I have purchased my father's 1997 XJ6 sedan with 63,000 miles after selling my fabulous 2002 XKR coupe. The plan after my XKR sale was a convertible but he offered the car to me and I could not pass it up and use my remaining funds to pay down long-term debt.

While I enjoy the soft, turbine-like whine as the engine accelerates and the low stance, I am wondering what items would make the car more fun to drive without risking reliability and the fundamental nature of the car. I can accept the answer "nothing, just maintain it with the following..."

In terms of maintenance, he had 5 of the 6 coil packs replaced years ago. Aside from that, he simply had the oil change, new tires put on and the brakes kept up. It would seem the transmission fluid and filter should be done immediately.

 

I for one would recommend adding one of Andy's bracket and keep it in "sport" mode. You could put the XJR shock absorbers too if you like it less " couchy".

 

You could also use the J-gate. It's fun if you have open exhaust and can help slow-down around corners. Ive build a near ram air intake for mine I'm also in the process of getting Andy's bracket soon then just adding a 75/100 shot of NOS . You could also lower it about 1-2 inches for a some-what racier look and handle however you'll need A high spring rate (stiff ride), just dont get Ricey and add negative camber (EWW)

 

Agree with fitting Andy's revised crank sensor bracket, along with a direct air intake. I've done both and they are worthwhile mods without getting too carried away. Not sure I can see the point of further lowering since the car is already low and perfectly proportioned, be careful not to spoil a beautiful thing! Mine is a (non-US) XJ6 Sport model with the stiffer suspension (same as fitted to the XJR), handles like a go-cart compared with the "soggy" models. You can find most of what you need in the following (huge) thread, it's worth doing a bit of reading.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...engines-66536/

 

Thank you. I have emailed Andy re his bracket.

Jagent, would you please provide more details on the "open exhaust"?
Is there a url you can point me to, or perhaps simply tell me what I should ask my mechanic or muffler shop to do?

In terms of shocks, and handling over all, are there specific XJR shocks I look into? What about bushings, and roll bars?

I don't want to go overboard, it's all about the smile factor!

Besides, I first have several leaking pipes in the front on the passenger side that my mechanic wants to address before doing the 60,000 mile transmission service that has not be done yet by previous owner, my dad (car now has 63,500).

 

Nemesis mentioned the "open exhaust", maybe he can elaborate for you.

I understand the springs, shocks and front/rear anti-roll bars on XJR/Sport are all different to those fitted to XJ6, but should be interchangeable. I can't tell you much more since the sports spec. is standard on my model and I have had no reason look into swapping. Be aware though that whilst the handling & cornering is performance is brilliant IMO, the ride is very firm!

Bilstein dampers are well recommended by many and those (or similar) alone might give you a somewhat sportier feel.

 

I'll chime in on the suspension part since I just installed the Bilstein HD's on my XJR (but due to other suspension work I need to do, I haven't been able to fully test them out)
Also I'm not sure if the Bilstein HD's are the factory fitted shocks on XJR models.

But here's my take on the shocks themselves...
The fronts for some reason when I installed them they seemed very soft or at least softer than what I was expecting. The rears were a lot stiffer in my opinion compared to the front. But until I finish everything I need to with the suspension (ball joints and bushings) I won't think about wanting to install stiffer shocks.

In my XJ6 I installed the very cheap (paid $120 for all 4 due to website mix up) sensen shocks on all 4 corners and with those I'm a lot happier with than the $600 Bilsteins. Doing the bounce test (jumping up and down on the car) the XJ6 is a lot more stable and is more controlled. The XJR in the bounce test feels very close to stock suspension

 

Coincidentally I had just dropped an email to Bilstein this weekend asking if the OEM Bilstein XJR shocks are any/significantly different than their HD shocks that are spec'd for the X300.

I personally have no idea, other than they are a different color (OEM Green in North America, "HD" are gray) and price, where the OEM are around $250 each and the "HD" are around $140 each.

I don't have high hopes they'll answer my question with any detail, just because of the nature of the question, but if they do I'll share.

.

 

Andy also offers upgraded drop links for the anti-roll bar but he warns the increased handling comes at the expense of ride quality. Since I drive on many asphalt patched roads, I am going to hold off on that, but his price isn't much more than his revised crank sensor, which he now has plenty of in stock and which I ordered today so it can be installed with the various maintenance my car requires at 63,500 miles.

Has anyone switched to sportier exhaust mufflers by Flowmast, Magnaflow, etc? Purely a matter of quality sound, not performance increases....

 

Well basically by "open exhaust" I mean you cut the exhaust before the primary cats leaving the downpipe cats as its a challenge to get them out without welding and you need to remove the manifold(s) for that. With my setup I have twin pipes going down the cut out then two 45degree turns then on those I have 18" red glasspacks coming out of the sides just before the rear frame bars but be aware and once the glasspacks are used and blown out after awhile It will get quite loud If you want the best exhaust for that engine use glasspacks or chamber pipe too open and you lose back pressure and power not to mention its louder than an airplane and will kill your ears trust me I had that for a while haha I cant imagine what it would sound like with open manifolds.

BTW
If you want look up jaguar xj6 muffler delete my video should be the first one, It includes no resonators then just cats and out immediately this may guide you to the sound you want. No primaries is alot louder than what you'll hear aswell

 

Thank you Nemesis, but that is too radical for this car. I went through all of that with my XKR 2002 Coupe, and this time I around I am hoping to simply try out a muffler change. Open pipes were hilarious but the low end torque loss was huge on an XKR but and would probably make my XJ6 very slow since I am at 5,300 ft elevation and higher...

 

That's the reason Ive kept the secondary's and have glasspacks that way it keeps torque along with power. Since youre going with just mufflers then glasspacks are the best performing as its the closest to being a straight pipe while maintaining bearable sound.

 

Can you still hear the turbine-like whirring sound of your big inline 6? I have quickly grown fond of that sound? I love a nice exhaust sound but not if it drowns out the engine sound.

(I am thankful there is no dreadful power-drill sound of the early super charger, something Jaguar did not rectify with the XKR until 2007!).

 

depends what you mean I can hear the transmission rotating at high revs and the intake breathing with a whiny sound aswell as my exhaust.

 

Can somebody tell me what the heck "Andy's bracket" is and what exactly it does. I'm not having a lot of help searching.

Thanks

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...engines-66536/