8bit's new R...

8bit

Active Member
Feb 11, 2010
3,401
3
Aberdeen
So the Jag was serviced last week and was back in this week for a few minor things to get sorted, some on warranty. While it was in the garage I had this to tool about in:

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2013 Jaguar XF Portfolio S, 3.0l V6 twin-turbo diesel. Actually makes more torque than my XKR (440lb/ft!), has a ZF 8-speed auto gearbox and is indecently fast for a diesel. Had a lot of fun on local roundabouts the last few days but was glad to get mine back yesterday.

Went for a bit of a blast this morning, was actually pleasantly slightly surprised at the economy afterwards:

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Road conditions weren't that great so was taking it a bit easier than normal ;)
 

8bit

Active Member
Feb 11, 2010
3,401
3
Aberdeen
Cheers ;) Don't really get a real idea of how loud it is on the videos, it's certainly not shy ;)

Washed the car today and finally did a job I'd been meaning to get round to for ages. The XKR has the //R logo on little plates on the brake calipers. On the rear they just screw onto the caliper but on the front they're attached to the anti-rattle clips. For some reason the R seems to peel off and leave the coloured flashes in place so I got new clips and plates and treated them with a few coats of VHT lacquer. Forgot to take a "before" shot but you can see what I mean from when I did the rear brakes:

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Much better now:

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Few wee tidy-up jobs still to do...
 

8bit

Active Member
Feb 11, 2010
3,401
3
Aberdeen
Got some new wheels :) These are OEM Jaguar "Cremona" wheels as standard on the special edition XKR Portfolio model. I got a good deal off ebay as they were painted in black and in need of a refurb. I know a guy who does refurbs at a good price and I needed summer tyres anyway so I bought these and the tyres and had him refurb the wheels in OEM Jaguar silver and fit the tyres.

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Tyres are Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas which are every bit as good on the Jag as they are on my LCR, very sticky, loads of feedback and fantastic even in heavy rain and standing water.

Thanks for looking :)
 

8bit

Active Member
Feb 11, 2010
3,401
3
Aberdeen
Couple of small jobs recently, first I changed the battery as I was finding some strange electrical type issues such as jerky downshifts when driving hard, strange touchscreen/nav system behaviour and incorrect seat/mirror/steering position memory recall. These cars are sensitive to tired batteries so that's the usual starting point. Used a Varta AGM type which apparently are better at holding charge. Yes, the battery is in the boot as standard too:

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Can't remember if I posted this already but changed the front wing vent trims as one of the originals had a broken clip and both were a bit chipped and tatty looking:

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Gave it a good wash recently. Pre-wash with Auto Finesse Avalanche snow foam, wash with Meguiars Hyperwash, chemical paint decontamination using Auto Finesse Iron Remover (cos I'm too lazy to clay it) then a good rinse with filtered water, towel dry and a coat of Auto Finesse Tough Coat. Pics don't do it justice really, the shine and flake pop is lush!

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Unfortunately the car failed its MOT last week due to a rear caliper having a seized piston. It's booked in to my local Jaguar dealer tomorrow to get this fixed under extended warranty so should be back on the road soon. Not that I'll get much time to drive it because two weeks ago today this turned up:

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Our first child, a wee boy we've named Liam. Chuffed doesn't begin to describe it!
 

8bit

Active Member
Feb 11, 2010
3,401
3
Aberdeen
Thanks guys :) Liam is such a lot of fun, even at this stage. Being a Dad is awesome :)

Yeah the battery isn't far off double the size of the one in the Leon!
 

8bit

Active Member
Feb 11, 2010
3,401
3
Aberdeen
Car failed MOT last week This was due to a binding brake at the rear offside corner. The wheel wouldn't turn freely with the back end jacked up, brakes off and in N but the other side was fine. I'd hoped it would just be a pad stuck on the carrier or similar so I took the disc and pads out, cleaned it all up and put it back together but when I was winding the piston back in to put the caliper back on the carrier it was very hard to rotate it. Ended up getting the caliper replaced under extended warranty, thankfully, and had the car successfully retested today so we're back on the road.

Not sure when the piston got stuck but it took its' toll on the pads and disc. Note the blue tinge on the disc due to excessive heat:

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This is the outboard pad (bear in mind I changed the discs and pads last October, maybe 4k or 5k miles ago):

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Even worse was the state of the inboard pad:

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The outboard pad passed MOT but it's probably a good job the inboard one can't be inspected unless it was removed (which they're not allowed to do) because I'm pretty sure that would have failed... Pretty annoying because I'll now have to change pads and discs on both sides of the rear again now but these things happen. At least they're not really that expensive and I guess it's probably a good job I had the MOT when I did or I might have been driving about with very bad rear brakes on one side. I've got a new pair of Pagid discs and set of EBC RedStuff pads to go on, hopefully get some time over the weekend for that.
 

chris_ffx

Active Member
Apr 4, 2010
19
0
Just had a read through Niall car looks awesome, and some good mods with exhaust and wheels!! Jealous just a little...!! hahaa

How do you find the Tough coat lasts?? I used Dodo juice purple haze on mine but need something a bit harder wearing to go under it i think as its a soft wax and doesn't last too long.