Suspension tuning for less body roll and tighter ride?
#1
Suspension tuning for less body roll and tighter ride?
Hi all,
I'm looking for information on suspension tuning options to make the ride tighter and reduce the body roll. Particularly where I now live, many of the roads have horrible grading with bumps, sudden dips or drops, and then big hills. The ol' cat has lots of body roll on these and I can feel when going down the sudden drops the wheels drop down on the suspension, then the body slamming down on it, which is not great for the car and feels bad too. Overall, the car feels very sloppy on these roads, very unsure. I'd like to tighten it up.
I've got a friend with a modified Audi RS5 and having driven a few of those before, it's a big heavy sedan of similar weight and power to the XKR in stock form. His is tuned to have a very tight suspension and having driven it, it feels very confident, pin-point precise on the roads here.
Ideally, I'd like to do something similar to get more performance out of the Jaguar without compromising its comfort.
Who's done suspension improvements on their car and can provide input?
I'm looking for information on suspension tuning options to make the ride tighter and reduce the body roll. Particularly where I now live, many of the roads have horrible grading with bumps, sudden dips or drops, and then big hills. The ol' cat has lots of body roll on these and I can feel when going down the sudden drops the wheels drop down on the suspension, then the body slamming down on it, which is not great for the car and feels bad too. Overall, the car feels very sloppy on these roads, very unsure. I'd like to tighten it up.
I've got a friend with a modified Audi RS5 and having driven a few of those before, it's a big heavy sedan of similar weight and power to the XKR in stock form. His is tuned to have a very tight suspension and having driven it, it feels very confident, pin-point precise on the roads here.
Ideally, I'd like to do something similar to get more performance out of the Jaguar without compromising its comfort.
Who's done suspension improvements on their car and can provide input?
#2
Replaced suspension bushes with PowerFlex black urethane race bushes, which made an immediate difference. Next fitted adjustable coilovers and finally custom front and rear sway bars with urethane bushes. Other tweaks include solid subframe bush replacements and thicker front and rear end links. New engine mounts, trans mount, diff mounts & guibos.
The following 2 users liked this post by jahummer:
resident_fng (01-01-2024),
steve_k_xk (01-01-2024)
#3
Replaced suspension bushes with PowerFlex black urethane race bushes, which made an immediate difference. Next fitted adjustable coilovers and finally custom front and rear sway bars with urethane bushes. Other tweaks include solid subframe bush replacements and thicker front and rear end links. New engine mounts, trans mount, diff mounts & guibos.
I've done the bushings and sway bar links on a previous one that had rotted components, and that did help. I looked into the polyurethane ones at the time but went with OEM style ones because they were a little cheaper and troublingly people reported the polys squeak. Any issues with that?
New mounts will probably help improve the ride as well, but the car only has 22k miles. Thoughts?
Tell me more about the custom sway bars and coilovers. What made the sway bars custom? Are they commercially available parts or custom fabricated? And which coilovers did you use?
The following users liked this post:
resident_fng (01-02-2024)
#6
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 2,777
Received 1,103 Likes
on
776 Posts
The following users liked this post:
jahummer (01-02-2024)
The following 2 users liked this post by jahummer:
BlkC4t_XK14 (01-08-2024),
steve_k_xk (01-03-2024)
Trending Topics
#9
Personally, I can not imagine how perfect these cars would be if they came in at 300–400 pounds lighter the handling in even a standard xkr would be brilliant at 3500–3600 pounds (There would be no need for power increase).
When driven hard you can feel the weight of these cars especially over the front axle
When driven hard you can feel the weight of these cars especially over the front axle
Last edited by steve_k_xk; 01-03-2024 at 07:52 PM.
#10
#11
It’s a Motorsports version not best suited for a daily driver. Plenty of charge for limited use whilst the generator’s not in use, perhaps 10-20 minutes max compared to an AGM. Good thing about lithium’s its ability to maintain constant voltage compared to lead batteries, which’s also a bad thing because it will drop instantly rather than slowly on a curve. Also not likely compatible with later versions of Jags fitted with BMS. First gen, like mine, don’t have BMS so it charges just fine using the battery’s built in BMS.
#12
It’s a Motorsports version not best suited for a daily driver. Plenty of charge for limited use whilst the generator’s not in use, perhaps 10-20 minutes max compared to an AGM. Good thing about lithium’s its ability to maintain constant voltage compared to lead batteries, which’s also a bad thing because it will drop instantly rather than slowly on a curve. Also not likely compatible with later versions of Jags fitted with BMS. First gen, like mine, don’t have BMS so it charges just fine using the battery’s built in BMS.
My buddies xe has a lithium battery, much lighter and except for the one time it 'flat lined' seems like an okay upgrade. He had it at a shop, they left the doors open too long and it went so dead that it souldn't be jumped, needed a slow charge overnight.
wj
#13
The AG batteries have a jump start reserve when they go dead which allows a one time restart. The one I’ve fitted is small with lower Ah, which means it will go dead in 10-20 minutes if the lights or other electrics are left running with the engine off. AG do make a full size 80Ah H8, but it’s $1300 and 26 pounds which isn’t enough weight savings to justify the price. For less than half that price mine’s a further 20 pounds lighter.
The following users liked this post:
steve_k_xk (01-04-2024)
#14
#15
#16
I spoke with BC Racing's customer service after reviewing your BC Racing installation posts. They were supposed to get back with me with a quote for a set of DS coilovers, but I never heard from them. I got sidetracked on another car project and haven't followed up. I was hoping to find a review of the Swallows Racing coilovers before I re-engaged with BC Racing.
#17
https://au.maxpeedingrods.com/index....092&quantity=1
I wonder if these could be a suitable alternative to BC racing coilovers ?
As the above link is for x350 we would simply need to confirm whether the x350 & x351 also share the same upper mounting plate, specifically the distance between the studs.
*I can confirm the x351 & x150 share the same upper strut mount plate
I wonder if these could be a suitable alternative to BC racing coilovers ?
As the above link is for x350 we would simply need to confirm whether the x350 & x351 also share the same upper mounting plate, specifically the distance between the studs.
*I can confirm the x351 & x150 share the same upper strut mount plate
Last edited by steve_k_xk; 01-10-2024 at 05:37 AM.
#18
Looks like its a go for x350 coilovers to fit x150 https://au.maxpeedingrods.com/produc...2004-2010.html
coilover upper mounting plate for x350 they match x351 & x150
coilover upper mounting plate for x350 they match x351 & x150
Last edited by steve_k_xk; 01-11-2024 at 07:38 AM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)