Just curious, has anyone installed the full compliment of Powerflex ploy bushings front and rear? While my car is down with an immobilizer issue I’m planning to replace all bushings, Bilstein B6 dampers, H&R springs, and Wayne’s strut mounts. I’m going for better handling and firm ride, think 911 level of stiffness. I don’t want jiggle your teeth out rough. Some members have done their upper arms but I wasn’t able to find feedback on doing everything.

 

I've done the full set of Powerflex bushings, no issues here

 

Matt, frustrated with poly's rear sway bush's life span i found this:

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ight=Rear+bush

Only work needed: clamp bush in vice grip, drill hole out to enlarge a bit to fit perfectly.

John

 

Thanks Steve! So did it firm things up nicely? Do you feel like it improved the handling and responsiveness?

 

Thanks John, I assume that will save me over the $72 Powerflex bushings.

 

Oh yes, way closer to $10 last I looked. I think the best part is the longevity. I've used both brands. Poly flex is crushed and worn in a year or so, the Energy brand, still good for years+
John

 

yes indeed firmed up quite a bit compared to the worn out bits I replaced. Handling good but the upper mounts (Welsh Poly) are starting to degrade again - so time for Wayne's fix in the near future

 

I had the full poly front until last year. The roads are so bad here that it became unbearable. The bushes made potholes that could not be avoided much worse. They also made small bumps and other road features jiggle my teeth out (I’m 29 y/o btw). I ended up replacing the lower control arm bushes with OEM and the ride became much more comfortable. I still have poly uppers, Wayne’s mounts, and sway bar bushes in poly. My rear is all OEM. My springs are Adamesh’s lowering springs, and I have new CATS shocks. This is a nice compromise.

With all poly, the handling did improve some, but not enough for me to continue to live with it. Maybe on good roads I would have kept them all poly.

 

Yes, I fitted Powerflex Poly bushes everywhere (You can see pics in my profile picture albums).
There is piece of mind knowing they will not degrade or perish like rubber. However, the ride quality is definitely harsher and most notable on poor road surfaces. Obviously, smooth roads yield little noticeable difference.

Personally, I like the transition as it yields greater road feel and seems to befit the XKR nature of having a performance set-up. But it is certainly not for everyone.

 

Thanks all for the feedback. I pulled the trigger on the full Polyflex bushings, except for the rear Energy bushings which saved me $60 (thanks John!). Also going all in with balljoints, tie rod ends, front sway bar links, Wayne's upper mounts, H&R springs, and Bilstein dampers. Makes for a pricey day but the XK should be set for years to come!

 

Are you guys doing everything? even the rear beam (#7) and axle (#9)?
How is the NVH?

 

I elected to not do #7 and #9 because I didn’t want to drop the rear subframe. I can’t report on ride quality yet until I fix an immobilizer issue, hopefully next week.

 

Closing out this thread, I did the full front in poly and the rear sway bar links and bushings. Along with Wayne’s front mounts, H&R springs, Bilstein shocks, ball joints, tie rods, and sway links. Handling has been dramatically improved especially body roll, it’s not a 911 but it’s a LOT more fun to drive. On everything but rough roads I think the ride is very smooth, but it can get a little harsh over seriously broken pavement. Overall I’d call it very well controlled but not harsh. Given the choice I would do this again.

 

I would love to go poly bushes but my roads are terrible around me. It's bad enough with the 20" wheels and old and tires springs and shock mounts. I have the 18" wheels that will fit the Brembo brakes all I need now are springs and shock mounts. I think I will go with the Adamesh lowered springs by about 25-30mm though. Shock mounts I will just with with aftermarket OEM types, if they fail I will just replace them again. Poly would be nice but no one really sells them in the UK off the shelf which would be nice.

 

That’s a good point, I have 18” XKR wheels. If I had 20” wheels it would probably be much harsher.

For the strut mounts you might consider using Wayne (cdj777) for his rebuilding services. It would be a hassle to/from the UK but there are many forum members reporting that his better than new mounts last much longer than anything from the aftermarket.

 

I will probably replace my ones with aftermarket ones and then send off my OEM ones to him at some point so whenever the aftermarket ones fail I can just get them installed at that point. Just means I can keep downtime low as it's a daily driver. One of the reasons why I want to get 18" wheels is that the car eats up rear tyres like nothing else. I had brand new Pilot Sport 4S's put on a couple of years ago and they are already at the legal limit so will need replacing next year. 3-4 years for tyres that cost £800+ a set is steep. The 18" tyres are nearly half that so I will save a lot of money and the ride will improve.