Wasn't sure what to expect when I ran across this youtube video but the XK8 looks like mine so I watched it....it's just 1min long.


Maybe some of you XK8 owners will enjoy watching it too:

 

No great surprise or mystery here. Our cars, even in "R" form are not drag racers. On the other hand sitting still there are few cars that look better

Doug

 

Having owned a GTO and two Xk8's. I will give looks and ride and refinement to the Jag, for ***** fast and fun to drive I go GTO. I owned the slower 04 350 HP, the 05/06 GTO kicks *** in it's stock 400 HP 400 Torque.

 

Looks and refinement I would agree that the XKR wins hands down. Ride, I would be surprised if it is as good as the GTO. Now, if you were talking about a '66 or '67 GTO or especially a '68 or '69 GTO, I'd take the Goat's looks any day of the week. (Oh yeah, I did take a '68, my favorite car of all time). But, I do love my 2002 as much as any car I've ever owned.

 

Oddly I am tired of manual cars. I enjoy the Xk more then my current 95 Trans Am with the 6sp though with only 36k on it and it looks new it is a garage queen.

 

My last car was a 2004 GTO automatic. Surprisingly it was an excellent long distance cruiser and the seats were superbly comfortable. Where it fell short was the simplistic dashboard materials and mild cam shake at idle, the idle was almost always a positive. While I have a VDP instead of an XK, nothing egged me on to stab the throttle quite like that cam lope and exhaust note. I had that car for 7 years and part of me still misses it. I have two kids and it just didn't make a good family car for the difficulty of getting them in and out of the back seat with rear facing kids seats.

 

I had a '57 corvette, 283 pwr pack motor & automatic. I put in a Muncie 4sp with the 220 low & Hurst Comp Plus shifter. kept it one yr and actually hated it...rode rough, couldn't put much in it so traded it for a '57 bel air 2dr ht and liked that much more. neighbor had a '66 chevy nova ss, 327, 350hp, 4sp and would that thing fly!!!


those were the REALLY good years!!!

 

I had the same car, Torrid Red with Red interior with the 6sp. I loved the car. Like the Jag these came with many suspension issues. Some were shot when they came off the boats from Aussie land because when they put them on the boat they ratcheted then down too much and when they pulled them off the suspension was ****ed, rear ends got the worse, sagged bad at 20k. They have the same issue the JAg has, PART issues. The drive line was good since GM made the LS1 and LS2 in everything but body and interior you were screwed.
They did make the El Camino in Australia in the GM Holden name. To bad they did not send this here....

 

Yep, parts that weren't drive train related were a nightmare to get. Not so much price, but wait times were ridiculous. I didn't do much to my suspension, but I did fix the basics. The rear springs were swapped for zero drop Lovells, and I used their poly radius rod bushes. I never did the upper strut mounts, but the ride quality was excellent after those touches and the picture I posted above was with this setup. The rear suspension was poorly collapsed before the springs. Was pleased with the stance I had with this setup.

 

I traded a fully optioned 06 GTO (6M and 18" wheels) with 140K miles for 04 47K XJ8. In stock form, the 06 GTO has to be the best $/HP deal GM (Holden) has ever put to pavement. Strong runner throughout the power band. Low down torque was not for the feint of heart. The salesman delivered Jag to my home and then chirped first three gears on departure.

 

I agree the car is one of the best bang for your need for speed buck. But yea the suspension was a mess on them. I did the radius bushing also. I also got the rusty gas tank issue the northern cars had. Trunk is in the trunk but for a small circle in bottom of car for the lines. Well if the rubber grommet rotted water got in and the tank sat in the water. New tank installed (fuel pump while you were at it) was 2k. I got lucky and found one that came out of a no mile car. Turns out one of the production years there was a train wreck and like 50 or so the cars got damaged and scattered to the wind to bone yards around the country. I got a tank from one of them. Brand New, Pump and all, installed for 208 bucks at the dealer my brother was a mechanic at when it started leaking.

 

If you have good mechanical skills you can swap a 2005/2006 GTO LS engine and 4L60e/4L65e/4L70e trans into a XK8 and have the best of both worlds for a pretty nominal cost. I have done a couple of California legal LS swaps in other vehicles and these are great engines. Making even more sense now that I discovered Jaguar does not even have ECM (rebuilt or otherwise) available anymore for the early XK8's. So that is my "back pocket" plan.

 

I tried to entice a GTO at the red light grand prix this summer however he was having no part of it. I figured he would beat me and I spect he figured I'd beat him, too bad he didn't want to play. By the looks/sound of the video the goat is not in stock trim, the jag is.

 

I thought the same. It looked like the GTO had slicks or drag radials on the back given the different front and rear wheels and not many will go to that trouble on a basically stock car.