New to the club, with a year 2000 XKR

[Spinflight]

Wotcha chaps,

Picked Pandora up on Sunday so thought I'd give the club a whirl.

Few surprises for me going through the paperwork, seems she is a Paramount Performance XKR with all the bits and pieces done to her internally. Though she wasn't advertised as such. She does seem to be a little bit on the savage side, the Missus describes it as climbing on to the back of a Tiger and holding onto it's fur for dear life.

My intention is to use her as a daily driver but need to change something to realise this. Partly as I live in Wales, which is a bit like living under a waterfall and taking a shower at the same time. The 20" Detroits with fairly new P Zeros seem to give a very poor ride quality and likely aren't the best in the wet. The roads around here are often potholed. If I drove over a penny currently I could tell you whether it was heads or tails.

I'm having her checked out by an independent garage to see whether there might be another explanation for the road noise and ride quality, servicing the gearbox and diff etc.

So if they get a clean bill of health I'm wondering what the best tyre for wet weather and ride quality is? I'm more than considering dropping down to 18" rims and, I don't know, keeping the 20s for a track day or something. From elsewhere it seems only 18" Hydras are useable with Brembo brakes? Are there any others which would fit? A racer type of my acquaintance recommends Hankook Ventus as an all season tyre, anyone have experience of these?

Bear in mind she's been lowered with sports springs and powerflex (?) bushes etc. Seems to have pretty much the boy racers wishlist when I was just looking for a comfortable Grand Tourer.

So, I'll see what the garage says and then decide whether to keep the 20" Detroits with a more sensible tyre for the local conditions or splash some cash on new rims.

[JimMann]

Hi Spinflight, good to have you onboard and welcome to the wonderful world of Modern XK motoring, be nice to see a photo or 2 of the new beast.

With a Paramount Performance conversion as you describe, the likely culprit for the hard ride will not be the tyres, but the lowering kit and sports suspension. Sometimes the dampers can be adjusted to offer a better / more comfortable setting.

I suspect you will also have an issue to change to smaller diameter wheels and add a higher profile tyre to give some compliance, as anything under 19-inch is unlikely to fit over the brake callipers and even then the gain would be marginal to say the least. It would certainly warrant a try before you buy for any smaller diameter wheels, i.e. don't shell out for different wheels unless you get a trial fit first.

Whilst I don't normally purchase from Kwik Fit, I find their website very easy to use and with a simple entry of the registration details, you can quickly get a list of the tyres that would be available to fit your 20-inch wheels as they stand.

One other point, make sure your insurance company is aware of the modifications, as anything away from standard can come back and bite you at the worst possible time.

Keep us updated of your progress.

Jim Mann

[aaj]

Hi Spinflight
According to the information I have, The R Performance Brakes fitted as an upgrade to the standard XKR (to MY2002) would accept any R Performance Wheel. There was an 18" R Performance wheel & it was called Millan.
On MY2002 (the info I have to hand) Milan Wheels had 245/45 ZR 18 96W (F) & 255/45 ZR 18 99W (R) Continental ContisportContact Tyres & all R Performance 20" Wheels had 255/35 ZR 20 97Y J Directional (F) & 285/30 ZR 20 99Y J Asimmetrico Pirelli P Zero Tyres
It is possible that Paramount made modifications to the Braking System that precludes the use of anything but 20" Wheels.
If you do change the Wheels to 18" you will need to get the car's Speedo Electronics (software) changed to cater for the different rolling circumferences of the wheels & Tyres - this is very simple & can be done by any Jag Indi Garage with the Jaguar or equivalent Diagnostic System.
All the Paramount & R Performance items you have will have a detrimental effect on ride comfort. Changing these will be expensive but you could try changing the Suspension Bushes (use only Genuine Jaguar Bushes) back to the Standard Jaguar items - I would leave any Powerflex bushes on the Front & Rear Anti-Roll Bars & Links
At one time I had upgraded Dampers & Springs on my MY2002 XK8 - the ride was terrible on poorly maintained local roads. I change it all back to standard. I didn't like the Pirelli P Zero's on my XK8 (with 18" Wheels), I eventually settled with Goodyear Eagle F1's
Good Luck
AllanJ

[mike020150]

As well as the advice already given, it's as well to note that the CATS dampers fitted as standard to the XKR default to their firm setting if anything goes wrong with the system. Hence, if you're having any work done with a Jaguar specialist, it might be worth asking them to plug the car in to their diagnostics system to check the damping. Mike.

[Spinflight]

There was an 18" R Performance wheel & it was called Millan.

Couple of other references state that Hydra or the Winter 18" can also be used with Brembo brakes. Sadly the wire spoke aftermarket ones can't, as they look lovely!

I'll see what the mechanic comes back with, left the documentation with her so can't check atm but I'm sure there was aftermarket dampers mentioned. Not sure what type as the invoice wasn't specific but have seen Bilstein (?) mentioned with respect to other Paramount work.

Possibly increasing the ride height would be somewhat depimpificatory? OEM springs shouldn't be too pricey I'd think.

Bit difficult to know as I haven't driven a standard version.

default to their firm setting if anything goes wrong with the system.

Thank you for this. I did reset things, the key in position 2 and wibble the throttle / kick down. Which beeped and seemed to have some effect though whether that is only on the gearbox is difficult to say as the roads up to the garage are slow and congested, plus it was icy so ultra care taken.

[Spinflight]

I've put some 18" Hydras on her.

Tyre choice was a tough one but went for Avons. Partly as other manufacturers only give you half a warranty for staggered setups, and partly due to a recommendation from a police pursuit driver.

Huge difference in ride quality. No more tramlining. They seem to suit the car.

Thoughit has thrown a couple of codes. P0103 and P1111. Which seem to relate to the MAF and O2 sensor... Though more likely I'm thinking I have to tell the computer that she has lighter wheels on in some way? Will try resetting the gearbox.

[Andy P]

Hi Spinflight
P1111 is not an error code,it is a 'readiness' tests completed code which means all systems are ok.
If you clear P1111 you will get a P1000 which means the car is going through the test again.
Once completed you will get P1111 again if all is good.
P0103 points to a bad connection relating to the MAF.
Might be worth cleaning the connectors between the MAF and ECM.
There is a harness plug behind the engine and look at the connector pins.
Just for reference Fuse #12 (10 amp) in the Engine Management fusebox powers the MAFS.
Hope that helps a bit.
Take care and stay safe.
Andy