Hi all,

So I've finally picked up the new beast - and what a car!

I'm now the proud owner of a 2012 5.0 XKR Supercharged with full spec (Black Dynamic Pack, Speed Pack, reversing camera, piano black inlays etc). I removed the black Vulcans and put on a set of silver Kalimnos, it's just my personal taste - I don't really understand this new trend for black wheels - most people seem to love them and they're definitely very fashionable, but I'm old school and like the contrast a silver wheel gives on a black car.

Anyway - I also had Viezu (sub contractors for Paramount) fit one of their performance exhaust systems for me last week. Oh my days!! It's turned my already beastly car into an evil fire spitting hooligan of a thing.

I absolutely LOVE the sound it makes, but if I'm honest, it's bordering on being a little TOO loud and a bit intrusive into the cabin at times. It's perfect on a deserted B road when you want the full on DTM race car experience, but around town and when just cruising along the motorway, I'd like to be able to calm the noise down a little. It makes the 13 year old boy in me grin like an idiot every time I start it up, but sometimes (only sometimes) it would be good to be able to drive down the road without scaring young children and shaking the birds out of the trees.

Of course I still have the original Jag exhaust (and the black Vulcans) so nothing is changed forever and when I come to sell, the car will be back to factory spec.

I've seen a few companies make these electronically switchable exhaust valves - has anyone had any experience with them? What would be absolutely perfect would be to use the front fog light blank in the dash for a switchable exhaust button. That really would be the best of both worlds. I've uploaded a short sound clip, but whilst you get an idea of the tone and depth it gives (as well as the childishly large 98mm quad pipes) it doesn't give you a sense of the volume of the thing.

Subtle it aint.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELkr1Ln2j4Q

Anyway - here she is -

 

wow it sounds brutal.... I can imagine that is borderline too loud... sorry no idea reading the electronically switchable exhaust valves.. However I too upgraded to a performance exhaust from Elite exhaust from the UK (for my 4,2 XKR), I was soo worried that it would be too loud, but it turned out not too intrusives, and no problem when cruising along, only loud under full acceleration..

Exhaust upgrades

I too prefere the silver wheels over the black, good choice... and piano black... yes plz...

NB you pics are not up and running, re post so we can se it..

 

Hopefully the pics are showing now.


I think the biggest factor affecting the noise is the 200 cell cats - the standard cats are quite restrictive (both sound and gases) I'm told.


I should've got them to dyno the car afterwards, I'd be surprised if I've not had some power gains.

 

JFB...are u in the UK? By the way I love you. Nice car!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ha ha ha, Lothar...erm...thanks...I think! And yes, I'm in the UK mate.

 

"You are the man" as we say!!

Will visit you some time when i come over across the pond. I got a 2012 XKR coupe with black pack only and a 2013 XKR-S in italian racing red Brother (mate in the U.S is brother...personally mate is easier to say!!). YEEEEEHAW!!!!

Loth

 

Nice car JFB,

I'm like you on the black wheels and black pack. To me, it look like a drug dealer car. Not for me, specially with my job (I'm in finance). When I bought my XKRS, I had the choice between black pack and Bright Pack. Easy choice for me!

Enjoy the beast, but take care of your neiborgh. I always turn off the dynamic pact when I'm close to my home...

Guy

 

Obviously a man of immense taste and refinement, going with a black XKR Coupe

I liked the shiny wheels until the brake dust drove me to absolute madness. With the red brake calipers, I find my newly black wheels a nice touch and not overly crass, but it is a fine line.

Man, that exhaust is SERIOUS! Is it still active? Does it quiet down at low RPM and gentle throttle input, or is it that maniacal all the time? Hey, at least with the coupe you can seal up tight and insulate from some of the rumble when you want interior silence. Though with that exhaust note, I'd be in sport mode paddle shifting with the windows open on cold days even. Crazy.

Exhaust cutouts have come a long way since the old cable actuated deals. There are some nicely built electronically actuated units that do the job reliably and are very durable. Are you thinking of going back to stock and using cutouts to go open pipe for full on madness, or are you thinking of somehow incorporating them into your Viezu setup (for MORE noise)?

Fly car, well chosen. I was looking @ the F-Type multimedia presentation Jag has out and realized that, despite choosing silver for my first 2010 XKR Coupe, I don't think I could drive a sleek coupe in anything other than high-gloss black after buying my current (black) XKR.

Yes, the swirl marks are hell, and dirt shows like no other color. But man, after getting my haze marked 2011 clay barred by a truly elite detail man, I've never seen a more beautiful incarnation of the model. Just utterly wet-looking, liquid black 2" deep nail polish looking, a black mirror reflective enough to take a self portrait in the door's reflection. The lines of the car almost took on a mystery element, where you couldn't really tell the exact shape due to the lack of color...

All a matter of taste, of course, but after swearing off black cars many cars ago, I find myself back in black and not even considering alternatives.

If an F-Type V8-S Coupe is in my future, I think the color is locked in



Skeeter

 

Sounds sweet. Any chance of doing a drive by? I like my performance exhaust sound, but your exhaust sounds very exotic. More like a Maserati or Ferrari. How much was the exhaust and did you do the pulley and ECU tune?

 

Hi Skeeter,

I'm with you on the swirlies and brake dust - however I'm without the car for a little over a week whilst it has some car park dings taken out of the door (at a quality bodyshop at the dealer's expense) and then a 4-day, 2-stage paint correction detail followed by 2 layers of carnuba wax before the entire car and wheels are covered with a nano technology ceramic coating, which is meant to last 5 years (at my expense).

So fingers crossed it'll do what it's meant to and offer at least some protection and keep nice and shiny. Will post pics when I get it back.

The exhaust is no longer active, as you lose the valves - it's in full-on hooligan mode all the time, which is what I struggle with a little. I certainly don't want any more noise - I love how it is now at full chat - however my plan is to have a "shhh" button so that the current volume is as loud as it gets and the button dials things down a little.

And I have to say that I think the newly announced F-Type R Coupe looks like a serious weapon...I must resist the voices!

And DGL - no I didn't do the pulley or chip - this early in my ownership I can't imagine why you'd want more power - I struggle to get it all down on the road as it is....of course, once I get used to things that might change, but at the moment I'm happy with the standard car....it's quick enough!

I had a manifold-back system with 200 cell high flow cats fitted. They cut me a pretty amazing deal. I paid £1,600 including VAT and fitting. I think they must've made a mistake (or been having a slow sales month) as the cats alone sell for around £1,000 plus VAT!?

I'm staying with a mate who's well into his photography on the weekend of the 14th / 15th, so I'll get some better / different drive-by video clips done then and post 'em up!

 

"I think the biggest factor affecting the noise is the 200 cell cats - the standard cats are quite restrictive (both sound and gases) I'm told."

yep, I am sure that it would quite down a bit with orginal cats...

nice pics....

 

Excuse my ignorance, but where do the valves 'live' in the OEM exhaust - does anyone know? Is it just in a centre section somewhere or towards the back? I'm guessing they must be quite far back to avoid heat from the engine.

And are they electronically linked to the dynamic button or do they work on pressure (I had my exhaust fitted just a day into ownership so didn't get much of a chance to play with the stock set up).

I'm wondering if there might be a Viezu / stock hybrid that I could do - just building back in the 'section' of the factory exhaust that has the valves in it.

I'm not particularly technical when it comes to these things, so that might be a dumb suggestion - but it would seem like a good compromise without messing about with aftermarket electronics etc which I have to admit makes me a little nervous!

 

Hey Mate, The valves are located on the sides of the muffler in the back on the stock standard and performance exhaust system. The valves open and allow some of the exhaust to travel straight through 1 of the 2 pipes on each side, by passing the muffler. At the same time some of the exhaust still goes through the muffler to the other pipe on each side. When the valves are closed all of the exhaust goes through the rear muffler.

If I turn my car off when it is in dynamic mode I can hear a squeak on both sides. The squeak is the valves closing. I also heard the same noise on my sold 2011 XKR 175.

The less restrictive cats may be a consideration for me. Will they hookup to the stock performance exhaust. The less restrictive cats will increase exhaust flow and slightly increase noise.

I looked at the paramount exhaust system online. It appears to completely delete the back muffler and valves. There is only one resonator or small muffler in the center of the system. The stock standard XKR system has a rear muffler and 2 resonators in the center. The performance XKR system deletes the 2 resonators and replaces them with a cross over "X" pipe. Most of your uncontrollable noise is caused by the rear muffler delete including the valves.

To reinstall the valves you will need to reinstall the rear muffler. If your installer is willing to work with you he may help you with this problem economically. I think you need to be able to control the noise to be happy with your exhaust set up. Let us know how this works out for you.

I'm interested in replacing my cats with the high flow 200 cell cats or taking them out altogether and installing down pipes. The increased noise could still be controlled by the rear valves in the muffler.

 

Does anyone know where I can purchase this "X-pipe" to replace the 2 "stock resonators" ?? I much prefer the sound of the XKR-S . I highly doubt it but I thought I would ask!!

Loth

 

Hey Loth, Go to your dealer with your VIN for your XKR-S and order the mid pipe which includes the "X" pipe. The 2 resonators will drop out and the new "X" pipe should fit straight in. You will now have what is called the performance exhaust and will be exactly the same as on your XKR-S. Go to the dealer and have them bring up both exhaust systems and you should see how the mid pipe can be exchanged. Check everything out before ordering. Let us know how it goes.

 

Sorry for being late to the game to respond to this thread. Here is a thread I submitted for an easier solution to using the fog light blank. It's way easier to install and uninstall like your exhaust and wheels.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-valve-102942/

 

Don't do this.
The coating will fail if applied over even the slightest of wax residue, so you will save some money both by not paying for it to be done in the first place, and because the guy doing the coating would otherwise have to spend more time making sure he cleaned every bit of it off again prior to application of the ceramic coating.

 

Good spot - I got my knickers in a twist.


Initially we were going to do a paint correction, then wax but then we talked about a paint correction followed by the ceramic coating.


I mixed up the quotes I got. The guy did say that once the nano coat stuff is totally dry (after about 72 hours) you can add layers of wax if you wish, but after a full paint correction detail it'll be mirror finish anyway, so won't neccessarily need it.

 

Are catless downpipes available for the 5L SC XKR?

 

Exciting! Hopefully getting the car back from the detailers on Thursday morning.

He sent me a "before" shot of the bonnet under his lights - note all the swirlies and hazing...



And he's just sent me a teaser shot of the car after 20 hours of polishing. He described the paintwork as 95% perfect. Can't wait to see it in the metal!!