I'm looking at potentially purcahasing a XKR in the future, but first have a few questions to get answered before I dive off the deep end.

First, just a little about myself. I'm no stranger to cars, and fell in love with the XK8 when I first saw one back in '97. However, they were out of my price range so I looked elsewhere. Over the years, I found another love in cars, the Thunderbird. I now own and modify a '92 Super Coupe, the supercharged 3.8l Thunderbird. I like the sleek styling, comfotable ride (both from the interior perspective and the suspension ride), and, of course, the performance aspect of a front engine mount, rear wheel drive car with independent rear suspension. Thus you can see the attraction for me for the XKR. As you can also surmise, I'm not content to leave what the factory produced alone. In fact, I believe that there is a lot of performance to be had with the little 4.2l V8 that's stuffed into the '03 (specifically the year that I'm looking at). I've done a fair amount of searching on the internet for as much information that I can find on the XKR, but there are a few things that I can't find readily.

The first pertains to the crank. I'm curious to know if it is a forged crank or cast. I'm assuming forged as Ford typically puts a forged crank into its supercharged cars. I just want to confirm that. It will allow greater power potential and more forgiving of minor mistakes along the way.

The other thing that I'd like to know is the availability of aftermarket performance parts. Simple things like exhaust, supercharger pulley, and intakes are relatively easy to come by. However, things like tuning, plenums, etc are much more application specific and may be harder to come by. I haven't seen very much on any aftermarket parts at all. I'm not a stranger to low production cars as my Super Coupe is a great example of one. I'm able to fabricate the parts that I need if they are not readily available. I'm just curious if there's anything out there for the XKR. Getting the heads ported, new grinds for the cams and even larger valves and new valve springs can be found (albeit with a little creativity) that will work, but tuning may become an issue. Is there a good source for a tuner that is available out there? I'm a big fan of SCT as they are able to crack into Ford's eec's better than any other aftermarket tuning company. This engine is used in a couple Ford vehicles (although controlled vastly differently) so I would assume that it would at least carry some of the same base codes that Ford puts into some of it's other production vehicles. If that's the case, then SCT should work fine, but with a few tweeks.

If I do decide to actually purchase an XKR, I will not leave it alone. Thus, I'm looking at the '03+ model years (because of the few upgrades that were implemented in '03) with relatively high mileage. I'm not at all afraid to pull the engine and rebuild it for performasnce. I'm an enthusiast as well as a guy who likes to modify a car to make it truely mine. Some may think it's a sin to do that to any car, let alone one like an XKR, but to each his own. I just enjoy the tinkering and results that can be had when it's done...if it's ever done...

Thanks in advance.

 

I understand that most Jag owners wouldn't think of doing anything like modding their $80k+ car. I just can't see leaving all that potential on the table... hehe... Just to put it in perspective, my little 3.8 V6 (supercharged too) is putting roughly 330 hp out at the flywheel and I'm getting ready to add a lot more. I haven't even touched the cam and that's using a little M90 instead of the M112. I do however have an M112 (from a Jag) that I'm going to be installing soon. That and a cam will bump my power output to well above what an XKR puts out from the factory. That said, with a couple more holes in the block and a DOHC design should put the potential up much higher than is put out right now. So long as the tuning can be done (that would just take some tinkering, of course) I don't see any reason why an XKR couldn't be a real sleeper.

I've done a little checking into Arden...I really like their gfx, but the price is outrageous, even for the well-to-do. I will do a little more looking into them to see what they offer. I'm accustomed to having to think outside the box with my Super Coupe, so this wouldn't be much different. After all, I am taking an M112 for a Jag and completely modifying it to fit my Super Coupe...that involves making the snout shorter, building an inlet from scratch and modifying the case to fit. It's all not too hard, but just time consuming. I'll also be doing some extensive porting on the supercharger to get it to flow significantly more.

Thanks for the info so far.