It's all in the title: what performance or cosmetic upgrade would you most like to offer your Jag ready for the spring?

 

new wheels..just nakered mine up..see "chrome rim bbs"

 

I would buy a set of Nameless Performance high flow catalytic converters and get `em installed........

 

My beloved coupe needs a full sanding / strip down to bare metal, and a full re-spray. I'm saving up for a top-quality job...I want paint so deep and wet you could dive into it.

So, I would put my $ 1,000 towards that.

Other than that, I'm with cpm53 below...Nameless Performance high flow cats are next.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but what do these achieve exactly? More power? Noise?

 

Engines like to breath without restrictions, especially at higher revs. The factory catalytic converters are quite restrictive, as most are, and don't let the engine exhale as freely as it would like. If you were to crack open a catalytic converter, you would be amazed and wonder how anything can get through it at all.

The Nameless High Flow cats, if I remember correctly, have about half the internal density of the factory cats, so exhaust gases can pass through twice as easily and the engine breathes more freely. This provides a bit more power. They also make a superb and inspiring noise, when combined with the proper set-up of mufflers behind.

 

My level of knowledge on this is even less than Frog's!

OK, so they have less restriction and therefore less back pressure. Given the cats are there to scrub the exhaust gases, what's the effect on emissions?

 

Higher flow cats do allow more exhaust gases into the atmosphere, so they are not the greenest option available. Nameless does say, however, that their 200-cell cats will still pass emissions tests in most states here in the US, and will not generate Check Engine lights.

Here's a link to their webpage on the product, for later cars:

Nameless Performance

I'll be ordering the version for earlier cars. Vroom, vroom.

 

Aside from the improved performance, it looks a nicely engineered piece of work and considerably better than the original. I've often wondered where Jaguar source their rusting variety of stainless steel

Nameless Performance website has a few caveats about being aimed at track use but your authorities in the US seem to have a more laid back approach to test standards than we have in the UK. Levels have to be way below triggering the CEL to get a pass on our annual test and are getting tighter every year.

It'll sound like a proper V8 when you fit this.

 

They've actually got three options:

Track Pipe: won't pass any emissions test

200-cell: High flow, will still pass emissions tests and no CEL

400-cell: A bit less flow, greener, will pass emissions and no CEL

 

So I assume that the Track Cat will trigger a CEL it the car...

 

Thanks for the info.

That's the problem: if you don't let the same company do the entire system, you can make a right mess.

 

I would replace my XK grill with the upper and lower chrome honeycomb grills (like the ones on the 2012). I would also have the nose piece resprayed. I am starting to accumulate a quite a few rock chips...

 

I would get a real Jaguar mechanic to go through all the nit picking nagging OBDII codes, and fix my car once and for all.

He would also remove a valve cover to visually inspect my secondary tensioners to see if they need replacing.

I would also want either the capacitor or the relief valve installed on the convertible top.

I want it 100% reliable for the upcoming Spring top down season.

 

A pre-paid gas card on the dash would look pretty good...

 

New front seat covers ($500 plus maybe $200 installation).

The other $300 I'd just blow on a top down road trip.

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Reminds me of the following saying:

I spent 80% of my money on wine, women, whisky and song (and not necessarily in that order). The rest I just blew.

 

Same here with the nameless perfomance cats, although I'm not sure if they'll fit an XK8? They're only advertised for the XKR. I don't really care about the performance so much as the sound. The engine in these cars sound fantastic, but it's just a bit too quiet.

 

While my wheels are not bad for painted wheels my previous car was black and had bling chrome wheels. The blue (Pacific Blue) is dark enough for chrome wheels. About $1000.

 

"If you had approx. $1000 to blow on your Jag, what would you get?"

That's a hard one,,, The more I look at the PBTW's Kitty the more I like it just the way it is... So if you take the general maintenance items (tires, brakes, repaints, interior repairs, ETC.) out of the equation,,, Then really nothing,,,

However: That will change when I get mine,,, I might have the tendancy to go overboard on performance upgrades,,, Hopefully cosmetically it will be as nice as the PBTW's,,, so I might not change anything on the body itself...

So that being said the FIRST $1000.00 will go to knocking the first of many visions off my list... I'll keep a running total and let you know how it goes...

EHhhh maybe upgrade the lights to HID's and LED's might do that for the wife,,, that should eat most of the Grand there...

 

Great question, but I'm having trouble coughing up an answer.

Since my car isn't an R, I don't expect it to ever be a neck-snapping, tire smoking, asphalt crumbler. Sure, I could have it make more racket (it really is too quiet) and maybe make a few more HP, but it won't ever accelerate like some of the other cars I've owned, so why dork up its reliability (really) and mileage for a little more oomph.

The car is well sorted and is very reliable - I drive it every day. I'm sure I could come up with a kilobuck's worth of little stuff to do, and the first thing on my list would be a remote top kit from WhiteXKR.

Just watch - I know that Murphy reads all this stuff and within a week I'll be needing most of that money for a new fuel pump!

Mike