Hello all,

Yesterday I traded my 2009 XF and a 2002 Boxster for a 2010 XKR coupe. We needed to make room in the garage for a car for my oldest, who will be driving next year, and the car math and the money math both seemed to work.

I was completely floored by the difference between part-throttle and full-throttle dynamics. Puttering to town on errands, the car is if anything even more quiet and refined than the XF. Leaving town, on the other hand, is a hold-on-for-dear-life kind of experience if the road is clear and dry, as it was yesterday. I think I've finally found the car I've always wanted, something I couldn't say after I picked up a 911 C4 a few years ago.

The car is a MY2010 XKR in liquid silver and charcoal. It was first registered in October 2010 and then re-sold as a Select Certified. I am the third (and potentially the last) owner. The mileage is about 13,000 miles.

Anyway, here are a few questions for more experienced and knowledgable forum participants:

1) My car doesn't have a luggage compartment cover. Were these optional or standard in 2010? If optional, is it possible to retrofit one? How much might this cost?

2) My car is fitted with 20" factory rims that have ten spokes (in five groups of two) and a large number of seemingly nonfunctional Torx fasteners. I don't like these wheels. It may be sacrilege to many of you, but I would actually prefer a simple painted 19" factory wheel without Torx decorations. Does anybody know what the model name of my wheels is? Has anybody ever tried to "downgrade" wheels, and, if so, how did you do so?

3) My only real disappointment with the car relates to the Bowers and Wilkins audio system, which to my ears performs less well than the standard system I had in my XF. I understand that these opinions are subjective, but are they common among other owners? On one of my drives yesterday I tried fiddling with the tone controls, and even with the subwoofer setting on full up I couldn't really detect sub-100 hz bass. Is this normal?

Thanks in advance for any helpful answers or comments.

 

I have a 2010 XKR myself , but some of this stuff might vary from country to country. FWIW I find the B&W stereo great but I tend to listen to 80's-90's hard rock with huge production and it's perfect for that.

The luggage compartment cover was standard on mine (I'm in Australia)

I think you have the same wheels as me and they're called Kalimnos. If memory serves correct the standard 19"wheels are called Tamana.

Cheers.

 

I've also got a 10XKR, and bought one of the plastic luggage compartment inserts from my local Jag parts department. It was around 200 bucks I think. I invest in those things because inevitably I'm asked to bring home milk or some such thing that will occasionally spill a bit, and the insert has raised lip edges that'll contain that nonsense.

There've been a lot of threads on the stereo system. Perhaps the best I've seen so far is Bruce's here: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...results-64072/

And as far as wheels, a 19" was standard. I've been contemplating that myself -- just for weight savings alone really. I have the 20" Nevis on mine. Tamana was the default 19", and there was an optional 19" Artura. You may be able to find someone willing to swap rims if you peep around. Both the Nevis and the Kalimnos were $5k options, so someone may be happy to do that.

 

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I'll check the audio thread out. And I'll try posting a new thread to see if anybody within reasonable driving distance might want to swap wheels. Thanks also for providing the names of the various design options. Kalimnos is what I have.

With regard to the cargo compartment, what I meant (and what is illustrated in the owner's manual) is something that goes over the space and blocks the rear window, preventing passersby from seeing what's there. Our Jetta wagon, for instance, has a retractable cover for the rear compartment that serves the same function. In the Jaguar manual it seems to be a solid piece. Does that sound familiar to anybody?

 

Yes , that's what I was referring to and what I have. It's a solid (like a "hard carpet" material) and clips in to various points around the hatch window.

 

Congrats, I wish you happy safe driving

:icon_driving:

 

Are these chrome wheels ??

 

GR,

We have nearly identical cars... 2010 Liquid silver XKR coupe. Mine has 19" rims (I will never own a car with 20" rims again, too many issues), and it came standard with the cargo cover. I think the part is a couple hundred bucks plus the retaining clips. If your dealer can't find or quote you on the parts let me know and I'll look them up for you.

IMO you want the cover, it keeps the contents of the trunk out of view and makes the car look cleaner and more fully finished from an interior design standpoint. I guess you loose a bit of storage, since without it you can store items that are tall enough that the divider would bang into them... With the divider gone you can store items that reach the rear window. Not often a problem for me, and I'd rather have that area closed off and not visible.

Yes, the dual nature of the car is what surprised and pleased me the most when I bought mine... From silent to raucous in an an instant, unique experience to go form the lux/comfort to hard suspension and loud exhaust in a split second. The transmission is also a high point. In "S" mode it is psychic, holding gears through tight turns, downshifting as you brake into a corner, just amazing how well it predicts what you'd want to do in performance mode...

Enjoy it, I've been stacking up crazy miles on mine and using every horsepower every chance I get... Fast and smooth.

Skeeter

 

The alloys sound like Senta alloys, which I have on my 2008 XKR. Not sure whether the names in the US are the same as in the UK?

 

Hi, I'm in shopping mode now, so I would love to hear the pros/cons on wheel sizes. Can you explain the problems with the 20's?

Thanks

Tony

 

I've learned a bit more about the XK wheel options since my first post. My wheels are definitely the Kalimnos style, which has fake fasteners on the rim between the spokes. The Sentas also have the fake fasteners, but the spokes seem to be slightly different from those on the Kalimnos. Sentas are available on the secondary market in the US but seem to be from older model years. Perhaps the Kalimnos replaced the Senta at some point.

I've found a source for refurbished 19" factory alloys at reasonable prices, and I think what I'll do is get a set, put winter tires on them, and see how I like the looks as well as the ride and handling. Then next spring I'll decide whether to put the 20" wheels back on, or try to sell them and get new summer tires for the 19s.

I'll leave it for the others to comment on issues with 20" rims. I haven't bent a rim of any diameter since the late 80s, when BMW alloys of whatever diameter was current then didn't seem strong enough for potholed Midwestern streets.

 

You might consider just a dark tint on the rear window. My car has both a tint and the hard cover and the tint makes the hard cover superfluous. The tint is a better heat shield to boot. Pun artfully intended.

 

Those luggage covers must grow legs when you are not watching. They had to go hunt mine down when I bought my 08 XKR just before Thanksgiving. I am thinking of getting the nano-tint done on my car. The Las Vegas sun is just brutal on all interiors.

 

Havebook,

I don't see any advantage to a 20" rim over a 19" rim. 20" tires are more expensive, ride harder, and are more prone to failure. They MAY impart some cornering benefits but this is lost in poorer traction from a dig. A taller sidewall actually allows the tire to flex and more gradually transmit the twist to the ground. Given how challenging it is to launch this thing, I'd rather have more traction at launch than the small difference around corners. I think I could turn better 0-60 times with 18's in fact, but Jag doesn't equip XKR's with 18s I don't think...

Most of all I've found that 20"s are too fragile and curb-rash prone for my liking. Any encounter with a SF Bay Area sized pot-hole or close call with a curb and there is no mercy. 19's aren't much more forgiving, but an extra inch of tire does help. Oh, and while even 19's are challenging, 20's make it impossible to see if there is something wrong with the tire or pressure. Just so low profile that you can't tell if there is a problem. I guess with TPMS I should let go of that old concern though...

I think 19"s fill the wheel wells in my XKR perfectly, I don't see a need for a bigger rim for appearance sake. In fact, I wonder if the car would look right even with 18's... Last car was a MBZ E55 AMG, 18" rims with PS2 tires, the car hooked up SO WELL from a dig. Despite the weight and HP disadvantage, I'd swear the E55 was faster 0-60 than my 2010 XKR. But as I've posted elsewhere, I'm not yet a master of the launch on the Jag. Not yet. But better believe I'm trying! Eventually I'll dial it in and turn out the 4 second result that she feels capable of. And if not, I'm going to search for answers... Dyno, tire pressure changes, etc. it is driving me crazy that I'm mid 4 in this thing.

Skeeter

That said, bigger rims (within limits) do look nice and I'm not so set against 20's that I'd turn down a beautiful set of Chrome Sentas

 

I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW THE PROBLEMS OF GOING FROM 19" TO 20" FOR MY 08 XKR VERT. Bernie CAN ANYONE HELP??