Hey all, I haven’t received very much feedback on any of my prior posts where I could’ve actually used some from those on here much more versed than I on the Jaguar 5.0SC’s.. But I’ll give this another shot..
I own a 2011 Jaguar XF 5.0SC with the ZF 6HP28 transmission. I have done a few upgrades and some maintenance which started about 2 weeks of ownership, where I personally dug in to the fairly complicated timing chain replacement and thus begun my deep fascination with upgrading and learning as much as I could on the Jaguar 5.0 and in particular MY 2011 XF 5.0 Supercharged.
So to get to the point of this post and I hope I can hear feedback and learn from those that may know. I have been searching for any and all knowledge regarding the ZF6HP upgrade to the Exedy 6R80 transmission “conversion/ upgrade/ hybrid??” Not sure what the hell to call it but I’ve read in quite a few forums and such that the ZF6HP26 will happily accept the 6R80 clutch kits from Exedy that would stand up to 1,000hp. I don’t have any realistic thoughts of getting nearly that high of a figure. But a guys can hope. Only thing is that I am unsure if this will also work with the 2nd gen- 6HP28.. if so aside from the clutches, can the intermediate shaft, sun gear, planetary gears and other related components be upgraded to their billet versions and still be fitted? Is there a complete list of what would go in to the transformation? I know @davetibbs might possibly know but I haven’t been able to gain contact with him lately to ask. If anyone knows anything about this, please help a fellow member out. I have no mechanics near me willing to touch the car (some type of Jaguar Phobia or some ****) and the nearest Dealership is roughy 50+ miles away and in one of the wealthiest areas of the North Bay Area in California. Which I doubt they would even have anything to say on the subject worth listening to. So here in these forums is basically the only place I have to receive any knowledge. Anyways. Thanks in advance to those who might give some feedback or graciously share the wealth of knowledge. We all have to start somewhere. I’ve done as much independent research as I could manage but I feel that real world experience and tips from those who have it would be where I find my best chance to learning about this. Thanks again. Have a great evening.
-Brandon

 

I wish I knew more about it and could offer some insight, but I don't, unfortunately. I just didn't want you to think your post was being ignored.

 

i appreciate your reply. This is quite a big change to the drive train and I don’t expect everyone to have experience doing it. But I’m sure there’s got to be someone who’s either done it or has at least done their own independent research. I’m very tempted to just purchase a spare 6hp28 and give it a try myself.

 

We're all counting on you! Ha-ha!

 

Hi boosterxf,

Many here are dealing with the general maintenance to major overhaul of the original parts, very few will be looking at advanced modifications and experimentations. Those who do stand out with a bit of searching and some have left and moved on.

I enjoy working on these sedans but I personally can't see them past the sport sedan identity. When I want performance from an I.C.E. car, I play with Mustangs, Camaros, or 911's. (Still like the air cooled over the liquid coolant models. From the first generation 911 to the "G-Model" to the 964 and 993.)

Best of luck with your experiment as we will all be watching and learning a bit more from your experiences.

Kevin

 

Honestly, I toyed with the idea of getting a car with a wider variety of performance modifications and more common swaps/ upgrades. But since I’ve already started this little endeavor with my XF I think I’d like to at least see it make the most it will and then I may either garage it for the next project or use it to fund the next. But either way, to me it’s the experience and learning a new manufacturer that is strangely interesting. It sure keeps me busy doing research. Which to be honest, hasn’t turned up very much on this particular subject. So it might just be time for some R&D. Wonder if there’s a lonely 6HP sitting around someone’s garage that wants to see my project to completion??

 

Well gentleman, the journey has begun.. I have officially received confirmation of the compatibility from an unnamed source who’s knowledge on this subject FAR exceeds mine. Through out all of my searching thread after thread and comparing every picture I had saved to see the differences and similarities between the 6HP and 6R, it took one conversation that lasted no more than 30 minutes to know exactly what my plans were. Some parts have been ordered and others have been saved on my build list. In all honesty, I’m pretty excited to see how this goes. It will be a fair amount invested but the knowledge/ experience I will receive from it is 100% worth it (To Me). Some may not enjoy learning as much as I do and would prefer to send a part off and be happy with the end result. But I just can’t do that. I mean I’m sure I could. But I truly enjoy the satisfaction of knowing I built it. And all the knowledge that comes from the process is just irreplaceable. The people I meet and talk to and who share their knowledge and experience with me are hands down some of the best people I’ve come to meet. And they all seem to share that same passion I do. For those of you who have read this far and the few that have commented, I thank you. Even if it was just to see that my post didn’t go ignored. I appreciate you and will post along the way. Hope you all have a great day.
-B

 

We don't see much if any problems with the 6 or 8 speed ZF transmissions?
Even cars that are modified heavily. Maybe check out the F-Type forum as they are much more performance/modification oriented. I do know there are several guys over there running in the 10's which for a street car is still pretty dang quick!

I race and have a tune and pulley for several years and the stock 8 speed is alive and well.
Are you haveing some problems with your 6 speed ZF?

It's great that they are parts for up 1000HP cars but we don't have any Jaguar's anywhere near that level yet so maybe we just aren't pushing the transmissions that hard?
I know the HellCats which have a uprated ZF are running 1000HP without breakage. It's a very tough transmission.
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I 100% agree. These are definitely tough transmissions. I’m not 100% sure what I’ve been experiencing yet. I started getting some noise that I’m beginning to think is the Converter starting to go. But after a fairly aggressive round trip on this 23 mile winding road, I’ve started to get 4th gear issues. Started with a slight clunk and now when I’m just getting back On the throttle before I feel the converter engage in 4th I experienced a grind type sound almost. Im not the most experienced with transmissions and certainly not the best at diagnosing them but I have a basic understanding of how they operate. To me this sounds like the frictions in my converter are starting to go and my 4th gear is as well. And I also thing my bridge seal might be either done or on the way because in Drive it sometimes doesn’t downshift and I’ve gone through a yield and slowed but not stopped and when I went to accelerate it was still in 5th gear at about 15-20mph and I had to manually downshift to 2nd to keep from bogging down. Mind you I wasn’t in paddle manual. It was in Auto D. So there’s a few things I’m experiencing and I would just like to go in there one time and not have to worry in the future say if I ever do make more than I am now. (Intake, ported snout and TB, crank pulley, soon to be upper pulley and killer chiller kit *if it ever gets delivered, and then my existing tune which I’m seeing 27psi regularly on) I plan on doing a TCM tune and then the F Type E Diff calibration upload here soon so I want to be ready. I’m hoping my boost will be higher with the Upper pulley and the Killer Chiller kit. And even then I was debating on a Joker Z full tilt port but that would take some funding from other projects. So to answer the questions I guess no, I don’t think I can meet or exceed the 1000hp rating but at the same time, I’m shooting for as high as I can possibly squeeze out of this car and would like to be able to feel confident it won’t leave me **** out of luck on the side of a mountain or looking like an idiot at the track/ some * unoccupied rd in “Mexico”. My personal opinion I guess. What do you think about my logic?

 

I think your right and I will be watching how your mods go. I am interested in the TCM tune too.
Hope it's not too expensive in the end?
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Howdy, been a long time since this post. Ended up detonating two pistons. But have since begun rebuilding. Whilst in there I opted to just take care of the transmission “rebuild”. So on the topic of the 6HP28, I’ve come to own both an NA 5.0 6HP28 as well as the Supercharged variant and a 6R80. I had all 3 town down at the same time and did a side by side comparison. So in terms of the 6R80 being an upgrade for internals, yes and no. What’s commonly swapped from the 6R80 is the Planetary/ intermediate and output shafts. Well the NA 6HP is certainly different as it has the three hub planetary where the 6R has a 4 hub. Well the SC 6HP actually has the 4 hub as well. Only thing worthwhile is the One Way Low Reverse from the 6R80 but it will require reducing the amount of Frictions and steels as the whole assembly in total amounts to 30mm and the clutch material accounts for 8mm of that. That and the first steel is about the thickness of two of ours. So in short, if you have an NA, yes, the internals swap could definitely be of use. Otherwise I’d recommend just keeping gears and upgrading the frictions and steels to the Exedy stage two’s that are rated for 1,000WHP. And if you got the cash, I’d recommend checking out Power By The Hours selection of billet internals. I believe somewhere around $4,500 for the parts but that is almost guaranteed to outlast anything these AJ133’s would be able to give it. (Until of course someone figures out that they are fairly similar to a Coyote and can be made to put those numbers down.)

 

Thanks for the added info! So nice to see someone tear stuff down and take a look. Sometimes that's all it requires because Ford/Jaguar/Dodge are not interested in telling anyone what parts swap into and out of their cars and into other brands. BUT we know these 6 speeds are all based on the original ZF 6 speed too.

Any pictures of the differences?
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I took a bunch of pictures and a video of the 6R80/ZF6HP28 NA and SC models all together torn apart

 

Ouch, detonating pistons obviously a bad tune.... Hope that part gets all straightened out

 

Wow, this might sound bad but I'm impressed as to the levels your pushing these beasts. Good luck with the rebuild, hope no cylinder damage. Any pics of the car on the track?