My performance shop took two hours to replace the stock crank pulley with VAP's and I already had the tune in place. I half expected them to call me and say one of the bolts (there is always the last one) was being a pain to get out but they said the forty odd fasteners on the belly pan was more fun.

Throttle response doesn't seem to have become overly hair trigger which is a concern I had as a daily driver, maybe the tune helps.

Thanks to Stuart @ VAP for his willingness to answer stupid questions by email and my fellow pulley posse.

I think my mods are done for now. Famous last words...

 

So what's the overall verdict?

 

I didn't get dyno numbers as to be honest I don't care this time round, I'm happy with the butt dyno results.

I think the pulley is an incremental upgrade to the tune. I haven't had a lot of road time but I think the word that comes to mind is effortless.

When I switched from my 5.0 V8 tuned XFR, to the 3.0L V6 F Coupe it seemed that more stirring and prodding was needed to make it come alive and that was to be expected. Dynamic and Sport obviously helped but it was always noticeable taking the stock car to the dealer and back.

With the tune and the pulley combination the V6 just wants to run. Doesn't need encouragement or whipping ;-) I can see why if you were dealing with just stock OEM choice you would pick the V8 models especially if you drove them back to back. And I can understand why Jaguar would want to steer you in that direction.

Thank you tuners and aftermarket Jaguar supporters and VAP in this case for their development investment.

If you have a V6, I would recommend you consider it....

 

+1. With a fully tuned and pullied V6, there is no lusting after a V8.

 

Lust comes in many forms and sounds.

 

If you drove a V8 you would change your mind, even better a V8 with the pulley.

 

I'm not so sure I would...now the four cylinder, no thanks...

 

No slant on the v8 but for several hours at a r academy flogging a v6 and a v8 no doubt the v8 was better on a road course with substantial straights but on a tighter confine it was too much for me personally. When buying my ftype it was not about the dollars. 100percent I felt I could drive the 6 quite hard but the 8 would over drive me on the roads I like to drive. This is why they make them both for different styles and folks. With the tune, i would never fear the v8 in day to day driving.

 

Unless it's a tuned and pullied V8

 

For those who haven't seen Clarkson's Top Gear review of the F-Type


And the quote from him that rocked the nation - "at no point while I have been driving this (V6) have I thought I wish it was a bit more exciting..." referring to the V8 ;-)

There have been plenty of "displacement wars" threads, the aim of my post was that adding these two mods brought my car to the point where it's great enough for me as a daily driver. If I were tracking it or looking for straight line chasing, maybe I'd continue trying to get extra horsepowers and torques wrung out. To each their own.

 

I drove both V6 and V8 coupes when they came out, back-to-back. I found the V6 a bit lighter at the nose and more willing to turn in. V8 did not have such eagerness to change direction. It become slightly more pronounced when I test drove my future car - F Type R AWD coupe. It became even heavier and the difference with the V6 become more pronounced.
But even despite the V6's more "balanced" nature, I still chose the AWD R coupe. And do not have a single regret...after all when you are mad enough to get this mad car, why not go for the maddest one?

 

$30K ;-)