Project Mud-Type: A Lift Kit and Straight Pipes on an X-Type?
In this video from CarThrottle, they start work on turning a Jaguar X-Type into the off-road machine called Project Mud-Type.
CarThrottle’s Alex Kersten found this surprisingly rust-free British X-Type for just £490. Weighing in at 3248 lbs and powered by a 6-cylinder engine making 194 horsepower and 180 lb.ft of torque, it’s a perfectly nice, smooth luxury car. Most importantly, to help it become Project Mud-Type it also has Jaguar’s AWD system.
Unsurprisingly, when Kersten took it off-road in its stock form he found it just about useless. However, it did show that the first thing it would need is a suspension lift. That will both increase ground clearance and make room for some more suitable tires. As this is a budget build, to get a +70 mm lift they effectively performed the reverse of cutting springs to lower a car. They welded a metal sleeve onto the wishbone to hold and extend the existing spring. Simple, but it’s effectiveness is debatable as it doesn’t increase suspension travel along with ride height.
For the straight pipes, they cut holes in the bumpers so the tips will emerge, in Kersten’s words, “Like a pair of subtle middle fingers.” We’re not sure they will add any extra performance to the engine, but they actually sound rather good.
After seeing the video, what initially sounds like a terrible idea is actually getting interesting. The fabrication looks good and solid, and the guys at the garage obviously know what they are doing in general. As it’s not destined to be road legal, they aren’t going to have to compromise beyond cost so it could turn out to be a comfortable and somewhat competent off-roader. If not, then it will at least serve as an interesting experiment in on the fly engineering.
Next up, Project Mud-Type is due to get a set of off-road tires, a snorkel, and a fabricated safari roof rack. We’re looking forward to seeing this develop more than we thought we would.
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