Hi Guys.

My apologies for this late post.
Also a happy late seasonal wishes to all.

My car experience has been a real collection of lovely WOWS!
Let me share.

First wow,
I think all of us on this Jaguar forum have had that great moment, the first sight of one of these things for real. Even after 8 months away being repaired there was still that lovely magical moment of just, WOW!



Second wow
After forum lurking for about five years finally meeting this person called Avos. My wife and I were totally spoilt and as guests we felt as though we had known and had been best of friends for many years. (Our sincerest thanks for a marvelous weekend.)
This forum has an incredible asset in this gentleman.

Third wow
(Obviously the car) WOW!
Externally I didn't want to change anything about the car, but we did need bigger wheels for the bigger brakes. I managed to find some 2012, 20-inch vortex, wheels that I felt might work with the organic shape of the car and, well WOW!
The silver on silver worked a lot better than even I imagined. Totally transforming the look.
Next surprise was the opening the bonnet. It just looks incredibly standard. No real sign of any major customization just good solid clean engineering. (Wow)
On start up there is an obvious new whine from the new supercharger plus the old wonderful growl from the Miltech exhaust off the back. (A cool wow)



With the car being setup with about 20 PSI boost, my concern was we would loose some of the smooth sensual, stylish, drivability.
It's not lost an ounce.



At normal speeds the car is just as special as ever, with its sumptuous lazy low revving torque. With this extra torque at low RPM, the bigger braking capacity and the power steering these all go to make this big car feel quite surprisingly light and agile.

BUT!! The car now really is a major Jeckle and Hyde piece of machinery.

If you do want to plant your foot, quiet heavily, even in none sport mode, the large 20 by 10 and a half inch wide rear wheels with the Pirelli P zeros, through the OS Giken LSD, quickly light up and spin. As speed picks up the car regains its grip and then again as the RPM increases the grip is lost as the higher power levels are reached. This is all done with such brutal smooth precision.

The LSD is incredible and with superb directional stability even on undulating roads. This diff is an absolute must. Drifting is not what this car is about but! If you have ever driven a go-kart you will appreciate the confident ease at which these small machines are controlled. If you do accidentally light up on a bend or a corner this differentials traction control could be a real lifesaver.
A definite BIG WOW.

In sports mode the whole experience is just becomes more intense/fun. The blue top solenoids make them selves felt for the first time as the gear changes are now fully loaded.

Three weeks earlier I drove a Ferrari 458 with a test driver at the factory.
Because of it’s lack of weight the Ferrari felt like it had motorcycle type acceleration. The XKR is not quite as brutal as that but it does feel like a cross between a catapult and then on to a controlled explosion. The speed is astonishingly easy to acquire and it’s all done with the same wonderful style and poise that we are all used to in our present XK’s.

This is the car Jaguar should have made.

The last WOW
Was obviously the 1000 kilometers trip from Belgium to Spain.
The weather forecast was for ice, snow and then rain. Not a great outlook on summer tyres and 600-ish BHP. But we arrived safely at the ferry terminal Barcelona the day after in lovely blazing sunlight with huge cheesy grins. I am not going to give the average speeds but we did average 15.4 ltrs/per 100 kilometers at a VERY healthy pace. The car didn't miss a beat and it is an incredible autoroute cruiser.



Just a quick heads up!
I now know there really is a Father Christmas and he does live somewhere in northern Belgium.
So next year don’t forget boys and girl’s send your Christmas wish list through nice and early so you wont be disappointed. I wasn’t!
Cheers Santa!

Have fun, Happy Christmas and a fantastic new year.

Sincerely,
Colin.

PS any questions please fire away (only please don’t ask how fast.)

 

Excellent. Looks like wonderful work and a first-quality job by Avos. Congratulations to you for taking your beautiful car to a new level of performance, and for doing it the right way.

Cheers!



.

 

Great story, great car. Thanks for sharing. I'm very jealous now!

 

Good news, it sounds like you had a great Christmas!

 

Great to hear you've got your car back again. Sounds great! Post a video when you get a chance!

 

Welcome to the club! You are now the proud owner of the car that Jaguar should have produced in the begining. I have enjoyed my "Avos XKR" for over a year & could not be happier. I wish you many smile filled miles in your NEW car.

 

Thanks so much for an amazing write up and congrats on your "new" XKR

 

Thanks for your kind words; it was just as well very good to meet you both!


Am very glad you enjoy all the new aspects of your new car, and hope there will be many opportunities to explore ;-)

Welcome to the club

 

My thoughts and wishes are with Jeff from Tucson at the moment, especially now with his new Avos party pack on the way.

I hopefully presented a balanced description of the new setup without too much enthusiasm. I chopped and changed the wording many times to try and get the details across as factually as possible.

Big thanks for all the kind words. I do feel incredibly and disproportionally lucky.

As soon as I get back from Africa, Mid January-ish, I will Attempt to get some short Videos and new pictures as they always work sooo much better than words.

As always, have fun!
sincerely,
Colin.

PS Cheers Andre.

 

Awesome car. I can only imagine what an extra 200hp feels like! Are you running spacers? The rear wheels in particular seem to be sitting slightly proud of the arches.

 

They also appear to be very very wide, what size are they? 315's?

 

Awesome write-up, Colin! That is great that you're enjoying the new ride!

I got my kit from AVos today and will load pics of the kit in its parts from in a few minutes at https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...a-82598/page3/

 

Hi Guys.
Yes, the size of the wheels where a bit of a problem.
The car had already been lowered and poly bushed before I chose the new wheels. The style of wheel are the 2012 jaguar Vortex. I think the biggest wheels Jag have produced for a XKR with a 10.5 inch footprint, in width. There is an adaptor plate to fix the new wheels to the old hub and the adaptors are of minimum thickness.
The inside of the wheel arch has had to be rounded back to clear the tyre so we now have just about have about 1mm of clearance.

The car stance, I feel, is now pretty spectacular and looks quite aggressive especially from behind.
Fat tyres and big zorsts. (Us males really are simple creatures!)

For any further details for the moment you will have to contact Avos.
All the best,
Colin.