XJ XJ6 / XJ8 / XJR ( X350 & X358 ) 2003 - 2009

Adding lightness

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Old Feb 23, 2021 | 05:15 PM
  #41  
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This is a fun video that shows the benefit of a crude 305 Kg weight loss on performance around a circuit:


A similar video but with 150 Kg weight reduction


1000 lbs reduction

 

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Old Feb 23, 2021 | 09:08 PM
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I presume you realise that new mags will cost (what?) 10%~20% of the value of the car.

Better to find some noble gentry selling a car with custom mags and sad suspension.
(I'm assuming the suspension fix might cost less than the mags)
 
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Old Feb 24, 2021 | 01:51 AM
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Originally Posted by ChrisMills
I presume you realise that new mags will cost (what?) 10%~20% of the value of the car.

Better to find some noble gentry selling a car with custom mags and sad suspension.
(I'm assuming the suspension fix might cost less than the mags)
Let's just call this a fantasy custom car build for the moment, I suspect that if you actually did everything listed, with the money spent, you would have been able to purchase the supercars you are trying to embarrass instead.
Maybe if someone has more money than sense, they'll be inspired by the above information to produce the lightest and quickest luxury saloon ever, based on the x350 because it is probably one of the lightest chassis available. I will do it all immediately after I win the lottery

There are slightly heavier products available to make these modifications which can be bought for much less money, I think that knowing which modifications give most bang for the buck is very useful if you want to continue enhancing your big Jag driving experience.
Buying expensive weight reduction upgrades periodically over long periods of time is a more realistic option.
 

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Old Feb 24, 2021 | 11:44 AM
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Removing sound deadening probably isn't worth the effort because the risk of experiencing interior vibrations is high and may force you to add it back.

The guy in this video removes the sound deadening from a Mustang which isn't much smaller than a XJ, he collects most of what he removes in a bag and weighs it from 6:00 - just under 6.3 Kg (14 lbs) - it's a messy job and the weight saving isn't very impressive. Perhaps lighter, made to measure carpets might provide more weight loss or if the car is reserved for the track, no carpets at all.


Here is a list of weight savings (in pounds) of various Mustang parts, the Jaguar's will probably be heavier in many cases due to greater size and luxury but it gives a good idea how much can be lost if your are stripping a car out to full race spec.

https://lmr.com/products/sn95-new-ed...ight-reduction

Forum thread about Dodge Challenger weight reduction:

https://www.challengertalk.com/threa...duction.47734/
 

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Old Feb 24, 2021 | 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by SABARRAS
11.5 kg (25.3 lbs) for a reclining composite sports seat, This could be a big weight reduction if you are willing to reduce the luxury levels of the Jag's interior. I suppose you could make them match the other trim.

https://www.cobraseats.com/seats.html?pid=41&cid=3


These Recaro seats look more premium, slightly heavier though at 15.9 Kg
https://www.recaro-automotive.com/us...o-sportster-gt

"Like the seat, the base is powerful and lightweight. Consider this example. The Sportster GT weighs about 35 lbs., the metal base and slider are about 8 lbs., and the bolts are an additional 2 lbs. For two GT seats, that comes to a grand total of 90 lbs. In contrast, stock OEM seats of a BMW are stuffed full of electronic and mechanical hardware and will typically weigh around 75 lbs. each. This means that you will shave a full 60 lbs. off your vehicle’s weight by switching to Sportster GT."
Here are some more composite seat weights:

https://highperformancejunkies.com/t...tion-research/
 
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Old Feb 24, 2021 | 02:28 PM
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If you want the light weight but still need 4 seats occasionally, remove the 32 Kg (70 lbs) rear seats and replace them with these 2-5 Kg (4.4-11 lbs) seats from kart seat specialist, Tillet.
https://www.tillett.co.uk/shop/shopD...r+Racing+Seats

They could be trimmed in leather to match your interior and still remain very light.

https://www.tillett.co.uk/shop/exd-B...eat.asp?id=115



If you are OK with fixed bucket seats with minimal padding, the above seat weighs 5.5 Kg with the suede pads, they would reduce the front seating weight by another 21 Kg, the brackets + runners are about 3 kg each side so slightly lighter than the Recaro Sportster GT suggested earlier, base saving another 3Kg approx.


So one of the lightest seats on the market fitted at the front will reduce the curb weight weight by a further 24 Kg.



 

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Old Feb 24, 2021 | 02:55 PM
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Have you ever heard of "Drillium"?
It isn't an exotic lightweight material but aluminium bicycle parts with as many holes as possible drilled into them to make them lighter. Ideally the holes didn't effect structural integrity but that was based on guesswork in the 70s.



https://www.autospeed.com/cms/a_2828/article

Obviously this would be more challenging on the Jag and would require the chassis to be entirely stripped to make safe decisions about where to drill. This is another extreme solution only suited to a full custom car build project.
 

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Old Feb 24, 2021 | 03:35 PM
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I estimate that the Jaguar carpet (weighs 18 kg (40 lbs) altogether based on those earlier links about the Mustang and Dodge Challenger.
Jaguar's OEM carpet could be replaced with special, lightweight nylon aircraft carpet if you want to maintain some comfort and sound deadening.

"The weight reduction of the Bic carpet compared to the average aviation carpet is 700 gr/ m2"
https://bic-carpets.com/en/aircraft-...rpet-100-nylon
https://bic-carpets.com/sites/defaul...2018_web_3.pdf

This might help estimate the surface - https://www.secondskinaudio.com/square-footage-help/ + https://www.metric-conversions.org/a...are-meters.htm

I estimate 7m2 of carpet for the interior and boot/trunk. so a saving of about 5 Kg might be possible.
 
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Old Feb 24, 2021 | 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by SABARRAS
8.6 Kg - Carbon fibre prop shaft
13.2 Kg - Out with the Alpine sound system, in with the Harman Ecotect lightweight system. (Or no sound system at all for 23.2 Kg subtracted)
21.8 Kg - Total

Updated curb weight:
1449 Kg - 21.8 Kg = 1427.2 Kg (3140 lbs)
24 Kg - Extra weight off from Recaro Sportster GT if a Tillet B5 carbon fibre fixed bucket seat with suede padding is fitted instead.
5 Kg - Lightweight aircraft grade carpet replacement.
29 Kg - Total

Updated curb weight:
1427 Kg - 29 Kg = 1398 Kg (3075,6 lbs)


Now lighter than a 2021 Porsche 911 GT3 RS!!!!
 

Last edited by SABARRAS; Feb 24, 2021 at 04:29 PM.
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Old Feb 24, 2021 | 05:19 PM
  #50  
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If you are going to change the interior with lightweight seats and carpet how about getting the interior re-trimmed with aircraft grade engineered leather to get everything matching with a more interesting colour and texture than was offered by Jag back in the day.



https://www.aviationbusinessnews.com...s-sustainable/

ELeather is about 1/2 the weight of natural leather.
 

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Old Feb 25, 2021 | 11:59 AM
  #51  
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Originally Posted by SABARRAS
They mention that their cat-back exhaust system is lighter at 20.4 Kilos (44.9lbs) but how much lighter than the standard system?

Their Range Rover 4.2 SC V8 system is slightly lighter and they claim a 10 Kg weight reduction compared to the OEM system
https://quicksilverexhausts.store/pr...xhaust-2005-09

So perhaps there is more weight to lose with a tubular exhaust manifold to replace the cast iron logs. Maybe 12-15 Kg (26.4 - 33 lbs) altogether?



https://quicksilverexhausts.store/co...xhaust-2003-08
If this is some rich guy's dream project and money is no object, naturally they will go for a Titanium exhaust system, which at 40% lighter would make a system like Quicksilver's stainless system (above) weigh just 12.24 Kg, a weight reduction for a cat back system of 8 Kg

https://www.killfab.com/blogs/news/e...ss-vs-titanium


Titanium sports catalytic converters and down pipes.
https://www.enjukuracing.com/product...tage-2005.html

You could then find some artist welder to fabricate your titanium exhaust manifold/headers like this:



These might save 2-3 Kg compared to stainless steel giving a total weight saving of about 10 Kg

 

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Old Feb 25, 2021 | 12:33 PM
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Another lightweight exhaust solution is:

.

They are much shorter in length and require a lot less metal. Not sure if they would mess up the Jag's aerodynamics.



Dr. Gas produces some with a vortex chamber muffler system welded in


These are very loud! (you can hear the sound from 6:12)

 

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Old Feb 28, 2021 | 10:45 AM
  #53  
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Titanium exhaust silencers/mufflers only weigh 1 - 2.7 Kg (2 - 6 lbs) !!!
The prices don't seem too outrageous.



Titanium Mufflers
https://www.ticonindustries.com/coll...er-oval-12-oal
https://vibrantperformance.com/catal...b24a8029e44e48


 
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Old Feb 28, 2021 | 10:57 AM
  #54  
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Even lighter and probably only suitable for the tail area of the system, aluminium exhausts - as seen with lightweight nuts and bolts, aluminium is less than 1/2 the weight of stainless steel.

https://www.racemufflers.com/Aluminu...ers-s/1882.htm


https://www.racemufflers.com/aluminu...2.5-8-6061.htm



It would be nice to get it anodised to match your brake calipers


Here is a Nissan GTR rear exhaust section in Aluminium mentioning the weight:
http://www.awdmotorsports.com/STM_AL...st-r35-gtr.htm

These bike mufflers would fit a 2.5" Aluminium exhaust tail section, they're adjustable too if your original system is too loud:

https://supertrapp.com/shop-products...n-core-12-disc
 

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Old Feb 28, 2021 | 12:13 PM
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I think that we should mention the better fuel economy you will enjoy from loosing so much weight.


https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/driveHabits.jsp

Remove Excess Weight



"Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by about 1%.6 The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle's weight and affects smaller vehicles
more than larger ones."

So far we have lost 542.2 lbs in our fantasy custom build so if the above statement is true, fuel ecomomy should have improved by about 5.5%

https://www.fuelly.com/car/jaguar/xj

20 mpg (UK) seems like a reasonable average miles per UK gallon so you'll increase that by 1.1 mile - that soon adds up.

An XJR has the fuel tank acapacity of 85 Litres / 22.5 US gallons / 18.7 UK gallons so that means you can drive 20.6 miles further on a full tank.
 

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Old Feb 28, 2021 | 12:42 PM
  #56  
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The weight reduction so far is 9.7% (so about 10%)

According to this article: https://www.energy.gov/articles/545-...d-fuel-economy

"Today’s cars rely heavily on conventional iron and steel alloys, which make up 45 percent of most vehicles’ weight. Replacing established steel alloys with advanced, lightweight materials could potentially reduce the weight of a vehicle’s body and chassis by up to 50 percent. And this has a big impact on a vehicle’s efficiency -- reducing a vehicle’s weight by 10 percent can improve the fuel economy by 6 to 8 percent."

So an improvement of 1.2 - 1.6 mpg

or 22.5 - 30 miles extra from a full tank



 
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Old Feb 28, 2021 | 12:51 PM
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Old Feb 28, 2021 | 01:04 PM
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In the X300 XJR - there was a 25 Kg weight difference between the Automatic gearbox (1800 Kg) and the Manual version (1775 Kg)

Has there been a successful manual gearbox conversion on the X350 4.2 S/C models yet? That's quite a big difference.
 
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Old Feb 28, 2021 | 10:49 PM
  #59  
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So...when are you going to buy one Sabby? And do all this wonderful stuff.

There are some here into performance enhancements and that's awesome...
Except, I just spent $800 on some "standard maintenance" items...admittedly 2/3 of it professional labour.

My wife is horrified. I imagine I told her "I love my Jag more".
 
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Old Mar 1, 2021 | 01:05 AM
  #60  
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Oof!
I'm on the look out for one but I'm waiting to find a buyer for my flat in Paris first.

There are quite a few for sale in the UK, low mileage ones <sub 80K cost around £10 grand, hopefully the price hasn't bottomed out yet because it won"t be until the second half of this year before I can consider getting one realistically.
Until then I shall research and imagine all the possibilities, sharing what I find here. These threads are like my note book.
 
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