I took the plunge and purchased the ECU tune thru ECU Tuning Group

First off, I must say that Jags at ETG was great to work with and the 10% discount for forum members was a good start. Since the closest ETG shop was in Akron OH (4hrs away from Indianapolis) I opted for the home tune. The equipment arrived via FedEX and Jags walked me thru each step. The actual process on my end only took about an hour or so waiting for files to download. The longest wait involved getting the remapped file which included latest software from Jaguar North America (a couple hrs).



After downloading file directly via remote desktop connection from Jags computer to the loaner laptop to OBDII port, my XJ 5.0 NA now performs on par with its looks.

According to Jags, the ECU tune added 25hp and 27lb TQ, removed the speed limiter, eliminated hesitation/flat spots, and raised the RPM all while improving fuel economy by 10-15%...

I have not and not sure if I will dyno the XJ but on paper with Myna Exhaust (12hp) and ETG tune, I can claim 427HP and 407 lbs TQ. Not a bad investment to gain 37HP and 27lb TQ for $1878 combined for both the tune and the exhaust.

The car feels and sounds amazing! I haven't tried to confirm the increase fuel economy because I am constantly chasing after the endorphins I get from increased HP/TQ However, I do have a long road trip planned at the end of the month so I will confirm the fuel economy then.

 

Thanks for this post. For those of us still covered by the factory warranty, would such a modification to the factory settings void the warranty?

 

Per their site: No. The software is undetectable.

Just curious: What was the all-in cost, with discount?

 

There have been mixed responses on this so I waited until my warranty was up to get the tune. I also got the scheduled factory slightly ahead of schedule to be sure there was no need to reflash my ECU.

Original cost was $995 minus %10 = $895 plus cost to ship/return/insure ETG laptop/OBDII reader ($90) = total $985

 

The tune is only detectable to the dealer when they go into the engine module for diagnostics. It will show "Non-OEM Calibration Detected-No sub type information". I think it also shows P167F-00 along with date & mileage. That is right off an IDS print out.

 

So, the tune is detectable, therefore I would think it could be used to cancel Factory warranty coverage, if push came to shove.

A 6.5% increase in horsepower, and 7.1% increase in torque, for $985.00 doesn't appeal to me, simply because I don't think it would make a noticeable increase in performance, unless you "want to believe".

If the ETG increased mileage claims prove true, and one drives ~10,000 miles per year, one could get "break-even pay back" on ones investment in ~5 years.

Anyhow, I admire your efforts to upgrade performance, and look forward to hearing about any increase in MPG.

 

Is ETG's tune worth it? You decide, but do your due diligence. The XKR forum has lots of threads that are worth reading, including discussions of

• lack of before and after dyno documentation,
• reverting back to stock tune,
• being detected by the TCM (transmission control module) and telling the ECM to back off to protect the torque converter,
• and more

Just go to the X150 Forum and search "ETG". Here's the result: Jaguar Forums - Jaguar Enthusiasts Forum - Search Results

If this was helpful, please press at the bottom right.

Stuart

 

My 2 cents FWIW...

With any mod, each owner has to decide if its personally worth the investment...

I can't comment on the XKR forum response to ETG but there are XJ X351 owners on this forum who have also taken the plunge...Skforza / BigCat09 / icarus77 and while SC (theirs) vs N.A (mine) is not apples-to-apples, their positive comments made me more comfortable doing business with ETG.

 

Gee, it would seem to me that anyone failing to provide documentation of tests showing verifiable before and after horsepower and torque results, shouldn't be taken seriously. Perhaps a scam?

 

No modification will void the warranty. If someone say it will ask them to put it in writing and then sue the crap out of them. The only things whic most owners are reasonably likely to do which MIGHT void the warranty are racing or using the car as a taxi/fleet vehicle.

You can change anything you want on the engine or in the software and the warrant is not void ... and legally can not be void (in the U.S. anyway, don't know about the UK). Your warranty is still in effect after you install this, or anything else on your car.

That said aftermarket modifications or failures caused by aftermarket modifications are not covered under warranty. This is key, so your warranty is still in effect but any failure the software causes is not covered (and causality is largely their determination), but the warranty is still very much in effect and voided.

So if you put this on your car and your engine blows because of it - it is not covered. If your engine blows due to a manufacturer defect unrelated to the software it is covered. Similarly if say your power windows stop working or your paint rusts through, both are still covered (as they can not be caused by this modification).

None of this has anything to do with whether or not the software is detectable by the dealer or not. If you install this on your car, and it causes a failure it is not covered. You may be able to make a claim and get them to pay for it if if the software undetectable, but that is warranty fraud and is both illegal and unethical.

 

Good points overall, but one thing needs to be clarified: Under the Magnuson - Moss act, it is the warranty company's job to prove the failure happened as a result of the modification - if they can't prove it, then they need to cover the repair. Unless you know for certain that your modification was the cause of failure, it's not warranty fraud to make a claim.

 

LaCapitalRue, IMOP all of these mods you made are great.
I have almost exactly the same car as you. So if you don't mind can you please post some up close pics and short video/audio that we could hear the awesome grumble of your car.


thanks a LOT !!!!!!!!

 

Good call. I too have a black car over london tan, just the "L" version. Would love to hear the exhaust and see a pic of the front splitters.

 

This may clear up any concerns about Modifications and Voiding warranties;


Understanding the Magnuson-Moss
Warranty Act

 

How is the long term satisfaction factor with this mod? I am getting trigger happy!!! I have never had a car with more than 400 HP and this tune will get me over that hump. I know that it won't have actual 400 WHp...but hey...I can say it without it totally being BS..lol

 

Same here... I really wanted to crest the 400HP mark and this mod along the Mina exhaust took well over the mark (on paper:-)). It still feels great but I haven't found stretch of interstate where I feel comfortable pushing it beyond 110mph. I wanted to test the higher than factory top speed (127) feature but not willing to risk getting a speeding ticket.

 

yah dude. I am looking forward to doing this. I have been researching this on the forums, and people are saying to do a sports cat before the tune. Did you do any other mods to the car other than the tune and mina exhaust? I pretty much want to do those two things and move on cause there is no more you can do to get extra HP other than start porting heads, etc. and even then the HP gains will be too little gain for too much money. But for under 2K I would go for this option and call it a day as far as engine mods are concerned.

 

Those were the only ones the rest were cosmetic...Sports Cats? Hmmm...can you elaborate?