Thank you very much MaximA, I really appreciate the input and await your info on the wheel offset. Mines are stock 19's and the car is completely stock....for the next few weeks. One quick question, do you recommend any particular X-pipe? I removed fuse 19 and am happy with that exhaust note. I could use just a little more growl and low RPM and idling....and some more pop and crackle. Again, thanks for the post. Its going to save me some money.

 

The best solution that I have seen is by MaximA, using the coilovers, which are fully adjustable for ride height. Still, he has 2.2 degree camber in one of the rear wheels, which is still too much. Also, I am not a fan of the much stiffer rear springs the set came with. After experiencing the first loss of traction under cornering/accelerating, I am more convinced than ever that the overly stiff stock springs are the cause. Softer springs would provide better tire traction at the rear. I agree with the springs being a bit stiff on the street, if your hard on the throttle it will step out on you and under hard acceleration you can feel it hop or skip over rough pavement. You can feel this MUCH more with the tune then without. On the track the car is a beast but most tracks are fairly smooth, with the exception of Sebring and we'll see how it handles that track later this year. Adding some toe in in the rear helped stabilize the rear under acceleration out of turns and made it more predictable if it stepped out. Its also very important with this set up to have it corner balanced as it made a huge difference in overall feel and stability. I'm totally on board with softer springs and larger sway bars but we don't have that option.

Personally this doesn't bother me to much as the cornering is as close "911 like" as this car will get, at least to me. I just love how the car feels, but it requires smooth driving or I can see it biting you but the feedback is fantastic. Lowering the car also helped the handling as there is much less sway in the body which at stock height is a bit to much at higher speeds. Spires offers a softer setup then mine but I opted for the full track setup with matched F-Type derived ADS compliant dampers. That's another thing the rear end has horrible rebound dampening on the stock suspension. The rear end bob at higher speeds drove me nuts.. It made me loose confidence going into a corner as I wasn't sure how the rear was going to respond. The R-S and the XKR with the Dynamic Pack are much better, so you may be able to use their dampers to alleviate this.

 

Check my original post I put the offsets in there, ET45 front and ET40 rear.

If you are happy with the current exhaust but want a little more, you can have the X-pipe put in my any competent local muffler shop, no need to go to the aftermarket for this. This will give you the same basic setup as the R-S, GT, and XKR with Dynamic Pack.

 

Eurocharged will do you right. Tell Jerry I said hello. You will just need the upper pulley replaced as Max mentioned.

When you get your new wheels, I highly recommend a size able to fit a 305 on the rear and going with Pilot Super Sports. This tire and a good alignment made a huge difference on my car. There is a good thread with alignments specs and if you search it will come up. If you lower your car you might not be able to fit a 305, so keep that in mind. Honestly I would try to persuade you away from lowing the car unless you really need to. And if you do I would copy Max.

 

It was exactly a section of rippled pavement, coming out of a very tight hairpin turn, that caused my XKR to "hop and skip" under moderate to hard acceleration. Very much descriptive of springs that are overly stiff. Same exit, no hop and skip in my twin turbo under full power acceleration.

On the subject of "better too much" power, I am still tempted by a tune but, kind of waiting for you to head back to the strip to see if the increased power actually will translate to reduced 1/4 times and increased trap speeds. I am in no hurry to do that, given that I hardly drive the XKR.

 

I hope to make it to the strip this week, last week they had a pro event so no test and tune day. The car feels stronger so I'm hoping that translates to a faster trap speed. I'll be happy with something in the mid 120's although faster is better

 

I'm going to call Eurocharged this week and schedule... I'm a little cautious about lowering it myself, but i do like the look and from what I hear, it does give you better cornering. I'll do the offset like MaximA mentioned and go with the 305's as you suggested...see how she drives/handles/looks, then go from there. Thanks for the feedback

 

Are you going to a shop that has a dyno for the tune? If not I would suggest it, just ask Jerry as he has local shops he works with all over the country.

 

I'm actually going to Houston to get it done. My son and I have been wanting to do a cross country trip for the last couple of years, so we're doing it this summer. My first stop is Houston. We're going to do the space center and get the car done at the same time. I believe they do dyno the car. Jerry had mentioned to get all the hardware put on first, so I'm trying to accomplish that. I'm looking for the X-pipe now.

 

Ted - I believe you will be very pleased with the Mina exhaust. Although my vert is, as you know is an xk; the service writer and shop foreman at Hornburg both said that the car now sounds very much like an xkr on their own with out my prompting. How's the work on your knew ride coming?

 

Hi Forum, Just a quick update. I ordered the rear diffuser from Mina Galleries. I should have it in 3 days or so. I'm also going to black out the grille. For you guys that have already done that, did you black out your original grille or did you buy a new one? Oh, another quick question. I went to order the BMC filters, but it looks like it's $195 for one. The order form showed quantity 1. Is that 1 as in 1 pair or just one filter? If so, not sure I want to do that. That would be over $400 buck for 2 filters. Actually I would still buy them if one of you told me I would see some gains with them. Getting the X-pipe done probably on Friday or early next week. Do you guys recommend any particular X-pipe? I was going to let my muffler guy install one of the brands he has, I think its called XP or AP.

 

Tuned in for this one, I also have a 2010 and will be doing some of the same mods. I requested the pulley and tune before I had the car, so I dont have a stock baseline to judge from but I would like to do a few other things. (water/meth injection, test pipes, and would love to see some sort of intercooler upgrade).

Also, Im thinking about going with a Zeitronix wideband/boost gauge/AF monitor. Not having any gauges for that stuff has been really bugging me

 

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I failed to mentioned one thing about the offsets. As you lower the car the wheels move inward around 10mm due to the the natural suspension geometry. So for stock height you will not need an a aggressive offset as I have. Its always best to have a shop that handles a lot of custom wheels measure your car at the desired ride height so you get the perfect offset. Also make sure you tell the manufacture the tire brand and size you plan on using as this impacts the offset as well. Obviously tire brands will change over the years but want to get as close as you can to what you are currently using and/or plan on using.