Chapter 1 – The Beginning (A Simple Supercharger Pulley)

At first I really didn’t have a rational explanation for considering any performance upgrades to a car that already has 420 BHP. Top speed is limited to 155 by the manufacturer and who could possibly even want to go that fast on any of today’s roads, in a convertible no less? On the other hand … if you have a son (Thom) that is also a bona fide car nut, and he knows how to push all the right buttons (as in, “My Mercedes C63 AMG needs another 50 BHP to get it to 500 BHP, now!”) … then let the show begin!

I thought I only wanted a simple upper pulley exchange to pick up a few extra horses to compensate for the altitude here in Colorado Springs. Then I did a search on that pesky internet. I found a place near Chicago that specializes in performance upgrades for Jaguars (http://www.eurotoysltd.com) and they were quite enthusiastic about doing work on an XKR. Since the 5.0 Liter already has 510 BHP and the recently announced XKR – S will have 550BHP, they were both too new and already had plenty of power, so there simply isn’t much market for upgrades to either of those cars (yet). The 4.0L and 4.2L XKRs can be taken to those numbers and beyond, without spending the $132,000 for one that is already there. So, if you look at it that way … saving $132,000 … it sounds like a great plan. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Now that I have my rational explanation, we shall proceed.

The folks near Chicago had all the right pieces to get my car to 550BHP and beyond. The problem was one of logistics. They would need the car for at least a week and a half to get all the work done. That meant travelling to Chicago and waiting there for the work to be done. I figured at least two thousand dollars for the trip, lodging, and meals, not to mention any other things like a movie or whatever to pass the evenings away. Or, I could triple that expense and take my wife Donna with me, in which case she would be bored out of her head all day, or even worse … shop all day! No, I needed a lower cost solution.

Being ever so resourceful, it occurred to me that we have folks right here in Colorado Springs that do this sort of thing and they even work closely with the local dealership (Red Nolan Jaguar, http://www.jaguarcs.com/) and the Jaguar Club of Southern Colorado, http://www.jagclub.org/) to sponsor events and work on both member and dealer cars. That would be Concours Cars (http://www.concoursmotorsport.com/home). I called Mark at Concours and he was immediately enthusiastic about the project. I mentioned that I had spoken with the company in Chicago about this and he asked if he could try and put together a solution that would at least get me to the performance figures of the newer 5.0 Liter XKRs. Mark was really serious about putting something together here in Colorado Springs. He called me back later in the week and said he had put together an approach. It was complicated enough that I made a trip to their location in Old Colorado City to discuss the details. Mark, Ron, and Brett were there when I arrived so Mark began to outline a plan for the project:

Stage 1: Install a supercharger upgrade to include the following from Eurotoys Big Power Pulley Kit:

Modified Lower Crank Pulley Damper

Upper Supercharger Pulley

Modified Oil Filter Adaptor

Crank Pulley retaining bolt

Idler Pulley

Special Supercharger Drive Belt

Detailed Instructions

Here is a picture of the Eurotoys Big Power Pulley Kit

This modification alone increases the horsepower by 70 BHP

As with any plan there were some complications. As it turns out, the XKR intercooler is marginally adequate when it comes to providing input air that is not overheated Add to that limitation, increased supercharger speeds via changes in the pulley system and you end up with air going into the intake that exceeds the performance parameters monitored by the ECU. The ECU automatically begins to degrade performance by reducing fuel flow and retarding the engine timing. Kind of makes the whole concept meaningless … you work to increase the output of the supercharger then after a few hard runs the car starts to reduce the performance. Not a good situation.

Once again, back to the internet. I corresponded with a company in England (Paramount Performance, http://www.paramount-performance.com/acatalog/index.html) that provides intercooler upgrades for XJRs and asked if they had anything in the works for XKRs? As it turns out they had just hired a recent engineering graduate (Laurence) whose studies and dissertation were on the effects of input air temperature as it relates to vehicle performance in forced air induction applications. He is working on an intercooler solution for the XKR but it’s a ways down the road at this point. He has ideas on the drawing board and a fabricator ready to start production as soon as the specifications are finalized.

Since I needed a more immediate solution, I asked his opinion on another approach that I had no knowledge of but was suggested by Concours Cars, the idea of water/methane injection. To me it sounded like something folks did to dragsters that made them super-fast but at the expense of a new motor about every 12 minutes of run time. Turns out that was nitro-methane fuel injection, not water/methanol injection. The engineer said, “It’s a great solution in itself, and perfect for the daily driver”. The water injection is the best possible way to lower intake air temperature. Better than an intercooler upgrade because in our cars it is directly tied to the Mass Airflow sensor and regulates itself by volume of incoming air flow. In addition, the methanol increases the Octane rating of the fuel by a factor of 25. In other words, our 91 Octane becomes 116 Octane (equivalent to racing fuel) which significantly reduces the risk of detonation. The combined effect of water/methane injection is reduced air temperature for combustion which increases power by providing denser, cooler air enabling more fuel flow (and higher horsepower), and increased Octane for the fuel itself which reduces the risk of detonation enabling more advanced timing (and higher horsepower). There are economic benefits also to water/methane injection … increased fuel economy. The more highly efficient fuel mixture and lower air temps enables one to maintain a given speed with reduced throttle inputs thereby increasing fuel economy. I doubt seriously if I am the one that will benefit from this fact, however. Based on prior experience my guess is that my fuel economy will not increase at all because if there is a choice between fuel economy and pushing the gas pedal harder … guess which one I succumb to? For over the road truckers, however, this is a long standing modification which has

enabled them to improve fuel mileage and at the same time have reserve power available when needed to climb those mountains and pull onto the merge lanes.

Amazing how my knowledge was so lacking in this area. As an added note, the engineer in England suggested using premixed windshield washer solution as opposed to mixing or buying premixed solutions sold for water/methane injection exclusively. Just make sure the windshield washer solution uses methanol as a means of lowering the freezing point as opposed to ethanol or some other freezing point lowering chemical. Just make sure there are no additional additives (such as detergents or bug remover chemicals) that might gum up the works. The main reason they have searched out an alternative to mixing their own or buying it premixed is the very high cost of any fuel in their country, including methanol.

As it turns out one of the pioneers in this field and one of the first to apply the technology to trucks (both diesel and gasoline) and to high performance automobiles (including hill climbers such as Rhys Millen and many other racers) is right in our own backyard. Snowperformance of Woodland Park, CO is a premier provider of this equipment (http://www.snowperformance.net/). You will be surprised at the number of advocates and the wide range of applications that use this technology for performance enhancement. Check out the website for products, applications, and reviews. They provide a safe, reliable solution to the issues I was dealing with when upgrading my supercharger. They offer a very reasonably priced solution to performance enhancement for any of our cars or trucks actually. This includes normally aspirated or forced induction; fuel injected or carbureted; gasoline or diesel; old or new. So, now there is an additional stage to the plan, I call it:

Stage 1a: Install water/methanol injection kit

Wouldn’t you just know? They already have solutions for the Jaguar XKR and most other Jaguar models as well. I’ll be talking to them over the next couple of days to customize the products I want installed on my car and to check out the fitment for the various parts. I’ll update you with a final solution when that occurs. Take a look at their website if you have any interest in improving the performance/economy of your car and check out the information (very educational), the recommended solutions, and the pricing. By the way, since this system sends a water/methanol mixture into the air intake system, I asked what happens if you inadvertently run it dry. The answer is: the car simply reacts the same way it would if you didn’t have one at all and the ECU automatically compensates for the difference. Also, the company offers a premixed water/methanol solution that is very reasonably priced, which probably precludes the need to search out a windshield washer alternative.

Here is a picture of the system I’m starting with in my car. I’ll probably add a couple of options that appeal to me such as a mixture level guage and a boost readout and setting controller shown on the right.

This particular kit uses the 0 to 5 Volt output signal from the Mass Air Flow sensor on many fuel injected vehicles. This means that any vehicle with a MAF (with a 0-5V output signal) can use this kit, whether they are naturally aspirated or forced air induction. If the application is forced induction, it can be used with very fast-spooling turbochargers or positive displacement blowers (as in Jaguar supercharger). It is easier to set up with the positive displacement blowers with a MAF signal because it is more progressive in nature vs. the boost pressure signal which is used on most turbocharged vehicles. This allows for the accurate injection over a wide range. The result is excellent power and drivability.

Stage 2: Install High Flow Catalytic Converters and High Performance dual exhaust (exhaust not shown).

Not much to say here other than if you are going to increase performance in the intake, combustion, and power cycles, you would be remiss in ignoring the exhaust cycle. The standard catalytic converters on most cars are a chokepoint that restricts the free movement of exhaust gases to an excessive degree. Installing High Flow Catalytic Converters (which still meet EPA standards for emissions) and High Performance Exhausts reduce back pressure and enable the car to breathe much more freely. The net result is horsepower gain.

This modification increases horsepower by 25BHP on a “STOCK” engine.

Stage 3: Customized in car ECU tuning.

This modification increases horsepower by 35 BHP on a “STOCK” engine. Speed increases to 186 MPH

This was a unique and innovative solution derived by Mark (of Concours) and Mike (of Eurotoys) to preclude a drive to Chicago. Mike had wanted to make a trip to Colorado anyway, so he offered to fly out here (for a nominal fee) and do the tuning personally here in Colorado Springs. He is one of only a handful of people in the United States that has experience custom tuning an XKR. There are a lot more in England but I couldn’t find one that would fly over here for a nominal fee. Not that I didn’t try!

As you can see the modifications listed increase the horsepower of the 4.2 Liter Jaguar XKR to something North of 550 BHP. Realistically, it will actually be closer to 600 BHP with the newly added Stage 1A and the fact that both the exhaust and ECU tuning figures will be increased because the modifications are added to an engine that is far from “STOCK”. My estimate at this point is that the RWHP number will be approximately 500 RWHP. This will be verified one way or another with a baseline dyno run at Kleeman USA (http://www.kleemann.dk) located right here in Colorado Springs. This run is scheduled for Friday the 29^th of July (right after my son’s Mercedes ECU upgrade and dyno tune. It’s HIS fault! Additional runs will be scheduled as needed, with a final run to verify actual RWHP being developed after all modifications are completed. No run to verify the speed increase to 186 MPH is ever planned!

hapter 2 – The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Implementation.

Many things happen during the creation of a plan, most of which are in the form of added requirements, unseen complications, and changes. The final result being …the dreaded cost/schedule overruns! Engineering, Program, and Contract managers in all aspects of business and government have often been reduced to blubbering idiots when, just after the thrill of embarking on a new program or project passes … the realization hits them …

NOW I ACTUALLY HAVE TO DO THIS?





TO BE CONTINUED …………………………………………………………………………