My New Jaguar XKR JEC Sports Exhaust

For the past 10 years I've owned a variety of Jaguar XK8s and XKRs, four in total. My first was an Amaranth 4.0L XK8, followed a year later by by a 4.0L XKR in Meteorite (Silver). I had that for six years, then a little later another XKR, this time a 2001 4.0L in British racing Green.

Unfortunately, and another story to come, it wrapped itself around a tree on the A23 in West Sussex in November 2006, reasons unknown although suspected to be an oil slick. I now have another XKR, this time in my favourite Zircon Blue, a 4.2L 2003 model.

It carries my private plate '7475 RW' - this might sound vaguely familiar to Jaguar fans and dates from 1962. 'RW' was a Coventry registration and two of the famous plates out of the Browns Lane factory were 774 RW (used on the 1955 Le Mans winning D-Type and other racers) and also 77 RW, a famous early Series 1 E-Type.

My silver one had a very expensive British Racing Green Sports exhaust system - cost £2K+. Mind you, it sounded fantastic! I noticed recently that the JEC are marketing a very low cost system of the XKR coming in at around £250 - it's just the tail end and you lose the existing rear silencers. I'd heard good reports so decided to order a set....

Well my JEC 'Sports Exhaust Tail Pipe System' has just arrived (4.2 version) so here's a few photos of what you get. Arrived in a well packed cardboard box with the contents bubble wrap protected.

Much simpler than I expected with only one joint to make on each pipe but it's only the last 3 feet of the existing exhaust system that you change:

There's a 3mm allen key socket inside the nut below to tighten up the trim when finished

Okay, it's fitted! Needs a slight tweak to get perfectly aligned but looks good to me

Of course, having got to the garage, discovered I'd left my main camera behind...

Fortunately, I carry a small one in the locker so all was not lost. Pics are not as good as I'd have liked but they illustrate what was involved and what it looks like underneath. Needed some care to get it on to the ramps before lifting as the car is quite a bit wider than the boy racers and saloons the garage normally deal with Above and below is the original pea shooter system - we are just changing about three feet in length from where this meets the clamps as it goes up over the diff - basically what you can see in the right hand pic (also see earlier images of the system as unwrapped)

Here's the other end of the system where the cats are, plus the mounting bush that allows the system to flex at the end we are interested in

The clamp here has to be undone each side, not too much of a problem to get apart on mine but proved impossible to remove the clamps from the exhaust afterwards despite much persuasion. So needed two new 56-58mm clamps. The bracket on the right holding the bush has to be removed each side

The old system can then be removed (I've kept it in case it needs to go back on at some future time).

Now with it all removed, the new system can go on

First put the brackets with the rubber bushes back on the chassis. Then slide the supplied attachments loosely onto the new exhaust first (they are handed so make sure you select the right one each side!)

Then everything can be fixed in place making sure it all lines up, quite easy. We found that the ends where they join didn't quite push on as far as the old ones on either side but this doesn't seem to make the trimmed ends protrude too far

As supplied the business end trims can be rotated to get them visually aligned and then you lock them via the 3mm allen keyed bolt that is inside what looks like the welded nut (left pic) at first glance!

Final alignment is best done with the car on level ground before tightening with an allen key. It helps if you have two people to do this, one turning and the other yelling 'No the other b****y way you stupid prat'

And as far as the actual sound it makes, Ian the garage owner who fitted it (and who is a bike nutter) insisted on coming out for a quick tour round the area and was suitable impressed cf what came in initially.

I'd say it is a little boomier than my old RG system but still very pleasant (and nearly £2k cheaper). Cruising at 70mph, you can hear it (or at least I can and considering the old system was virtually silent, it's hardly surprising) but it's definitely not obtrusive and will no doubt become less obvious as I get used to it. There is a resonance around 1800-2000 revs as remarked already but no problem. At least it sounds like a V8 now :smt023

I tried a quick video of the static system for sound - the problem is, it sounds nothing like the actual note whatsoever! It's all treble and no bass on the recording so I'll try mounting the camera on the back of the car facing rearwards so the mic isn't pointing AT the exhausts as I think this may help. A 'side-on' recording didn't help either.

Hope that helps anyone thinking of fitting this. Cost me £40 and a pint to get this done at the Railway Garage, Burgess Hill, West Sussex courtesy of Ian who owns the establishment.