I've noticed a glut of related posts on the modification of a 1.8 ton saloon with 370bhp for more power on this forum lately, why? Discuss....

 

We are all greedy, power hungry, gas guzzling, torque ***** LMAO ok ok for me Im always looking for more power so with warm weather here and racing season the bug gets alot more nagging i can calm him down an stick to getting my fix benchpressing 500 pounds in the gym Yes i am a meathead but as soon as I start one mod the bug kicks in hard all started with replacing my gen 3 with gen 5 and then I started porting intake which led to finishing the exhaust which led to intake and the list goes on.

Also sean may want to check out my thread intercooler mods in the field found out some interesting stuff bout the intercooler mannys more info to come I found a used set for dirt cheap tht i will flow when I get back hm but what I did find was interesting

 

I would have to attribute it to the very low cost that one of these can be had for these days. The cheaper a car is, the more trickery everyone wants to do to them because if there is a catastrophic failure the loss isn't very big. Personally there has never been a time when I haven't been slightly surprised by the sheer acceleration and speed of the XJR in stock form, but it would be fun to have 200 or so extra hp

 

For me personally, it's because 370 hp in a 4000 lb car is not that impressive a power to weight ratio, due to the other cars I've had in the past or currently have. My LS2 swapped RX7 makes about 430 crank hp and weighs 2800 lbs. That's a weight to power ratio of about 6.5 lbs/hp, right in the thick of things with cars like the Z06 Vettes. So the XJRs 10.8 lb/hp ratio seems pretty tame in comparison.

Also, the XJR is so easy to get more power out of, like any good supercharged V8. A tune and pulley will cost you less than $1500 and will net you a good 50 hp. When your power gain per dollar ratio is that good, why not do a little modding, especially since you don't really have to worry about the strong drivetrain these cars have breaking?

And like XJR-0220 said, these engines and cars in general are getting good and cheap. If you blow up the engine, a new one can be had of $2000-$3000 if you can do the work yourself. That's a plenty cheap consequence to warrant risking for 500 hp.

 

Why so we want more power?

Ah, to feel the rush of the air, to feel the heart race, to feel alive

 

amen

 

Why NOT? Discuss.....

 

is it not enough? you found a weak diff without much gain, and this isn't an isolated instance.

A saloon v a sports car or hot car like the Mitsubishi Evo, Subaru Impreza, M5 BMW, are all within a similar price range and have far more scope for tuning with driver satisfaction.

The chassis isn't set up for large gains, but here in the UK we have twisty bits, my guess is USA is straight lines and stop light dragsters.

I found mine under braked even with R1 kit - power to weight, why not reduce it, weld in a role cage, solid mount the suspension....go the whole hog!

I think it's the point already made about them being cheap to buy, and scope for more horses.

If it's just about going faster there's better base cars for the money out there?

 

I have no interest in a fast car as such, and am sure that for most here it’s not about that either as it isn't secret that there are faster saloons around.

I really like the car I have now, and on top of that it’s even fast now as well, I get a kick every time I use the power which enhances my overall satisfaction.

 

Andre' I can't help but see a major contradiction you've developed what is a very fast car! LOL

I'm only having fun in this thread, not trying to pee people off on their own individual reasons for wanting more power, just seeing what's behind the motivation to do it to an old platform. My own reasons are probably the same, the way I want an XKR to play with....

 

LoL, you might have a point there.
Of course if budget wouldn’t be an issue, the majority of the cars I would buy would probably all have something in common than ;-)
Somehow so far even though it is an old platform you can still get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Actually a perfect car would be boring imho.

 

I dunno about the cost approach Sean. I have a car with over 400hp on a $3500 budget which already includes an exhaust. Sure it takes money to make more HP, but dollar for dollar on this side of the pond the x308 so far has been very affordable if you know how to wrench.

ECU tune and exhaust on the 911 would've cost me more than this entire project.

 

There is nothing more satisfying than blowing the doors off a new 350Z or G35 Infiniti, knowing full well that they paid through the teeth to experience the sensation of being beaten by my 14 year old XJR!

 

Amen

 

My contribution

 

Sean... the M5 has more potential only in
the most academic sense... It is already
straining at the leash with 80hp/L.

To supercharge one (the only way to add
any more than, say, 30-40hp, and those
precious few will cost you thousands)
costs upwards of 8 grand. If you spent,
say, 5 grand on an upping power to anXJR,
you are going to have something which
trounces all old M5s. Plus, in the US, even
a ratted out 130k mile M5 fetches no less than
13-15,000 dollars. A ratted-out, 130k mile XJR
costs less than 1/3 of that! And has much more
power potential.

If the potential is based on the size of the engine,
if you spend around 10k on a full tune, supercharger
set-up on that M5, you could probably stroke an XJR
for that price.