I was toying with the idea of upgrading my engine bay (only visually) ala Paragon Design, what are peoples preferences on this, do you think the engine bay looks better with the upgrades or is it best left as original?

 

Hi kevh,
I always thought that our XK8's and XKR's have a lot of black plastic under the bonnet. Something our predecessors (e-type, XJS, XJ6 etc) didn't have. So, I did once consider doing something about it. I thought about an aftermarket metal induction pipe - still haven't done it though and I heard that this isn't the best idea because it can actually increase the air temp !
However, for the XKR at least, there is some existing metal showing that can be made to look better.... perhaps polish?
There is also a lot or Rubber piping which, being a natural compound, does degrade and eventually perish. When that happens (especially to Valley pipe), I will definitely go for Silicone Rubber replacement which can be coloured.to look better.
Overall, I'm just too busy keeping the rest of the car in tiptop shape !

 

And I’m just too busy keeping my car running as a daily driver....

However it’s your car so if you want some engine bay bling, just go for it. Shouldn’t care what anyone else thinks.

 

^^ Same here. I just want to keep the car in proper running condition and do not care about engine bay appearance. But I must admit that the Mina Gallery aluminum air intake tube kit I installed last year looks much better than the OEM plastic Jaguar air intake duct (with its infamous accordion section that always splits and cracks after a few years)....