I am looking to lower my 09 s/c XF... I bought a set of Eibach lowering springs yesyerday and should arrive tomorrow. I'm wondering if anyone has lowered a XF and were there any problems after install? I lowered my Lexus GS with Tanabi lowering springs, and I got a good "vibration" when idling, and a little "wobble" when initially accelerating. This was a common problem, and not just my car.
I'm just curious if any Jag (preferably XF owners) have had any issues like this?
Thanks

 

No experience with this, but I am also interested in any and all comments / concerns, as I am somewhat interested in the possibly lowering my 2011 XF.

 

Personally, I wouldn't do it. The strength of the Jag over its German rivals is that it rides as well as it handles. Jag engineers spent a lot of R&D time getting it like that. You can destroy that balance by going to lowering springs. You may not even gain any handling benefits, but only "better" looks with the lowered car.

 

That's all I'm looking for is to close that wheel gap a hair...

 

Thanks, I hear you! I, too would like to close up the wheel well gap a little, but not if it's going to downgrade what they (Jag Engineers) did such a great job on!

 

How about running a larger diameter tire then?

You lose some gap, and gain some sidewall.

The sidewall can help in terms of comfort and rim protection.

 

My Perilli P Zeros are brand new, wouldn't be a wise investment to buy a new set... Plus a larger sized tire MAY rub. I tried that with my Lexus before I lowered it.
Got the Eibach springs in the mail today, I will post pics when they go on and feed back on the ride/handling aspect too.

 

Awesome!
Looking forward to those pics and your feedback on the ride quality.

 

A larger diameter tire will effectively lower (numerically) your final drive ratio, such that acceleration will be slower and your speedometer will read erroneously low (so could be speeding and think you're within the limit). Honestly, most people won't notice how much gap you have between your tire and fender lip. Just leave the car as-is.

 

Your absolutely right!!! Problem is, I notice it, so it has to drop.

 

I notice it too, in fact, I've been lowering my cars since 1990.

 

Lowering changes the suspension alignment, usually inducing more negative camber and often more toe in. The result will be a harder riding car that handles less well. Smooth idea.

The "gap" between the top of the tire and the fender is irrelevant to any function of the suspension. It also looks pretty dumb to anyone who knows anything about car suspension.

Some guys like to wear eye liner, some guys like their cars to have the "slammed" look.

Real drivers leave their Jaguar as it came from the factory. Mike Cross knows what he is doing. If the car benefitted from lowering he would have done it.

Think about all those real drivers laughing at you as you slide by on lowering springs with your tires wearing out and your handling and braking adversely affected. Great use of your money.

 

If you like to wear eye liner, thats your business... If I wanna lower my car ONE INCH (not "slam"), that's my business. I don't race my Jag, I drive it. I like to customize my cars because looks are important to me, as I'm sure your eye liner is to you.
When I put 20" chrome wheels and lowered my Lexus GS, NOT ONE PERSON LAUGHED AT IT... It was actually quite the opposite.
Thanks for your help an insight though!!!

 

Absolutely it is a matter of personal taste. My quibble is actually with those who think it will improve performance. Dropping a street car will make the ride harsher because the lowering springs HAVE to be shorter and therefore MUST be higher rate springs to keep the car from bottoming out too often. This is true even if you use height adjustable coilovers which in theory can keep the same spring rate but only at the risk of bottoming out. Dropping a street car will also ruin the carefully selected suspension alignments chosen by the manufacturer and the handling will be noticeably inferior to stock ride height. The XFR is optimized for handling and I don't think Jaguar dropped it from standard ride height.

Large wheels suffer from the same defects. The "big brake" phenomenon is a similarly misguided fashion statement, and is paradoxically used as the "reason" for such big wheels. I say BS to that. Brake performance is pretty much independent of brake size for street cars.

Unfortunately, car manufacturers do specify absurdly large wheels these days purely for looks and then have to make all manner of weird suspension compromises to preserve ride and handling. Frankly, the large wheel and uber low profile tire fashion is reminiscent of some other weird fashion fads of the past like platform shoes, powdered wigs and cod pieces.

I like my cars to perform as well as they can for the roads I have to drive on, including severe winter conditions, so I am very fussy about stuff on my car that interferes with real world driving performance. The Jaguar XF has a pretty hard ride already for a Jaguar but it is worth it for the sublime steering and handling you get from standard steel springs and gas pressure non adjustable shocks. Mind you, that enormous new XJ outperforms the standard XF in those departments AND has an incredibly soft ride. If it weren't so flippin' huge I would be buying one of those just for the drive, try one.

 

I understand that aspect, but like I said, just look g to close the ago to look a lil better... I don't race the car, I live in a city. I got stop light to stop light for the most part. If it handles a lil rougher, I can accept that for the shaper look of the 1" drop.

 

Then why mod a car at all if Jaguar got it right straight from the factory?

 

I like the lower look on alot of high end luxo cars. I just seen a Benz CLS the other day that was lowered. The Jag XF could really use the help in the rear end to close the gap, and 1 inch isn't really that much. My only concern is city driving. All of the hidden object are already a pain to watch out for. Bottoming out is another issue, mainly if you carry any weight in the car and going up and down steep parking lot entrance/exits. Those parking lot stoppers are another concern. My front end bearly clears those things as is.
If you do lower it, You will have to use a lot more caution with the mix of those 20 inch wheels and the lowering springs. It should make the wheel to fender gap look better but becareful of the cost you may pay down the road.

 

Exactly.

It is amazing how so many people think they can improve on the factory car.

My trouble with lowering is why anyone thinks it looks better. Better than what? Why does it look better?

 

Why does anyone think Beyonce looks better than Jessica Alba or Megan Fox looks better than Halle Berry? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. You don't need a reason "why".

Pretty much anything can be improved.

 

Perhaps. The question is: by whom? I back the factory guys as knowing how to make their car better. Aftermarket guys rarely improve a car though they sure change it.