My faithful 2007 XJR with 158,000 miles finally succumbed to a tired engine (low compression on two cylinders) and it was time to move on, so last Friday I was on the way to test drive a 2011 Panamera V6 when I saw a listing for a 2011 Supersport with 66k, one owner, dealer serviced all its life, for a price considerably less than the Panamera. One drive and the hook was set - my god this thing is quick! The car had a few needs that I could see and hear but overall it looked solid so the deal was done (although a menacing Alpina B7 at the same dealer was certainly intriguing).

Driving it home I noticed a couple of chassis issues - some road rumble coming from the front right suspension, an occasional clunk from the left rear, and a vibration coming from the center of the car at 70-85 mph. Reading the posts here, sounds perhaps like sway bar bushings and/or transmission mount and/or lower control arm bushings and/or driveshaft coupler...what is most common? I know performance luxury cars these days seem to have a lot of expendable rubber in them.

I listened for the infamous chain noise - I think it's quiet - and the car is on the original old-style water pump, so most likely sometime in the future both will need updating - but how do you tell when it's time? Is it a gradual deterioration or a sudden failure? The car has had the oil changed about every 7500 miles by the dealer and idles smoothly.

The front sunroof blind had failed in the open position - annoying but not serious, especially since it sounds like a costly fix. And one of the rear door sunblinds is stuck open - is there an easy fix for this? Also one of the central courtesy lights comes on randomly.

But overall the car is a large step up from the XJR - especially the ever-available power. Nice responsive throttle (unlike the XJR), better transmission programming, excellent steering (so much better than BMW) with real feel, and although the ride isn't as elastic and insulated as the XJR the Supersport has better road feel as well as better damping of big bumps - someone at Jaguar knows how to set up a chassis. The only criticism is that the brakes - immensely powerful though they are - lack feel and initial bite...has anyone tried Hawk or EBC pads?

Tried Sport and Dynamic modes - Sport just seems to move the shift points up and Dynamic might stiffen the shocks a bit, but I'm not feeling a dramatic difference - should it be? I haven't tried any mountain roads yet to test either mode properly.

The infotainment system control panel is indeed crap as is the nav - I've ordered a 2012 panel - seems like it lacks processing power because it is really slow. However the B&W sound system is excellent - I'm not a fan of their speakers, finding them too edgy and Kevlar-y, but in the Supersport they really nailed it.

And, although I like the older body style better (which is easier to see out of aside from the B-pillar blind spot), the new one is growing on me. It helps that the shiny black exterior breaks up the heaviness of the design. It doesn't help that Kia copied it so successfully that I'm sure most people wonder if it's the new Optima! And the interior is really something special - very much in the older Bentley style, more like a luxurious power boat (a Riva, say) than a car - and the seats are much nicer than the XJR's. Almost - but not quite - too flashy, it gives the car the visual cue to what it has - and BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche all lack (good though they are) - soul!

 

The essential point to make is that the suspension is virtually identical to your old XJR, the only difference being coil-sprung front wheels, so only air springs on the rear, so less to worry about !! However whatever faults you found with suspension bushes wearing out on your XJR will come up again on this car. The car's weight is still supported by the four lower shock bushes so probably need replacing at one or two corners of the car.

I don't know much about the V8 water pump issue other than it is likely you'll need to replace it at some time. I think it is a leakage issue so will declare itself on your garage floor !

The other things seem fairly minor to me, but if you want to fix them, it's probably best to find a local Jaguar independent shop if you can as dealer rates are normally quite high.

I had one as a courtesy car early last year, and liked the car but bought a 2017 XE this January as the size of the car is quite daunting in our rather cramped car parks here in the UK. My previous car was a 2007 Sovereign 3 litre.

 

Welcome to the group! The Supersport is great, I tried to land one but it got bought by someone else right as I was driving to pick it up. It will require some initial investment to get the main stuff sorted out, but after that you should be good. I’ll contribute to your thread soon, but unfortunately I’m tied up tonight. Just wanted to say welcome and please post some pics.

Also, we should really start a sticky of the main known issues and when they were resolved by model year.

 

The size is daunting even in the US! I have an XJL and I’ve parked it a few times only to find the rear end sticking out of the space by 4 ft.

Reminds me of the Volvo V90 I rented in the UK. Seemed to spend half my time driving around distant corners of parking lots looking for extra large spaces.

 

With the power sunblind, I also had this issue. I was able to close it by providing the motor some assistance by gently pulling the blind manually while the motor is trying to close it. It took several cycles of letting it try to open by itself and then assisted closing to get it completely closed.

In my experience, suspension issues can be a bit of a rabbit’s hole and can get pretty expensive. Are you doing the work yourself, or are you going to have a shop do the work? With a professional shop, make sure they diagnose the problem correctly (ie non-centered suspension mounts) and don’t just guess based on description (ie clunking). Then have them replace every accessible bushing/ rubber piece on route to solving your primary issue. This will hopefully save you in labor.

First thing I would do though is get a lifetime alignment at Firestone or similar tire shop. Check if there is any non-adjustable alignment issues (ie camber). This can help guide some of your suspension decisions and it won’t be a guess.

Enjoy your new beast!

 

Regarding Dynamic mode, yes, you should feel a definite increase in throttle response, especially in combination with Sport mode.

Regarding the brakes, your pads may just be worn down, because the big brake kits on your model should have good feel and bite. Maybe not quite as good as the old Brembos, but still.

And welcome to the club!

 

Thanks for the replies - the Jaguar shop that I use says the banana arm bushings need replacing, so we'll see what effect that has. Possibly the driveshaft needs to be balanced as well?

The big question is whether and when to have the water pump and timing chain assembly replaced. The problem reminds me a lot of the Porsche IMS bearing issue which affects only about 10% of the motors from 1999-2007, but of course every owner is worried that their car is one of the 10%. The IMS bearing can fail without much warning - the question is, do the timing chains and water pumps on these cars do the same, or do they start leaking and making noise gradually so that you know they need to be done?

It would be great - as Nedoerr suggested - to expand the FAQ section on these cars to cover some of these known issues.

 

I would recommend changing to the new style water pump and updating to the new hoses as soon as possible. When you research the subject here on the forum you will find that the water pump failure can happen abruptly and you have to immediately get the car off the road and shut it down as fast as you can or suffer head gasket failure and head warpage. Updating to the new style pump and hoses that were introduced in 2017 seem to be a reliable cure so far. The job is fairly easy to do for a mechanically minded individual and only takes about 2 hours. The timing chain issue is hit or miss. Not all engines suffer the problem but those that do start getting the tell-tale sign of the engine sounding like a sewing machine at idle. It doesn't suffer an immediate catastrophic failure so if the problem develops you have time to fix it before causing any major problems. Its possible that you wont experience the issue as well.

 

Good advice and backed up by my mechanic - water pump being changed as I write.

 

In my experience would recommend replacing the motor mounts and transmission mount at the same time as the motor mounts are fluid filled and tend to get stiff over time and pass vibration into the cabin that you can feel the most coming through the steering wheel at idle.IMHO chain tensioner and guides are a given along with the water pump. There are a couple of other things that you need to check and replace as needed and they are the front suspension strut isolators at the top of the shock front springs and by looking at the top of the shock in the engine bay it should be centered in the opening, the other is the front sway bar bushings are notorious for the front end clunk.

I have owned my 2013 Supersport from new and have 98k on it and still love the car that I ordered, here are a few pictures.



In my year the Matavia were exclusive to the Supersport and was one of the reasons I ordered the Supersport

Ordered with the Speed Package. I had already chanced the Growler to red from black.

Ordered with the Speed Package . Pictured here in PDI at the dealer

I really like the wood steering wheel as it doesn't show wear like the full leather steering wheel.

I ordered in black Semi Aniline Leather with Tipped leather and Laser ribboned figured ebony wood

When the black interior was ordered the glove box, center console storage, and rear armrest storage was lined in this "electric" purple fabric.

Upper strut mount shows how the bushing where the top of the chock stick through is not in the center.

 

Erased duplicate post

 

Thanks for the tips - for some reason the images in your post aren't showing up for me, no idea why. What is the Speed package?

By the way, I like your car collection - the 1996 XJR was a wonderful car, the Lotus Cortina is legendary, and I too own a Citroen SM (mine's a 73)!

 

The speed Package adds increased top speed limiter 174mph and the speedometer has a higher top speed marking. At 12 o'clock the mph is 110mph.