A bloke in a shed in England has produced a nice option

 

Ironically, addicted and I were chatting about this just a few weeks ago only using the Ford 10-speed (10R80). I don't know if this guy is capable of having this in an X308, but I guess I'll have to ask. This is what addicted sent me...

 

That is not just a transmission mod. It includes ecm too. That is what to keep in mind.Dude has done a massive job though.

 

....and it accomplishes what?

 

If you watch the one I posted, you'll see exactly what it accomplishes.

 

For starters it gives you 8 forward gears instead of 5 which will allow the gearbox to choose the best ratio for whatever is happening at the time. This is good for both economy and performance. But as it’s a full ECU system he’s offering it can do more than just make the transmission work with the car. The system Stephen has produced goes very deep into the car, the entire CANBUS system has been reverse engineered to allow the transmission to work seamlessly with the X308 systems and because he’s also created different “modes” you can essentially switch between tuning maps depending on what you want to do.

I wholeheartedly intend to get this done as part of the restoration of my XJ8. Aside from removing the anxiety of the 5HP24 blowing itself to bits which has happened to me, twice, it will really wake up the car especially in the case of my little 3.2. This is the same gearbox as fitted to many other cars including Jaguar XF and many BMWs. I first experienced this gearbox in a 2019 BMW 120D which I had to use for a work trip. At first I was disgruntled about being shoehorned into this bog standard hatchback but was pleased it was automatic. However when I began driving I was blown away by the car’s ability to deliver power and performance from a 2.0 four cylinder Diesel engine using the 8 gears to select the best ratio. I then had a six cylinder 330D with the same gearbox to use and again it was a rocket ship, this again was a bog standard car.

When I used a 2019 Jaguar XF 3.0 TDV6 with it fitted it was unbelievable. The XF had a number of modes to choose from and the way the gearbox adapted was impressive. Not only did the car perform like a race car in R mode, it could also be frugal in eco mode. It was so good my friend who’s car it was drove from Liverpool to Berlin (via Hull to Zeebrugge ferry) on a single tank of diesel!

But for me the best part is that you’ll be able to keep your J gate shifter and have it work the same. Because of the way he’s engineered the system you could for example program it to use the + and - buttons on the cruise control to shift gears in sport mode. I hope to begin the restoration of my XJ soon and this system is definitely on the cards.