Bad Influences....

I experimented with tyre pressures on mine Jamie, the only way to describe it is when you get to a pressure (going up 2psi increments from standard) where the steering goes noticeably lighter between those increments, then drop 2psi out and that should be it, my thinking is that you get to a point where the pressure lifts the weight onto the centre of the tyre, and by dropping the 2psi, you are putting just enough back onto the outsides of the tyre, give it a bash, i got to 38psi on mine so dropped it back to 36 and was running to stansted every day with no side effects

Nice motor tho, and they do look better with the black grill, (is it me or does the steering wheel seem familiar!!!)
 
I suspect the orange repeaters stuck all over the car are to keep the American market happy? I thought it would be a pain to change them all when I looked at an XK8 at a show. Still looks good, bit of a Q-car, no one expects a Jag S-type to be THAT fast I can guess ;) I bett you show up a few people?
 
It does have the 'sleeper' effect Matt :LOL: The orange reflectors have cutouts for side-marker lights, so I suspect you're right in saying they're for the US market.

Tony, any resemblance of the steering wheel I think is coincidently. Coincidently I wonder if it would fit a Cougar? It's a very nice steering wheel. The cross section of the wheel itself is more egg/cam-lobe shaped with the 'point' facing towards the rear of the car. It's also cocked off relative to the spokes so the top is further away than the bottom (more than just the angle of the steering column) so when you hold it at the 9&3o'clock positions your wrists are at a more natural angle. :)

It's going back to Jag this morning to get the last things finished off then that should hopefully be it for a while :)
 
I'm loving your new jag jamie. Last time I read this post you were just putting the rover back together, I gathered you got a jag from comments you made on other post. I've had a thing for the x-type estate for a while, had a drive in a c-class estate and really liked it, think it converted me to estates, but not wanting to jump on the german bandwagon was looking at the price of the jag.

One of my friends dad has a s-type v6 auto, was on a X-reg plate, dont know how much yours has changed from that model, that was a lovely big car seats were comfy with loads of space. Had shot in it, and always remember the pull from 0 to 70 mph, completely smooth never concidered an auto until then was great fun to drive although dont think we got much miles to the gallon that night. That jag then died with head gasket failure and got traded in for a a6 avant at the end of 2007.
 
Hi Chris,

It's a shame they don't make the X-Type V6 any more, because they're now all diesels with FWD. That said, the 2.2 diesel is pretty rapid and my local dealer is doing them with 0% APR at the moment which is a fairly attractive deal :)

The S-Type changed in 2002, then again in early 2005 I believe? There are a number of changes from the X-plate. The automatics used to be a 5-speed Ford derived gearbox which was fine, but was replaced with the 6-speed ZF gearbox which, without exaggerating, is in my opinion the finest automatic gearbox on the market. It's what all the current Jaguars use now as well as BMWs and Mercs. The software is programmable by the car manufacturer to suit the car. It's truely lovely, and I think it's safe to say it does a better job of choosing gears than I could - especially in Sport mode.

The face lift S-Types got a new interior, electronic handbrake (that little chrome button thing behind the shift lever), as well as a different back end externally.

Miles per gallon certainly isn't a strong point of mine, but it's near silent in the cruise at any legal speeds but makes a really nice sound under acceleration. The diesel ones are very smooth and quiet too - but are much better on fuel.

It's a shame really that most peoples' first and last experience of an automatic is some woefully underpowered 4-pot driving an archaic 4-speed auto which is always in the wrong gear and is much slower than the manual version. It understandably puts a lot of people off automatics. It's a pity that most of the mainstream brands (eg Ford, Vauxhall etc) add a crap old 4-speed automatic as a token gesture to complete the model range, whilst the premium brands are using ZF calibre gearboxes as standard with nothing in between. :(

Jaguars depreciate faster than the more common German brands so they're more accessible to second hand buyers at least. The later model X-Type diesels are available with the 6-speed ZF gearbox, as an alternative to the 6-speed manual. :)
 
well, in the spirit of changing cars, i'm off to look at this on thursday..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2004-Alfa-Rom...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:15|39:1|240:1318

it's the cheaper end of the market due to the high mileage and the fact it's a JTD as opposed to the JTDm but my yearly mileage is low so that'll even itself out and i'll not worry too much about the extra ?ú20 odd quid a year in road tax over the JTDm.....

it's more than i want to spend but then again i do tend to squeak a little when i walk recently as i'm trying to save for a house too... beginning to think i should've been born scottish i'm so good at being tight!! ;)
 
159 is the way forward...............and you know it!!! lol

i don't know... my brother bought a 2.4 diesel 159 a few months back and while it is a nice car it's not worth the extra money over a late edition 156 1.9 JTDm in good condition IMHO

You still get all the same toys to play with and about an extra ?ú6000 in your pocket.... sure the 159 is newer and 'better' but the way alfa's depreciate i think he made a mistake trading up... he regretted the engine choice for def.. he went from 45mpg to 40mpg and ONLY if he drove like a 60yr old on a sunday afternoon, i think he gets a realistic 32mpg on average....

and the GT looks better!! :cool:
 
yea.. haven't seen it yet.. it was away getting mot'd and needed brakes replacing so have to wait till tue to get a run in it....
 
Done it again... :D

Just casually browsing on Ebay on Wednesday evening and spotted a 97R Rover 620 Ti (Rover T-Series engine, 2.0 16v turbo, 197bhp, Torsen limited slip diff and 0-60 in 7.0secs) which usually change hands for around £2000 on a Buy-It-Now for £250 with 3 hours to go being sold as a non-runner not too far away.

Went to see it last night and gave the guy the nod. I'll be taking it home on Sunday to repair.

It's from a little garage in Kirkcaldy, Fife. It's had 4 owners, the first 3 really looked after it and the fourth was an absolute mink who also happened to have no money. It has undersized tyres fitted to the front wheels - NICE!!! 200 horses and 195/45R16s to apply it with - get some!

It had an inner CV joint knocking and he was of the "turn the stereo up" school of thought. One day he reversed out of the driveway, the CV joint separated and the driveshaft smacked the crankshaft position sensor and obliterated it. It was towed to the garage and as he apparently couldn't afford the recovery charge he left the keys and V5c with the garage and walked away. It's sat there for a year and now the garage need the space so they advertised it for £250.

TO be honest, a filthy old Rover doesn't appear on face value to be worth much - but it's a Ti and under all the filth inside and out the first 3 owners' care is evident. Clean the grot out from the electric window switches and the plastics are still shiny black. The leather seat bolsters are unmarked and the carpets are untorn. The car has suffered a minor impact on the rear bumper which has flaked the paint off but everything is straight. The bodywork is very good, with two very minor Paintless-Dent-Removal calibre dents on the whole car. Clean the scum off the paint and it's actually free of oxidisation and well protected by wax - and quite shiny!

I kinda feel like I've robbed the guy I've bought it from, but overall it's a very straight car and after 2 hours of mechanical work and 20 hours of cleaning (wait for the photos of how much filth one person can get inside a car - disgusting) it should be really nice.

We weren't really planning on getting car - but this was cheap so we've nabbed it. We'll run it for a while (should be fun with that sort of performance!) and sell on for a profit like we did with the red 620SLi we got. :)
 
Indeed IIRC its the same engine they had fitted to the "Tomcat" coupe Turbo, and that was good for 150! {I know my brother had one....he had it nicked three times thats how desirable they were with the turbo engine}
 
Apparently it's hers now :skep:

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Had to put our 17" Vitesse alloys on the front to tow it home. I reckon the 17" wheels look quite good on it :smile5:

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And here's how your typical non-car-owners'-club-member treats their car...

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But it's got stylish Max Power seat belt things so all is forgiven :mad2:

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Under the lid - out with the Honda, in with the T16...

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and lastly, the remains of the crankshaft position sensor which I need to compare against 3 or 4 possible types used on T-series engines :rolleyes5:

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I'm off to get my rubber gloves now... yuck.
 
That interior was an absolute disgrace!! Sorry, can't abide anyone who leaves a sh*t pit within the interior of their cars!!!
 
i see there is new life forms growing in there,that is minging,must have stunk when you opened door after been layed up for a year