I've seen this video more times than I can remember. I think I watch it about once a month.


Off topic a little: Yesterday I saw a chick driving a 2012 xkr with black wheels and lowered. I almost got a stiffy.

 

Here's another awesome video review. Fast forward to the 4 minute mark, and watch this guy's facial reactions.

Jaguar XKR Coupe--Video Test Drive with Chris Moran - YouTube

 

There just aren't adequate words to describe my feelings for my car.

 

Do you know what spring rates your car has now, and what any of the available lowering spring rates are? Are they linear rates or progressive, and would you have a preference? Are you interested in changing the front to rear spring rate ratio in order to slightly change the car's handling balance to suit your preferences, like to make the rear more or less loose?

Bruce

 

My car is stock. Not sure of the rates. Any set I get will be progressive as I'm not trying to track the car and make the ride uncharacteristically firm. I'm actually considering the coil over kit. Especially since nobody can give feedback on the springs and how they ride.

 

The MY10+ XKR's may be new enough, and have sufficiently reduced fender gap from the factory, that not many have lowered them. I could be wrong on this, but I generally doubt many original XKR purchasers/leasers would do mods of any sort compared to subsequent owners that might be more interested in modding them. You may be just a little ahead of your time, with more consumer demand and after-market support to come if enough others want to lower the newer XKR's.

I know you've gone this route before, but I'll share my experiences for what it's worth, and maybe others will do the same...

The three other sports cars I've owned since 1998 have all been lowered, with the first MR2T being purchased with H&R's that dropped it 1.5" and still had the stock dampers. Car handled well, but rode rough, and was a real pain in the *** at times because of reduced road clearance. It was just low enough that I felt a bit silly getting into it, thinking it was more in keeping with a 20 yr old than a mid-40's. I then bought another identical car with stock suspension and installed Eibach Pro-Kit springs and Tokico dampers that were compatable with the shorter springs, and this set-up had an entirely superior ride. I tracked both cars for a short while and eventually sold the one with H&R's and stock dampers.

The H&R spring rates were very different from the factory and Eibach rates, and provided superior car balance. I then added stiffer after-market sway bars that were adjustable in order to improve the balance with the Eibach rates.

The next car was the Supra TT, and I really nailed the handling by going with the Ground Control Advance Design race coilovers that let me choose the spring rates I wanted for optimized handling based on feedback from accomplished TT racers and on-track observation of a friend's TT with slightly different spring rates that I felt could be improved upon. The two way adjustable dampers were valved for those spring rates using an agreed upon valve curve and dyno'd tested. I had the car corner balanced and the drop probably averaged about 1" or so. This spring and damper set-up actually provided superior ride quality and incredible track performance...but the lower road clearance issues have again worn on me over the years. I recently swapped in the stock suspension to return the coilovers to G.C. for a damper rebuild/refresh and find I prefer the stock ride height.

Since I'm now more interested in driving to distant tracks I haven't experienced yet, and more touring around now that I'm retired, I think I'll keep the stock ride height and avoid the occassional road clearance hassles. The insurance company bugs me every year to get it appraised, and should do that with the stock suspension installed because having an "off road use only" coilover set-up could cause real issues up here as mentioned earlier.

As far as the XKR goes, I do plan to continue to track it more, and unlike the MR2T and Supra TT I already know it doesn't need to be lowered to provide roll control or better handling balance. The only improvement would be cosmetic, and since I think its fender gap isn't excessive at all I'm unlikely to do that mod. I would however recommend that those who are interested compare factory and lowering spring rates so that you can reasonably predict any change in handling as user feedback likely won't cover this aspect.

Bruce

 

I can relate to what you are saying. This week I drove my TT twice through some nice winding roads. Yes, in my twenties I would have tolerated the stiff ride better. But, at my ripe age of being over 60 it was, at best, a mixed experience. The car is brutally fast and handles like a race car. But, it bucks and crashes over bad pavement, just like a race car would. After putting in about 55 miles, on the way back I purposely went the long way, knowing that particular route had decent pavement. That way the TT was a blast. Would I want it to be my daily, long distance driver? Hell no!!!

Yeah, it must be funny also for someone to watch me getting myself contorted in and out of those hot-looking 14 lbs racing seats...ha...ha...ha...

Albert

 

Edit: Posted to wrong thread... mean to open a new one. "Do you guys have this problem? After I've paired and docked my Blackberry a few mins later I get the "Cancel" or "Re-Connect" message as if it keeps loosing the connection. What is this all about and is there a fix?"

 

Are you sure you want to lower your car...you won't be yoiung forever you know? My track buddies and myself are all closing in hard on 60 fast and spend as much time in physiotherapy as we do on the track now. It seems the cars survived better than the drivers...well, except for the ones we stuffed into the walls.

Bruce

 

Why do you think I'm agonizing over that decision :-)??? At my age I appreciate and prefer a fine ride over distances. Which is one big reason I am looking at the XJL for my next car. On the other hand, I'd like the XK to handle more to my liking. I can be done....

Be aware that your age limitations on the track are coming from the brain, not from muscles or bones. As we age, our brains degrade in their abilities to timely perceive and react to our surroundings. That can be quite evident in driving as we have to deal with literally thousands of inputs into the brain every second. An aging brain will not be able to process all the inputs and follow up reactions near simultaneously and there is trouble...

I have witnessed a good number of track accident where the old driver with a fast car would cut someone off, causing a big crash. At the incident interview the typical response of the old fellow would be:

"I did not see him coming"

Indeed, he did not because his brain was overloaded with inputs and skipped and failed to process this very important one. I recognized this early and told myself that when something happens to me on the track that catches me by surprise, it would be time to quit. Well, that time arrived about 8 years ago when suddenly a faster Formula Atlantic car appeared next to me under breaking and scared the living thing out of me. I never saw him coming up from behind! So, I finished the season and quit. It was time.

I'm still competing these days but, in whitewater kayaking and open ocean kayaking. Been unbeaten for over 3 years in the open age category, due to the superior racing kayak that I designed and built just for myself. So, strength and muscles are OK but, the brain has slooooooowed.

Albert

 

So we ended up getting way off topic... Anybody got some actual feedback on pro's and con's of the various spring options?

I know of 2 so far:
Mina Gallery - Cheapest at $445
Paramount - $645
H&R - seem to be a myth on the 2010+

Trying to figure out how the two compare... How did you guys decide which to buy? I'm thinking I will pull the trigger on the Mina's unless I hear otherwise. I have about 3 weeks until I order as I'm about to move and can't put them on any time soon anyhow...

 

Call Chris or, look up the Mina site, as I remember they are saying that their springs will work with the stock dampers. The H&R website said that theirs would NOT. For me that would be an important selection criteria. Don't know anything about Paramount springs.

Albert

 

Try to find out what the spring rates are, as well as the stockers, and post those findings. That would be more useful from a ride, performance and handling standpoint than user feedback that would be very subjective.

We could then discuss the specs, and what the impact would be on the car. Not sure how easy it will be to find,but hey... you've been searching for answers for a long time now and haven't got any.

Bruce

 

Yeah, call Mina....I want to know more about them as well.

 

Ok, so I've order the Mina springs and exhaust! Will post pics when I have them installed.

Wheels next!

 

Nice... keep us updated I'm curious what you'll think of the springs in particular. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, I really don't want to mess too much with the nice comfortable ride of the stock car, but from a looks standpoint it really would benefit from a bit of a drop.

 

I concur. From all I've heard the ride isn't really affected. I know on my NSX's the springs actually improved the ride a bit!

 

Somewhat different subject; last night, for the first time since I installed the 20 mm wheel spacers, I had a chance to really push my XK hard for about 20 miles of rather tight winding and bumpy roads. I was chasing and finally decisively passing two cars (one well driven G37) that were trying hard to keep the Jag behind. Mostly 2nd and 3rd gear driving very close to the redline for good power/torque and handling control. With the Mina exhaust I now have very good power and torque near the redline. This is where the Mina really breathes and lives...

I was mainly interested to see if the rear tires would touch the fender lips, given their new, very aggressive outward stance. Good news is that despite some very hard driving over some decent bumps in corners, absolutely no signs of touching.

Handling is definitely and noticably improved due to the wider front and rear track. Visually it is very much more aggressive from any viewing angle. I am quite happy with the setup and able to fully recommend it. However, with these spacers I would not be comfortable lowering the car very much as most likely tire-fender touch would occur. Also did about 20 miles of freeway driving and the ride is un-effected or, if anything, it is better than without the spacers.

Albert

 

Albert, have you posted pics of your car with the spacers installed and I just missed it? I've been thinking about this as well... if I do replace the wheels at some point, I thought maybe I'd get something with a slightly different offset to push the wheels out just a hair. It does seem like there is room for them to go outward under the fenders. Glad to hear the spacers worked out!

 

Been debating spacers too. Figured I could save a few grand by just doing them and focusing on some other projects this summer and doing wheels later. But then I see pics of other nice wheels and they completely change the car. Back on the fence.

I'm wondering if the drop and no spacers will make the wheels sit even further in??? So I may really need to do spacers or wheels now!