Do aftermarket bolt-ons like Borla exhaust and K&N air filter add any/enough enhanced performance to justify the cost? I also saw a large-capacity intercooler on "popular auction site" that claims to be far superior to the stock intercooler. They claim the stock intercooler is woefully ineffective because of its small volume.

Borla exhaust: +/- $1,000
K&N intake: +/- $120
German intercooler: +/- $1,200

If anyone has experience with these components, I'd love to hear your input (good, bad, or indifferent)!

-Kent

 

Forget that borla exhaust or teh german intercooler. I dont have much experience with the new xjrs, but I know enough about cars to know those two parts won't justify the expense ever.

THe K and N filter will maybe give you 1 or 2 additional horsepower, but most importantly those things last forever. You will never have to replace it which will pay for itself if you keep the car for a few years, or if you are selling the car the K and N filter could be a feature of the car you list.

I'm sure you could get a beter price on the air filter then 120, I think they run at about 50 bucks.

 

I worked on a XJR that was chipped, pulley and a 50 shot of nitrous(dry). He ran mid 12's.

Exhaust on these cars are a huge bottle neck. Is the Borla a full catback?

 

This is a photo of what I was looking at for the XJR



I have a performance tuner on my Ford truck (diesel) withhigh capacityK&N airfilter andMagnaFlow exhaust. Even with the tuner in "factory tune"mode, the aftermarket intake and exhaust make a huge difference. These were definately worth the cost on my truck, but the only Jaguar I ever had was a VDP which didnt need to be a performer. However, the XJR is a different story. It would be nice to squeeze some more performance out of it if the cost-benefit is there. Cooler intake temps is also preferable for denser air - hence my question about the larger aftermarket german intercooler.

 

Looks like a good exhaust design.

You are located in Florida?

 

Yes. Gainesville and St. Petersburg.

 

Fort Lauderdale here.

 

Miami here! 305 til I die!

 

I'm not familiar with the blower pulley mod. Also, what performance tuning options are there? I have all that stuff on my truck (whoa, whatta difference !) Are there plug-up tuners for Jags or are they hard-wired (like Banks)? I will be waiting to hear if you think the added performance was worth the $$ (assuming you paid retail)

 

Well? How'd it go? I got sidetracked and now I'm looking at performance mods again. A guy at the Jag dealer said he could hook me up with a stainless exhaust, smaller S/C pulley and lower mesh grille for about $2K (which includes installation). I asked if it was a Borla and he said it wasnt - something about "R" performance exhaust from the UK. He didnt identify it further. He said there's a system on a demo car but I didnt see the car. I wanted to know how your car (or anyone else's, for that matter) performed with the mods as compared to without.

 

the smaller pulley on the xjr is a definite improvement.. 10 -15 hp right off the bat... i think the kit went for like $350

http://stores.ebay.com/JAG-GENIUS

 

I'm shure that he's talking about the K&N cold air system not just the filter.

 

For those thinking of spending some of their hard earned cash on
modifications 'promising' to increase HP, let me add some info for
your consideration.

I know someone who owns a dyno shop in San Diego. Coincidentally he also owns an XKR. He had the luxury of conducting a series of tests on his car w/o the cost of doing so. Specifically he tested a popular aftermarket (No name to comply with posting rules) air filter that claims to increase HP. First he dynoed his stock factory air cleaner setup; then he dynoed again with the filter element removed (NO air restriction). There wasn't even a full hp (1 hp) difference, which is testament to the factory engineered air induction. Then he dynoed with the aftermarket replacement filter (not the cone) and found the exact same HP rating as with the stock factory filter. His conclusion - the only HP gains you receive might come from the weight loss in your wallet. He also said (being in this business) dyno results can be manipulated to read almost whatever you want it to read, so be cautious looking at paid advertisements showing dnyo results claiming to increase HP.

Now for factory HP ratings - Most manufacturers under rate actual
HP ratings. So,its nothing for a stock 3.0L AJV6 to read higher
than the advertised ratings. Some might remember a few years back when Mazda had to buy back cars they over rated. Several owners claimed they made purchases based on the advertised hp which turned out to be somewhat less (story is easily googled using mazda + hp ratings). In the muscle care days Chevy routinely under rated HP by as much as 100 on the big blocks. So did Ford and Chrysler.
The only way to really know if your mods are making a hp difference is to dyno before and after the mod. But, good news, expect you probably already have more than the factory HP already.


Jim

 

Thanks for the info, Jim. Did your friend happen to dyno the car with and without the smaller supercharger pulley, as well as with and without a performance cat-back exhaust??

 

im betting not, just spend wisely and there's places out there worth spending $$ at.

 

hey kent, did you hear about the "R" performance exhaust from Jag/Aston of Tampa? I test drove a current body style with that exhaust and it was a bit too agressive for my tastes....ive heard the supercharger pulley is the way to go. If you still have a warranty the full intake will void it ive heard from the dealer, however the pulley wont..i think ive seen your car around UF lol, saw the silver one a few days ago, you up here for school?

 

Yes. I was at the dealership a month or so ago, but the car you may be speaking ofwas sold [:@]. Supposedly, another car was going to be fitted with the exhaust but I havent had a chance to go back and check it out. I have spoken with them about the smaller pulley and exhaust and will likely do it when I can find time in my schedule. As for seeing my car in Gville, it's likely. There's only one anthracite XJR around here that I know of... kinda like when I had my black G 500 up here! I'mworking onmy PhD (amongst other endeavors).

 

ANy more up dates?