Lads
I read great massive bundles of publications on motorsports. However, I can find nothing on the XK8 in any form of racing or performance. Dashed unusual???
Is it brittle. Do they break under hard cornering. Is there a self destruct feature when driven over 70MPH?
Love to hear opinions.
Bertie

 

The XK8 was designed as a Grand Tourer, not a sports car or a race car. It is a pretty heavy car for its size.

For racing, it is all about how a car fits into a certain class compared to other cars. The XKR is used as a race car, as it was designed to be more of a high performance car than the XK8.

Look at the XK8 as a luxury car with more than adequate performance that looks faster than what it is. It will go 155 mph in a straight line (governed) and that is faster than almost any other car, except for some of the really high performance cars, but it is not really a race car.

 

I concur. Enjoy it for what it is, and you will not be disappointed by attempting to make it become what it is not....

 

Paragon performance is working on a track XK8 - check out their site for some eye candy! But the XK was always meant as a GT. It's got a beautiful wooden interior, big comfy leather heated seats, and a smooth ride with great power up front (especially the XKR). If you want a car you can flick around though, you're better off picking up a 911. But then the interior and comfort are nowhere near the Jag. Different priorities.

 

The XK8 raced in the Trans Am series and won the title 2 or 3 years. There is nothing inherently fragile about the car. You can corner it as fast and hard as your courage and skills will allow. As noted above it is a GT not a sports car. But it is designed to be driven in a spirited manner.

 

I could be wrong, but I seriously doubt those Trans Am cars shared any parts with the cars we know and love.

 

I was thinking similar thoughts. I don't know a great deal about Trans Am racing, but I would be relatively certain that those cars are gutted to reduce weight and that the suspensions are seriously modified, as are the engines and transmissions.

Did a little research.

Trans-Am Series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Looks like it was the XKR


2003 Jaguar Scott Pruett Jaguar XKR Rocketsports Racing 2004 Jaguar Paul Gentilozzi Jaguar XKR Rocketsports Racing 2005 Jaguar Klaus Graf Jaguar XKR Rocketsports Racing 2006 No championships awarded - only 2 races held 2007 Series not held 2008 Series not held 2009 Jaguar Tomy Drissi Jaguar XKR Rocketsports Racing

 

Funny you should say that, I was just reading about 'racing XKR's' tonight in one of marque expert Nigel Thorley's books:

'Rocketsports initially built three Jaguar XKR's with carbon fibre and Kevlar bodies and, to compete, used Ford V8 engines.............'

So that's different body, different engine and different gearbox. At least there was a Jaguar logo on the side.

Graham

 

Thats Paragon Design........

The GT race series was originally going to use the Jag V8 engine it is why it was designed in the first place so I am told, when it got dumped for the chevy lump, this was in the early days before Rocket Sport did the 4.5, Jaguar was stuck with an engine they had designed, they detuned it and used for the XK and most things there on, it was why (so I am told again) they had plastic tensioner and nikasil, all to do with saving weight, then again quite a few of these stories grow over the years and it is not always easy to find the truth.

The early GT race cars had nothing Jaguar about that apart from the look(ish), the bodies were a space frame chassis, American engines, the skin was a carbon fibre shell, did not stop them from looking cool though

 

When does a race car share most of the components to it's commercially available namesake?

Almost never.

I don't see why anyone would think an XK made for racing would either.

 

40-50 years ago

 

True for some categories of racing, but the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) has several categories that require that the cars have most of the components from the factory, especially the Stock classes.

Drag Racing Classes

Stock
Stock cars are similar to their big brothers in Super Stock, but the rules regarding everything from engine modifications to body alterations are much stricter. Virtually any car is eligible to compete, and entries are classified using a system that divides factory shipping weight by NHRA-factored horsepower. Bodies must be unaltered and retain a full factory interior. Tires are limited to a maximum nine-inch-wide rear slick. Engines must be correct for the make and model vehicle and must retain stock cylinder heads, intake manifold, and carburetor or fuel injector. Modifications are limited to a basic balancing and rebuild with only a few performance enhancements.

 

Here's the Trans Am version:

Hosted on Fotki

And, here's the ball-busting GT cars:

Hosted on Fotki

Hosted on Fotki

And the 2002 Daytona 24 hour class winner:

Hosted on Fotki

All the performance you can stand.

 

It all starts with an XK8 and works up from there.

 

Honestly, I don't think that any of those actually "started with an XK8".