I have a 2017 XE R Sport. I am seriously considering the Velocity ECU tune on the 3.0 engine. That would take the engine from 340 hp to above 410 hp using the 91 Octane available here in Los Angeles. I leased the car from Hornburg in WLA. Does anyone on the forum have any experience with Hornburg and their position on a ECU modification. Trying to find out if Jaguar is taking a stand against tuning and how it is dealt with at the dealer level. I would love to speak with someone in Los Angeles area about how their car felt post tune.

I went thru the tune process on my previous car which was an Audi S4. There is a large active online community so it was easy to discuss with other owners. This place is more quiet. If anyone here is familiar with Hornburg please contact me.

Thx

 

Any Jaguar dealership would be inclined to take a stand against aftermarket modifications.

I have the same car and will most likely get that tune too. I am also leasing but will most likely purchase this car at the end of the lease anyway.

As was explained to me, you can always reflash to your original ECU, thus dealership will not be able to prove that you've modified your car. Thus the warranty should not be voided unless they will "catch" you with the modified ECU.

 

Talk the service manager at Hornburg and pick his brain. See if they'll install it. You can always pay for ECU related issues out of pocket and Jaguar will never know.

A local Jaguar dealer to me use to do the upgrades to the pulley's and modify XKR's, so they must've thought it was okay.

If there's more than one Jaguar dealer, go to one that been around a long time or has some motorsport experience.

 

I just made a new local friend who has a R-Sport like mine and he has the VAP tune installed with no pulley. He has flashed his back to stock for his past 2 dealer visits and so far they haven't said anything yet. But be aware if the dealer needs to they can see at one time that there was a " Non-OEM Calibration" placed in the car and the flash counter would not match theirs.

So as long as there is no motor failure Would assume all would be okay but there is always that risk so it doesn't matter who's tune was i the car as they would know.

 

Hey guys thx for the responses. I was thinking of going to talk to a service guy at Hornburg and see how they respond. You never know because like Audi did 2-3 years ago a manufacturer may start to take a stand. Bottom line is that I find one is going to modify a car you have to take some responsibility if there is a major drive train failure.

Living in Los Angeles on the Westside traffic does not allow many opportunities to exercise the car the way it is let adding 70hp. On the other hand for $700 I imagine it really brings the car to life.

 

The good thing is that V6 in XE is fully capable making that power without major stress/reliability issues. As you know, Jaguar already makes 380hp version and now 395hp version in F-Type.

I think part of the appeal is knowing that you have that power available if need be.

 

You can be very sure that if the engine goes bang and the dealer finds a 'tune' or even a trace of a prior tune in the ECU, warranty will be denied. It's Jag corporate that pays warranty claims, not the dealer so don't listen to what your local guy says.

 

If you local dealer is responsive, it's gamble on both sides. JLR isn't paying for work due to modified ECU, but that does not mean any engine issue is due to the ECU.

Customer should be liable for damage caused by modified ECU.

 

They can always see if you modified the file, regardless if you go back to original or not. And as to OP question yes it will definitely void your warranty. However, if the dealers cares is all a matter of who you talk to and in most cases they will probably perform the service without knowing any better..... but when it comes down to it and there is a big issue and they find the mod then they can refuse warranty service. Some dealers supposedly do not mind mods, others do.

 

I've modified vehicles for years without any adverse impact. Obviously you're taking a risk but as long as your smart about things, it shouldn't matter. I plan to tune my XE soon.

 

Have you had one where the engine blew while still under warranty? Did the OEM pay?

 

No. I've really never had any issues outside of a rear differential going and the dealer still covered it even though it was clear the engine was modified. Look, I'm not trying to take anyone out of their comfort zone, I just think the risk is fairly low. I've owned a lot of cars and every forum debates this topic to death.

I plan to go with a piggyback unit so I can just plug it on and take it off for service appointments. If you take care of your vehicle and don't destroy your vehicle through beating the snot out of it, a lift of 10-15% HP shouldn't cause your engine to blow if the tune is quality.

 

I'm speaking in general terms, I have no idea what the limit of the stock injectors and fuel pump are but I plan to do a conservative tune to bump power a bit. For me, I enjoy the fun of it.

 

same here, I haven't had many toys I haven't modified in some way. My thoughts are that is I go with one of the Ford sourced engines which are proven and reliable, then I will go for a tune (Ford themselves offer a Mountune tune for these engines in their dealerships, so it is obviously fairly safe). If I end up getting a car with one of the new Ingenium engines which are not as proven, then I am not so sure I will risk the warranty too early in case we find there are engine issues which the dealer would love to blame on a slight ECU tune.

 

Please re-read the OP's question. It's not 'will the engine go bang' or 'will the tune be effective', it's simply 'will the warranty pay'.

The answer is no. The fact that it's leased car makes things even more complicated. There's probably a clause that prohibits doing a mod in the first place.

 

I was wondering whether you have similar consumer laws in your country as Australia does (though many here are unaware of it, as they may be in your country. Our consumer law states that unless the modification has a realistic likelihood of causing the failure which is being claimed under warranty, then the warranty claim cannot be rejected. 2 instances which come to mind from friends of mine are these.
A friend with a Korean made car had a timing belt failure which I think they put down to a belt adjuster failure. His car had been chipped and exhaust tail section changed 3 years into its 5 year warranty. The dealer noticed a sticker next to the petrol filler (and maybe in the engine bay?) saying it had a performance chip and needs 98 octane petrol) At first they tried to say there might be issues with warranty but when he said he would fight it as the chip had no effect on life of the belt adjuster, the warranty claim went through and he had a new engine fitted (but they didn't swap the performance software onto the new engine). The next one was a BMW diesel with coolant leaks and (I think) cracked exhaust manifold. They also mentioned that warranty might be rejected due to a plug in performance chip they found in an obvious position. Once the owner made it known that he knew it could not cause the faults, they backed down quickly and honoured his warranty claim.
I would say that with this rule, if you cooked a piston, bent rods, overheated it etc, then, yes, warranty could reasonably be refused, but not a performance mod which would have no chance of effecting an unrelated fault.
Do you know if your country also has this consumer law? You might want to look into it maybe?

 

As far as I know most countries have such laws. Canada and the US certainly do. This doesn't help the OP though.

 

Yeah, as a consumer you more or less will "void" your warranty by tuning the engine but my personal opinion is the downside risk is overblown. Again, you must use your own discretion, it's your responsibility. I just see at as a 0.02% change of an engine failure and a 0.006% chance the dealer voids the warranty. It doesn't mean it can't happen, but even if an engine replacement had to come out of my pocket, it's not like a Ferrari engine with cost. Just my opinion and how I look at my investment. I'm not an accountant so my risk profile might be a little more! I'm waiting to get a few more miles on my car to feel comfortable that there is no defect from the factory.

BTW - I had a friend run this company's tune on his Audi and he recommended to me. I went ahead and ordered one last night so hopefully will put it on next month. Looks like they have a tune for the 35t as well. Price is reasonable so thought it was worth a try.
https://rennchip.com/collections/jag...-25t-power-box

 

nice but it seems like you get a lot more for about the same price with our resident guy on the forum :P, although if you are going for the 4 cylinder tune I am not sure he has one.

 

Yeah, I may go that direction if I'm not happy with the rennchip. I didn't want to flash the ECU just yet. I know you get slightly better results but it stays on the ECU logs. I'm not trying to deceive my dealer but the piggyback can come off like it was never there. Sort of taking the easy route first, plus I can always sell it and get some money back.