If you own an XJS, then you know how wonderful these cars are. However, you also may be disappointed with the lack luster sporting performance of these fine creations of Coventry. If you are interested in increasing theperformance of your XJ-S, then I invite you to read on.
The XJ-S as you know is a wonderful automobile--but it is not without its foils. For one, most people think "V-12" and naturally assume ground-pounding Horsepower in spades. If you are an XJ-S owner, you know this not true. The XJ-S, in stock form, is not a true Supercar--that's the bad news. The good news is that there are things that you can do to immediately increase the performance potential of your XJ-S. This article is a brief collection of starting steps to make your Jaguar more of a performance car, and less the luxury-boulevard-high speed cruiser it was originally designed to be.
I have owned my XJ-S for almost eight years. During that time, I have made numerous performance and cosmetic modifications to my car and have learned, through trial and error, what is effective and not effective. Please, take the following as my contribution to all of you based on my experiences about what steps are worthwhile to increasing the performance of this soon to be classic.
Most people that are into cars are interested in *performance*. But what exactly is performance? Let's define what that means first.
PERFORMANCE is an increase in an automobile's ability to do three things:
1) Go faster (either in acceleration and/or top speed)
2) Handle, over curves, rallying, or street conditions at higher and safer speeds with better control (which is related to...)
3) Stopping in shorter, more controlled distances
If you are looking to increase your XJ-S's PERFORMANCE, first ask yourself, what is it you REALLY want to accomplish? Naturally, the little boy (or girl) in us is always interested in more Horsepower--nothing wrong with that! But I feel the key focus ought to be a *balance* of all three of the above. Keep in mind that whatever you do on any car, and ESPECIALLY a Jaguar, it is going to cost money. The amount of performance you will get to some degree is directly proportional to the amount of money you can, or are willing, to put into the car. Also keep in mind that the performance return(s) [small to moderate] you will get from modifying your XJ-S will NOT be recoverable in either the sale or current value of the car. For what it is worth, I'd guestimate that you'll lose 90% of what you spend--and that is, only if you can find a fellow enthusiast that recognizes what you have done to your car and is willing to pay a slight premium for your extra investment in time, money, and love.