy, suggest going from a 50mph roll. I've found that a 50mph roll race is the sweet spot for our cars as you are right in the thick of the powerband! Place your car is second gear using the J-Gate and I am sure you'll be able to pull away from him. The brand new V6 Camaros are quick but they will definitely lose to the XJR.

 

Well, sure Alan. I love and respect your contributions to the board (your posts are partially responsible for my buying an XJ8), but with all due respect, is your V6 mustang w/ performance package "an older 6 cylinder Camaro?"

My 1.3 liter Honda can whip all three of us, but it's attached to a motorcycle. Totally different animal.

Personally, I really am impressed with what the mustang has become, and would easily buy one if I wanted affordable muscle.

 

My friend's Camaro is one of last ones when they stopped making them.Maybe 5-7 years ago.I'm sure I'll beat him.I just do not want him in front at anytime (like take off).Thanks for the information about grip on regular roads.I'll practice my launches and figure out how not to spin tires for 50 feet.I will go to the track someday.Take care,Dave

 

Whilst I owned my X308 XJR, I bought an OBD reader and discovered that the software I used with it had a 0-60 feature so I took the car to a quiet road with my son and a laptop and had a play. It should be capable of doing it in around 5.3 secs and the best I achieved was 5.6 which isn't bad for an 11 year old car!

Power brake starts and turning off the traction control just resulted in spinning tyres and poor times. The best way I found was to just be gentle for the first 1/4 - 1/2 second then, once it was rolling, progressively floor the accelerator.

According to the technical guide, the X350 has a launch control as it will allow the wheels to spin whilst the traction control is switched on so it should be easier to get off the line than the X308:

Launch Control
The launch control feature maximises the standing start performance.

This is achieved by satisfying entry conditions which include:

Vref < 18 mph (30 km/h)
Lateral Acceleration < 1.2 m/s2
Vehicle Acceleration >0.3g

The launch control minimises the brake intervention and optimises the engine torque in order to provide the vehicle with optimum acceleration.

During launch control activation the customer may experience some tyre noise(!)

 

The X350 most definitely does not have any form of launch control. In my eight years of ownership, I have launched my car every which way and turning traction control off has always netted the fastest times.

Power braking and then launching with traction control on, whether it is a hard launch or a progressive launch, causes the safety nets to intervene. This causes the car to either cut power, apply the brakes individually on the wheel that is spinning, or both. Either way, in the even that DSC is triggered, the car ends up short shifting in first at around 4500-5000rpm.

The only launch control the X350 has is the discretion of the driver and the conditions during the launch

 

I wonder why Jaguar went to the trouble of putting that in the X350 training manual then?

 

Hi,
Diverguy made the correct questions , so here is my recommendation.
Sport mode on, Traction off. Left foot on the brake, rev with right foot 2000-2500 revs, no more, cause spinning the wheels just takes your time and lets you spinning on the spot.Once car is rolling give the full throttle.Good luck.

 

This post is probably no help. But long ago with a different car I found huge differences based on the tires. I had some Goodyear ???s that wore out in about 12,000 miles. It was like the car was glued to the road. Acceleration, cornering, braking all were extraordinary. Of course they were fearsome in rain.

I do not know if anything like this is available in sizes for your Jag or if you would want to live with them. If anyone does know please post as I would be interested.

 

I took my car out for a play today and there does appear to be something there. It is 'only' a NA 4.2 but on grass or gravel the TC cuts in and the car crawls forward until more grip is available but on a dry road there was a reasonable amount of wheel spin with no TC interference and the car revved up to the red line before changing gear.

Maybe the XJR just overpowers the TC. I guess the key is keeping the acceleration over 0.3G otherwise the TC will take over but, as you have found, it is easier to turn TC off and moderate the power yourself.

I do miss the power of my XJR and will hopefully get another one, or an XKR if I can persuade the kids to leave home