The Voices

The 2.5 has now been sold from my Autotrader advert. I have a new problem with the 'R' however ! My wife called me yesterday and said that there was pink coolant on the floor under the car. Had a look when I got home and couldn't see anything obvious, other than coolant level low in the header tank. Checked the two plastic fittings that usually crack on the header tank and no sign of a break. Off this weekend, so had a look today and one of the top radiator hoses is 'compressed' for want of a better word (not quite flat ?) The short 90 degree hose under the supercharger air intake is even worse ! Car is off the road until I can get an insight into the problem, tried to speak to Andy who does all the work on my cars but he must be away this weekend. Any suggestions guys ? Someone mentioned a possible faulty radiator cap or just hoses are fatigued due to their age ? Wife is not happy as she will have to drive the Impreza instead !

Now sold via Autotrader !

Thanks for the update Russ, I prefer the same all round if I can. I still haven't made my mind up but I bet that I end up 'wimping out' and buying the Michelin Pilot Sport 4's (just because of the reviews) The Continental Sport Contact 3's that are on the rear at the moment are legal but on dry roads I was getting the DSC light flashing under hard acceleration yesterday !

Hi Russ, my experience with remaps on N/A cars is that you will get better 'driveability' and throttle response rather than a noticeable power gain ? Combining the remap with an uprated filter (K+N or similar) helps a bit. £300 is not bad value if it does improve things ?

Quick update. I fitted the washer jet cover this morning, had been putting it off in case I broke the plastic bracket on the cover or the washer jet itself. Went more smoothly than I expected, used a drill bit (by hand) to slightly 'ease' the holes in the washer jet and the cover (because the aftermarket aluminium cruciform brackets are a very tight fit) Pre-fitted the cruciform bracket to the cover and used a 'pick' type tool with a 90 degree tip to hook into the hole in the washer jet and pull it forward out of the bumper. I then put a small plastic spring loaded clamp onto the body of the washer jet to prevent it retracting into the bumper. This left me with two hands free to clip the pins on the cruciform bracket into the two holes on the washer jet, release the clamp and job done ! Spent the afternoon starting to clean things up under the bonnet, used a trim cleaner on all the black plastic items but not the kind that leaves everything 'artificially' shiny (I hate it when it looks like it has been varnished !) I need to replace the sound deadening felt under the bonnet at some point, it has 'shrunk' so pulled away from some of the clips but not a major priority at the moment. Next job was to clean the alloys again, looks like the previous owner used kerbs to slow down instead of the brakes ! Alloy refurb is on the cards at some point as well but need to sell the 2.5 first. I have it advertised on 3 Jaguar forums, Autotrader and Ebay at the moment with little success. Only calls I have had are from a teenage lad that didn't look old enough to drive when I met up with him. Turned up with two of his mates and just wanted a joyride, not impressed when I said 'no problem, just need to see your driving license, insurance that shows you are covered to drive it and the cash ?'

Hi Russ, the £180 you are paying is very good value (even if it is in December) I had a quick look on Google maps and Goodwood is too far for me, any further South and you end up in the sea ! I would be interested in a track day type of event if we could all agree on a more central venue ?

Yellow stuff gets great reviews as a 'fast road' pad and I seem to remember some test results done at MIRA showing improved stopping distances versus OEM pads. Type 90 approved for road use as a 'standard' pad replacement, so no insurance issues. Redstuff creates less dust apparently but not as big an improvement over standard.

Cheers Russ ! I have managed to make one decision (finally) Ordered the EBC 'yellow stuff' pads for the rear brakes These are around £64, compared to the Pagid or Brembo pads from Eurocarparts for £23 (using the 25% sale code) I know that if I had bought the standard ones, I would end up swapping them again !

Let me know how you get on with the Nexens if you do proceed. I will need to make a decision soon as the Continentals on the back are just above the legal limit.

Buy the car or the kitten gets it !

Hi Russ, there are a couple of ebay sellers doing free postage on a pair of the Nexens. 35 profile hasn't got much sidewall to flex as you say ! How much are the Barums in 265 ? I would recommend sticking to the 275 unless there is a major price difference ? I can get the Yoko's (not Mrs John Lennon !) at £138 each, their wet weather figures in the test were all 'green' and wet weather performance is probably my main focus. The N'Fera are 'W' rated, so 168mph I think ? 'Y' rating on most of the others I am looking at, so 186mph rating. Either one is above the 155 mph limiter, rumour has it that in 5th it will actually beat the limiter by some margin but not tried it yet ! Had a 2003 STR (back in 2003 !) at 162 mph on the main runway at Elvington so it might be feasible ? The tyre pressure plate on my car says 32psi (I think) for the rears (up to 100mph) or 40psi for (presumably sustained speeds of) 100 mph +

Recent Tyre test from Evo

Russ, I am currently paralysed by indecision ! Just keep reading more and more contradictory tyre reviews and going round in circles (no pun intended !) The major problem is that the reviews from customers have no 'scientific' basis, just opinions. Such a wide variety of cars and driving styles that there is no common ground ? There are people complaining that they 'only' get 40k miles out of a set of tyres (are they used to tyres made of plastic not rubber ?), this for me is absolutely irrelevant. How they grip in the wet and dry is what concerns me. Auto Express and some of the German car magazines have conducted in depth tests (but not on anything close to my tyre size, usually on front wheel drive cars and with much less power), the premium brand tyres tend to win hands down however. My first choice for an affordable tyre was the Kumho LE Ecsta Sport KU39, based on 'word of mouth' In the German tests, best rating was only 'satisfactory' worst was 'not recommended' ! I can get a pair of the N'Fera Su1's for £180 delivered (then whatever it costs to get them fitted), seems like a bargain but still concerned about the 'soft sidewall' comments. The only tire I can find that gets universally good reviews is the Michelin Pilot Sport 4, £334 delivered for a pair is the cheapest I can find so far. Still think this is expensive for rubber do-nuts ! Got a 'trade' price for various brands at work via our (Jaguar nominated) tyre supplier, all more expensive than I can buy them online ! My current XE is on 19" alloys and has the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx RT's fitted. They seem decent but only pushing 180ps through them on the XE, so not really an indication of how they would manage with 400 bhp to play with ? If Continental did the Sport Contact 5 in 275/35/18, I would seriously consider a pair to match the nearly new ones on the front. In an ideal world, I like all four tyres to match so that the handling characteristics are the same, but I am not really willing to replace the fronts just because of this.

I now have the replacement headlamp washer jet cover ready to fit (our 'smart' repair specialist painted it for me as a favour) Already have the 'upgraded' aluminium cruciform fittings, just need to get round to fitting the cover.

Hi Joe, Looks like someone has already come up with the info you need. Sorry about the delay, work was hectic today so did not get chance to speak to anyone in the parts department.

Price now reduced to £1,295, I could use the space !

No problem ! More than happy to help a fellow Jaguar fan.

Wet weather grip is a big concern, no use having the power if you can't get it down onto the tarmac !

Problem solved ! The smaller pad fits the 326mm rears on the STR and 4.2 XKR. The larger ones certainly fit the 5.0 XKR rear brakes, disc size is noticeably bigger than the STR. Luckily I had one of each car at work today so I could do a comparison !

Hi Russ, Glad that you got them at the starting bid, that was a real result ! A single rear went for £350 a while ago ! I did consider looking at tyres one size wider or narrower than the 275/35/18 on the back but I think it will be as a last resort ?

Hi Russ, was it the set of 'staggered' Vulcans on ebay ? If so, a result at the price ! Steve, here is a link to some uprated back boxes for sale, doesn't say what make, but they are for the 3.0. http://www.jaguarforum.com/showthread.php?t=94108 At some point, I will try to get a quote from Longlife / Powerflow to make a set of back boxes, there is a branch just down the road from my dealership in Kendal.

Cheers Steve, I will be interested to hear their reply. I have been having a look at other performance exhaust suppliers and they all seem to list the 'R' as a separate part number to the other 'S' models.

Any one else got any good or bad feed back on tyres for the 'R' ? I have seen tyre tests where they mention that the side wall on the Kumho KU39 and Nexen SU1 is softer than usual on a sports tyre ? This may depend on the tyre profile that they tested of course ? Sidewall flex is one of my 'least favourite' things ! Probably more noticeable on front tyres and these are going on the back, but at some point I would like to run matching tread pattern all round ? The previous owner spent a considerable sum on a pair of Continental Sport Contact 5's for the front (245/40/18), the only problem is that Continental do not do this tyre as a 275/35/18 for the back ! Great job genius ! It will take me another 5 years with my mileage to wear them out.

Any one able to shed any light on this ?

Hope the gearbox service goes smoothly, made a difference on my 2.5 when I had it done.