My 2005 4.2s is rather "twitchy" on road surfaces which are less than perfect. Is this normal for the XK8 or might it be failing shocks?
Oddly enough the car is much more stable with some load in the trunk - the skipping and swaying is then very much reduced to the point of being un-noticeable.
Any views?

 

How are the tires? tread, dry rot??????????

 

adaptive shocks? (are there electric leads on top of the shock towers?

If so, they may be actually disabled (via the fuse) and not being 'computer' adjusted for your speed and ride surface. Or, you may just be getting used to the stiff nature of CATS shocks...pending they are adaptive. If they aren't, and its normal bilstein shocks...i'd start looking into the rear end for something else like bearings and excessive wheel play. My rear bearings did have some movement, and new ones helped quite a bit. But, as a disclaimer, YMMV.

 

Yes that is normal, even with the CATS. It is supposed to have a bit of a wobbly rear end.
the new XK has a much better road handling.

Remember it is basically a 15 year old XJ with a very pretty body.

Where I live there are many very tiny road and there it, I would almost say "sucks" as a sports car. And yes, my car is in tip top condition with brand new michelin tyres.

 

I can't say that I've experienced this "wobbly rear end" syndrome on my 05. I have on my 97 XK8 though.

My 05 is really predictable, with DSC turned off I can throw the rear end out and it drives sideways like a charm.

 

Toe and Camber in spec??????

They are adjustable.

bob gauff

 

repost of mine from another thread: "I had a similar shake, my L rear toe was .22 out of spec. After the alignment, my rear toe is smack in the middle of spec and it rides 100% better. The only issue wa fixing that put the camber further out of negative spec, but handling is fine. My tires will wear like crap, but that is a problem for another day and another post."

I'd get an alignment- cheap and hard numbers will tell you how much it contributed to your issue.

 

+1 on the alignment. Toe-out on rear suspensions is used by racers to improve turn in. That is, make it twitchy. Road drivers tend not to like it.

The geometry of your suspension may be such that compressing the suspension causes a reduction in toe-out, and hence a reduction in the twitchiness.

 

Thanks for all the comments. The car doesn't have CATS and the tyres are fairly new, put on by the Jag garage who sold me the car 15 months ago. I have only done 2000 miles since then so they are just bedded in. Perhaps it is a poor tyre choice by the Jag garage? The tyres are Barum Bravuris 2, the rears being 255x40 profile. Has anyone any experience of these tyres or their suitability for the XK8?

Ray

 

size sounds accurate, never heard of that brand of tire though, perhaps its a european only tire? sorry