Hey everyone!

It has been over four years since I have acquired my X350 XJR and in that time, I have managed to put just over 20,000 miles on it. Since the car is now out of warranty, I have decided to go ahead and purchase an upper pulley for the supercharger which is supposed to deliver an extra 1.5LB's of boost. I will be going to my local shop to have it installed in the morning and I will post a video of the car later into the night.

Here is a video clip of the stock acceleration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6BnhdMDSLY

(yes I filmed it in HD for better sound and video)

After I install the pulley, I will try the same technique I used to launch the car to see if there is any difference. I understand that there are millions of variables that could alter the times...but I will definitely try and look for once thing, a higher pitch whine of the supercharger. With the pulley installed, I hope I can feel some difference in power.

I'll be back in a few days or so with an updated video!

- Pat

 

Here are a few pictures of my car with L.A. as the background. One was a rendered HDR shot I made...not too great, but it was fun going through the creation process.

 

Well I have the pulley installed! I also took many pictures of the car at the shop getting the pulley installed and I will upload those in a few days as they are in RAW format and need to be converted.

The pulley:
Compared to the stock pulley, the 1.5LB pulley was much lighter. It was also a tiny bit smaller. Good quality.

My initial impression was that there was not much difference. after I left the shop, I had to putt around the local streets to get to the freeway. I never got a chance to go near even 50% throttle because I would either 1. rear end the car in front of me or 2. run a red light.

Merging onto the freeway, I punched the throttle at about 30MPH...naturally the transmission kicked down into second. This is where I first noticed a difference...the car lurched much harder than it used to as the traction control light flashed on my dash signaling a loss of traction. After the tech-nannies backed off, the car surged forward as it normally does and I can honestly say it felt just like it used too. However, the temperatures have lately risen (today was 81 Degrees Fahrenheit indicated on the thermometer) and I had my A/C blasting on cold.

Driving on the freeway was annoying as I hit L.A. rush hour traffic. After putting along at a meager 40-50MPH, I became annoyed and went wide open to pass the slow car in front of me. The car threw me back much more than it used to and I noticed that the car shifted at 6200RPM, past the 6000RPM redline. This is the first time the car has ever done that while in drive and in second gear.

I have just gotten back from driving it at night...it is a cool 52 degrees outside right now and I can say that the car is definitely...punchier. I normally drive this car at night and are more familiar on how the car performs at night rather than in the day. There is definitely a difference...you can barely feel it but you know it's there. The car does take less effort to climb hills and such.

I do not know if you guys are familiar with the G-Tech accelerometer based speed timing thing. I use this as a rough reference as to how the car performs. Unfortunately, I only ran it once tonight...and it was up a grade as well. It starts at a slight continuous grade and then the grade dramatically increases at about an 1/8 mile. The street I ran this on is completely deserted, so don't worry, if I somehow manage to lose control, only I and my car would be injured. (Maybe some surrounding dirt and grass)

I have done runs up this hill before. I normally average about 13.7-13.9 @ 103-105MPH up this certain stretch of road. Tonight, I turned an indicated 13.3 @110 up this road. What's even more surprising is that the indicated 0-60 time is higher than my averages before: 5.01 tonight vs. an average of 4.8 previously. What's even more surprising is that I spun first gear on tonight's run and the transmission upshifted at 5000RPM instead of the normal 5900 or so RPM. Also, since I was using the J-Gate, I accidentally hit the rev limiter...twice...in second gear. I thought I botched this run and I didn't want to attempt another run but when I saw the times, needless to say I was quite shocked.

On a flat surface...this accelerometer normally puts me at 4.6-4.8 to 60MPH and a quarter mile of 13.0-13.3 @ 105-108MPH. I wonder how this will change with the pulley. Once I get a chance, I will make a run on the flat road that is near my house. (Yes, that road is empty too...on the left is a field...on the right is another field)

(P.S. - I understand the aforementioned times are quite possibly inaccurate. But since I have not touched the device and are using the same settings, it is somewhat of a control set that can be used to gauge if there is an increase in performance.)

To sum it all up:
1. The car feels stronger from 2500RPM to 4500RPM.
2. The motor revs out quicker.
3. The transmission, for no apparent reason, is shifting slightly higher at WOT.
4. No noticeable increase in whine pitch or loudness.
5. The car feels like it is gliding...odd, but it's definitely different than before.
6. I am definitely happy with this purchase.

Pictures and video coming soon!

 

I for one would like to see the pics.. How much was the pulley and where did you get it?

 

Here are pictures from the install. The total was a hair under $400. The pulley I installed was the 1.5LB pulley offered by Mina Gallery which is an identical copy of the pulley offered by Eurotoys LTD. Chris at Mina Gallery offered the pulley to me for $235 instead of the $320 listed MSRP. The installation cost $150.


The intake tract was pulled off.

Coolant tank has been removed along with the intake snorkel.

Old pulley is off. (note the scarring on the supercharger...more details below)

New pulley is on!

Closer.

New pulley vs. old pulley.

Rear shot.

the 1.5LB pulley is on the left.

As you can see...this pulley is slightly smaller. It is much lighter though.


The shop did use a highly unorthodox method to get the old pulley off. I was under the impression it would be pulled off but they took a cutter to the old pulley and basically cut it off. There were some slight incisions left on the nose of the supercharger that I was initially uncomfortable with but I have had no problems thus far. Other than that, the installation went smoothly. One word of warning though, installing this pulley means you have to remove the coolant tank. When this is reinstalled at the end, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE SHOP BLEED THE COOLING SYSTEM. My shop forgot to do this and my car started overheating as soon as I drove three lights away from the shop. Coolant spewed all over my engine bay... (x_x)

Even with all the hiccups, the people were very friendly and helpful. If you live in So-Cal, I would recommend going to this shop. They are more familiar with XK's. I am the first XJR they have performed a pulley install with. Hopefully they have learned from this and the installation for future So-Cal XJR owners will be faster and smoother.

I may be visiting a Dyno tomorrow to see what number I put down. If I do make it in time before the shop closes, I will try and go sometime next week as the owner will be gone this weekend. If I do end up going, I will post the dyno run papers as well as a video. The stock car should put out somewhere between 330RWHP and 340RWHP. These numbers were obtained from looking at S-Type R and XKR stock 4.2L dyno runs. I am not expecting too much more than this number. I have to keep in mind that I am going into this with almost 7,500 miles on the oil...and I drive my car harder than any normal XJR owner. I frequent all of the neighboring canyon roads (Mulholland, Piuma Road, Stunt Road, Tuna Canyon, Latigo Canyon, Yerba Buena, GMR etc...) and this engine is pushed constantly. If I net anything over 350RWHP, I will be happy.

 

Did you Dyno it before you put the pulley on?

 

Unfortunately I did not dyno my own car before I installed the pulley, however, all Jag's with the 4.2L supercharged motor puts down around 330 to 340 RWHP. There are a few dyno charts on the internet of our cars with no mods and the numbers all fall within that range. I figured my car should be around the same.

 

nice write up and cool pictures! just feel bad for you the shop wasnt a little easier on the cat

 

Thanks!

Well to be honest, I was a little bit let down by the dyno results but then again, it has made me second guess those supposed dyno charts. I did some deeper research into this and I guess my first assumption that the 4.2L supercharged motors should put out 330 to 340rwhp was wrong. I have seen that there are many 4.2L XKR's with exhaust and pulleys that have only put down an average of 330rwhp. Could anybody shed some light into this? I wish I did a dyno pull when my car did not have the pulley.

Well, I have the results of the dyno pulls. They were performed at HK Motorsports Dyno Shop. If you live in So-Cal, I definitely recommend this shop. Very professional and very courteous. Great price too! Four pulls was only $95. If you are in Los Angeles area, I would pay them a visit. http://www.hkmotorsportsdynoshop.com/

Anyways, here is a video compilation of three of the four dyno pulls I did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOi_e4Fd2HA (Click the HD button for better quality!)

The sensors from the runs indicated that my car was running slightly rich (11.5~ to 1) in gears 1-3 and then its starts dumping fuel in 4th and 5th. The A/F Ratio sensors flatlined at 10 to 1. I got a few opinions from some nearby tuning shops and they all agreed that there is significant power to be found. I also performed these runs with not so fresh oil (7500 miles). I am currently trying to contact Paramount Performance in an effort to get a tune on my car. There is also a shop nearby who claims to be able to crack the ECU. Anybody have any knowledge on the business practices of Race Marque Systems (RMS Superchargers)?

Your feedback is appreciated!

 

Cool Video's, 0-60 in 4.8 is pretty respectable.

 

Very impressive writeup and pictures Patrick! You saved all of us a lot of guesswork.. I wonder what the pulley would do on my ported supercharger with exhaust and lighter wheels... I guess I'll have to buy a pulley myself and find out.. Eric

 

Thanks Eric!

How is that ported blower working out for you? I am sure you felt a significant power increase, did you not? Also, where did you get this work done as I am definitely interested in getting the supercharger ported. And with that pulley, I think you'll be pretty impressed with the extra punch in the mid-range.

I might be doing some exhaust work this weekend. I am thinking something along the lines of a custom X-Pipe in place of the stock resonators. I feel that $2,000+ for a catback system is excessive and I am sure some custom fab would net the same results, if not better. How is that custom catback working out for you and how much did the whole system run you, if you don't mind me asking...?

 

After the porting you can feel a slight increase in torque and responsiveness.. The main reason I had it done was to try to help with the adiabatic efficiency. I know the increase in air flow doesn't do that much in terms of horsepower, but it definitely helps keep the temps down.. I had the work done by Stiegemeier who is the best in the business and has a very quick turnaround.. Now I think its dying for more boost from a pulley upgrade which is going to be my next mod. From what I've heard the ECU tune from EuroTek is the best money you can spend on our cars, but it's $1000 and it costs them next to nothing to actually do so I kind of resent spending the money. The exhaust is actually the favorite modification I've done to my car to date.

Here's a little story I wrote for another user that had a question about exhaust:

Well here's the rundown with exhaust.. The factory exhaust has excellent back pressure and is probably the one that will give you the most torque. The main thing knocking %80 of the sound out in the factory exhaust is those two huge mufflers in the rear. The center resonator just takes out the other %20 and the raspy note. Putting mufflers in is where you will pick up the most top end power and your exhaust tone. Putting in an X-Pipe will help your low end and high end power, but kinda kills your mid-range 4k-5k rpm torque. I really like the sound with the X-Pipe... It doesn't sound like a mustang at all! more like an M5 with exhaust or a vette. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY9lOjIlBfU I took that video with a really ****ty camera (a camera phone actually) but you can kind of get the idea (it sounds 43 times better in person).. That's with the center resonator replaced with an X-Pipe and the two mufflers replaced with resonators.. Its probably the loudest I would go, but you actually can't hear it in the cabin AT ALL with the windows closed and the A/C on.. Only when you go above 2,500 rpms does the exhaust start to get noisy. When you pass at 5,000 rpms it sounds like an angry Corvette with a blower.. Not ricey at all and not like a 5.0 mustang either. It just sounds like a European V8 with an aftermarket exhaust.. If you don't want the backfiring and the raspy big block Mopar sound I would advise you to leave the center resonator and just do mufflers. If you want it to sound mean, do straight piping all the way back with an X in the middle and two resonators where the mufflers used to be.. Either way you can't go wrong, F/I cars always sound better than N/A..


Eric

 

The reason you ported your blower is the same reason that I want to port the blower. It is already getting up to the mid 80 degrees in temperature out here in California and I know I will have a serious loss in power due to excessive heat from the blower. I do not feel much of a power drop after repeated acceleration runs and the dyno numbers proved this (335-340rwhp each pull with a 2-3 minute idle time). But the temperature at the shop was a cool 72 degrees...I am sure the hot ambient air of summer will make performance suffer. How does your blower cope with heatsoak?

Yes those enormous muffler do, well, "muffle" the sound of our cars. I am thinking of the Mina Gallery axle-back exhaust as it is not too loud but still flows better than the stock exhaust.

Since you are planing on having your ECU tuned, have you checked out Paramount Performance? They are almost a Jaguar specific tuning company and it seems like they would be a great choice for an ECU tune. But they are located in the U.K. I have received an e-mail about my inquiry for an ECU tune. I am now waiting for a final price. I will keep you posted.

Nice sounding S-Type R!

 

I had a thread a while back about my conversation with EuroTek.. They are actually very pleasant to talk to and more than willing to help.. They even told me that any time I upgrade my car (different blower, different pulley, different exhaust, etc..) they said that I could send the ECU back and they would retune it FOR FREE! That impressed me enough to want to use them because very few companies are willing to do that.. They also take your limiter off and on my STR how I have it set up, they said I could get up to well over 170+mph! After I have that done I guess I won't be getting any more speeding tickets from those slow crown vics and chargers hahaha..

 

Wow, free re-tunes? That is very impressive indeed. I will be in contact with them soon. Maybe I can convince them to shed off a couple dollars from their $1,000 price tag. Like you said, it really doesn't involve TOO much work and materials to complete the tune.

As for those Crown Vic's and Chargers, they don't stand a chance even if our cars are stock. I mean for christ's sake, the CVPI runs a mid 16 second 1/4 mile! Even the fastest R/T Charger police car can only muster mid 14's. That's with the 368 horsepower motor too! Here is a compilation of tests run on the police vehicles in service today.

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/ms...b_260463_7.pdf

I think it's safe to say that the police should/will have quit long before you reach 170+.

 

Yeah I'm sure..

The $1000 actually is for the "Stage 1 Package" that comes with a K&N Panel Filter, A Smaller 1.5+ lbs Supercharger Pulley, and the retune.. Since we just both want the tune, maybe we could get a few other users and talk to EuroTek about a group purchase on just the tune.. I would be interested in seeing if we could get them to knock say %20 off the price..

Here's my plan:

The Stage 1 Package is_______$1000
Minus The Filter_____________- $50
Minus The 1.5 Pulley_________-$200
------------------------------------------
Just the ECU ReTune__________$750
Discount for Group Buy_______-%20
------------------------------------------
Group ECU ReTune___________________$600 per Person


That sounds very reasonable for both parties involved in my opinion.. Now we should just see if we can get another 5 or so users to go in on it with us and give EuroTek a call and get things cookin'...


Anybody else interested?????

 

Excellent idea Eric!

I think I might start a whole new thread on this matter. Maybe it will get the attention of more people...I don't think many people are too interested in this thread, unfortunately. How about gauging the interest for S-Type R owners while I try to find some XJR owners here?

$600 for a tune...I would do that in a heartbeat.

 

This upcoming Friday, my car will go into the shop to have my A/F Ratio looked at and readjusted. I will also be performing a large service on the car to make sure that it is running properly. Please keep in mind that this IS NOT A TUNE but merely a tune-up to set the ecu back to spec.

I have also e-mailed the guys over at Eurotoys about their multi-piece supercharger pulley kit. If we can reach an agreement on using my car as a testbed of some sort in exchange for a discount, I will be installing that multi-piece pulley kit. I'll post Eurotoys' response once I hear back from them.

 

wow ! sorry guy's i've been busy with work ( a good thing ) I love this whole post from "patrickw813" i have been longing to hear detailed information such as this. i'm also intrested in the eurotech stage 1 package but i only need the ecu tune and the pully.