There's no question regarding ultimate benefit of minimizing exhaust flow restrictions. In xenophobe's case it is a necessary mod to go along with T/S conversion.

At 5-8hp gain for over $1000 it's not a very beneficial mod on the Jag as a stand alone mod. If it would produce any sort of noticeable gain such as on the TT then there'd be nothing really to discuss.

 

I highly doubt anyone here would know what to do with excessive power achieved by serious engine mods unless its a track car (that you actually take to a track).

I bought the downpipes to smooth the bends / I also like the stainless steel, hopefully the sound will be noticeable, especially with the center res delete and under axle pipes. I love the whole polished ss Mina exhaust as well. I don't care about any HP gain. I like the looks, though you can't see most of my mods.

I have the money and spend it on whatever I want / I don't need to justify it

 

That being said.....Installation of the Mina Exhaust was successful

 

If you don't ever press your foot all the way down, the high flow cats are pointless. I didn't do a before dyno, but there was noticeable gain.

I've never argued about the monetary value, I question your repetitive assumption that all you get is more noise.

Like I said, if you don't ever press your foot all the way down, NP cats aren't for you. And if you don't ever press your foot all the way down, an XK was probably the wrong choice too.

Feel free to add some more of your ignorance to this thread as well:
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...results-95183/

 

I must say, I DO like the pile of restrictive Jaguar junk exhaust lying it the background of Premeir1one's nice photo..... Heh!

 

Ahh--I see you can never quite bring yourself to just write a post and conclude it without some sort of insult. Keep it up and the moderator will be informed.

Doug

 

You might not believe it, but we do actually read the threads, just takes a while to get around.

In this instance no need to inform us, already duly noted.

Not to stir the pot.

At the end of the day it is the owner's cash and can be spent however they wish.

For me, driving on public roads with speed limits/traffic etc, exhaust mods are purely about sound.

Any increase in bhp on a 300 - 500 bhp car is really not going to be noticed when passing Jed Clampet on the freeway, or anywhere else for that matter.

Notice that I said 'noticed', there may very well be an increase in power, there probably is, but unless the hobby is putting the car on the track and competing either directly in a race or against the clock, it would be a ,'I know that it is there' type of thing rather than useful bhp.

On the public road if I already have 300-500 bhp and I need an extra 10% to allow me and my driving style to overtake another vehicle, I would consider that I was a bad driver.

The track is different.

And I certainly enjoy reading about how someone is trying to make performance enhancing parts for what is essentially a very niche market.

Nameless et.al. keep it up. The Wright brothers developed a powered flight aircraft out of a bike shed.

Baiting/goading/insulting behaviour is not accepted around here, healthy discussion/argument is!

Nuff said, I hope.

Thread remains open.

 

Thank you Mods. I am on three (3) separate forums and each one has their own distinctive membership quirks. Jagforum is the only venue that has maintained a civilized level of discourse and I hope it can remain that way.

I don't know if it is the membership or the mods, but the BMW and 300zx forums can not find a way to have a legitimate disagreement without resorting to juvenile behavior and unnecessary insults. There is simply no reason to insult somebody on line, even if you don't like them or their ideas.

 

Hey Gordo--funny you should mention the BMW forums. I was lurking around one or more of those back in 2008 prior to getting the Jaguar since I was also considering a 335i. What a surly bunch of jerks. These guys were going to great lengths to insult each other. I recall a prolonged thread by some guy arguing how his 328 convertible was better than a 335i and all sorts or arguments and insults ensued. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

Doug

 

Classy people buy classy cars?

Or maybe it is that Jaguar as a mark tends to attract a more mature audience. And I don't mean mature in the sense of old, but in the sense of grown up and (mostly) above the silly arguments and name calling.

Or perhaps it is just that, when you climb behind the wheel of a Jag, you suddenly don't have anything to prove. There is plenty of power and comfort and people don't try to race you (you would probably win) and people smile when you drive by (cause it just looks that good). It's basically the opposite of the German or Japanese go-fast car crowd.

 

Believe me, it is not the car. Anyone who was on the Roadfly Jag forum a couple of years back when some of its members splintered off to form the MAX Performance Cars site will remember the caustic atmosphere back then. No its not the classy car. But yes it might be the classy people.

I think we are just lucky to have a great bunch of guys, and maybe a couple gals, who have manners and know how to properly behave themselves in the public space.

PS. I think the Japanese / German car club behavioral characteristics has its roots in WWII; but I have gotten past all that by now.

 

I'm a self admitted ****, but you're spouting off opinion as fact without basis or even knowledge of the particular product. If you're offended that I'm calling you on that, that's your problem. You didn't even know exactly what parts we were talking about. My apologies, ignorance offends me. As far as I'm concerned, you were trolling ME. Next time you want to be skeptical, at least understand what we're talking about instead of spreading misinformation... and please, tattle on me whenever you feel like it. lol



And you later mentioned baiting in your post.

So tell me what I should or shouldn't do to my vehicle to match your expectations?

 

That's a VERY heavy pile of scrap. I really need to get rid of that...get a little more elbow room. Work bench is just as bad....starting to go stir crazy here.

 

[QUOTE=
I have been trying for a while now to get a definitive straight answer as to what measured results you get on an otherwise stock XKR by dumping close to $1,000 into downpipes and if the resulting increase in noise would be objectionable inside the car.

Doug[/QUOTE]

Wait, I also spent $350 on the center muffler (Stainless as well) and another $1000 on the Mina set up. I like it! HeHeHe

 

Okay lads -

Can I distract us for a moment with the news that I had my Nameless cats installed yesterday. I have only done a few kilometres and even fewer miles :-) in heavy-ish traffic so my butt dyno is reserving its judgement.

As I said before - I am not looking for extra power just right now. What I wanted was sound, and boy did I get it!!! Absolutely perfect.

On startup the revs naturally remain higher at idle initially - once idle slows, a lovely subtle V8 throb comes through that was completely missing before.

If I decide to share my joy with the neighbours and open her up, the sound is aggressive and exactly how a powerful V8 should sound in my personal opinion.

At 90-120 kph (or 55-75mph) there is NO drone in the cabin at all - there is only the most slightly detectable increase in exhaust noise. I am glad I went to the expense of doing this first rather than hacking out mufflers right away.

Fellow NZ member JagQueen has done the same mod - and just happens to be a sound engineer - if we get a chance I'll get him to record it for me. We live at different ends of the country now so it might take a month or two.

If you are in NZ, you might see me - I'm the guy with the windows down and the big grin on my face.

EDIT: And Doug - hope that answers your question about potential for objectionable noise - Nope none at all in my case at cruising speeds. I could not say what might happen with additional exhaust mods on top of the cats though.

 

I've been thinking about this too but was concerned about the drone and noise, so it's good to hear that is aggressive but not intrusive at cruise.

Just to confirm, you did the cats on an otherwise stock 4.2 exhaust?

 

Correct. Completely stock. No other modifications to engine or exhaust whatsoever.

Only thing I've done to it is I pulled the fuse to stop the headlight washers spraying water all over the place, and adjusted the throttle cable as per instructions here. Previous owners have made no mods.

I am doing an 8.5 hour trip home to Wellington on Sunday so I will be in a better position to confirm total comfort by then, but I was driving around at motorway speeds today and sound was complelely acceptable, until I put my foot down. Then it became even more acceptable. :-)

 

Hi All,

Did this drive yesterday with my partner, involving a mix of road types and terrain.

Auckland to Palmerston North - Google Maps

Still 110% happy with the cats.

Noise increases with the load placed on the engine, so there is an increase in noise when going up hills, in the same way there is additional noise when overtaking. Not in any way offensive or intrusive in my opinion. Music, conversation, and concentration were completely unaffected.

To me, the sound of a V8 is beautiful and it was a pleasure to feel more connected with the engine during the journey.