Jaguar S type R....

[timay]

Anyone own one, owned one or driven one?

400 horse 4.2 L supercharged V8 that goes 0-60 in 5.3 seconds (modestly reported by Jaguar, saw somewhere it was closer to 4.9). Sounds like a good time to me.

Going to look at an 03' in Virginia on Saturday.

Anything I should look for/ be aware of?

[Bubba1]

Anything I should look for/ be aware of?

A full maintenance history. I'd be wary of a random one off a dealer lot without a mechanic looking at it. They didn't build many type R's but the S-type in general was not known for reliability, which was interesting as it was similar to the Lincoln LS, which had a better reliability ranking (average).

I drove an S-Type back when they first came out, but not a type R I was not overly enamored with the S-type. I remember it as a pleasant driving car, and it's looks were okay, but it was a full notch below in quality from it's German competition. Sit in a similar vintage Audi and you'll notice the difference.

It would be hoot to have a type R, as it was a wolf in a sheeps clothing, but I would advise against using it as a DD. They just were not that well made.

[timay]

Hmm interesting.

I looked at the carfax, and it's a clean, 2 owner car...but seemed to have some electrical gremlins when it was brand new, but all those parts were changed.

What year S did you drive? I hear 00' to 02' were horrible, but from 03'-06'the 4.2 liter V8s were very reliable engines, and weren't bad cars, x-type Jag a whole different story. I was planning on daily driving it because it actually gets better gas mileage than my 99' infiniti i30t and quite luxurious and comfortable looking. I will be taking my father along with me (who is a mechanic) to inspect the car and put in his input. So I will either have a fun 300+ mile ride back in a fast, fun car. Or a s*** train ride back. Hope it all works out.

Thank you for the input, it's good to see we put the whole "nala" ordeal behind us. Will let you all know how it turns out.

[Bubba1]

Hmm interesting.

I looked at the carfax, and it's a clean, 2 owner car...but seemed to have some electrical gremlins when it was brand new, but all those parts were changed.

What year S did you drive? I hear 00' to 02' were horrible, but from 03'-06'the 4.2 liter V8s were very reliable engines, and weren't bad cars, x-type Jag a whole different story. I was planning on daily driving it because it actually gets better gas mileage than my 99' infiniti i30t and quite luxurious and comfortable looking. I will be taking my father along with me (who is a mechanic) to inspect the car and put in his input. So I will either have a fun 300+ mile ride back in a fast, fun car. Or a s*** train ride back. Hope it all works out.

Thank you for the input, it's good to see we put the whole "nala" ordeal behind us. Will let you all know how it turns out.

I test drove an '00. A friend of mine was interested in leasing one at the time.

[timay]

Yeah I heard the 1st ford jags were basically ford tauruses with jaguar emblems on them, and absolutely horrendous.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Pre-pulley update it likes to eat pulleys and belts like a fat man eats donuts. The CATS adaptive suspension BIlsteins are made of unobtanium and go out around 75k miles. Numerous electrical problems WILL arise, the BCM being a major one. The large Brembos eat pads and rotors abnormally fast. The dual condenser A/C system fails often. The list goes on man. And it's impossible to work on them yourself because a lot of the advanced issues require a Jaguar-Licensed scanner.
That being said, Do f*** want.

[timay]

Pre-pulley update it likes to eat pulleys and belts like a fat man eats donuts. The CATS adaptive suspension BIlsteins are made of unobtanium and go out around 75k miles. Numerous electrical problems WILL arise, the BCM being a major one. The large Brembos eat pads and rotors abnormally fast. The dual condenser A/C system fails often. The list goes on man. And it's impossible to work on them yourself because a lot of the advanced issues require a Jaguar-Licensed scanner.
That being said, Do f**king want.

It has 113,000 miles on it, but from what I see the 2 owners religiously maintained the car.

I think at this mileage most of these things have been taken care of, besides the brembos chewing up brakes.

Hope to be looking at a decent car that I can drive with bliss for 5 and a half hours from Virginia to Connecticut.

Thanks for the heads up though.

[MinisterofDOOM]

S-type Rs are nice. Goofy-looking, but nice. Very lightweight for their size and power output (LOTS of aluminum in the platform and body).

As Bubba said, they're very closely related to the Lincoln LS. Same superbly balanced lightweight platform, same double-wishbone setup at all four corners, same basic engine (though the LS has a smaller-displacement Ford reworking of the same V8), same size, very similar weight. There was no "R" equivalent LS, though...only the S-type got the blower. The S-Type R does have the same weakness as its normally aspirated brethren: an open diff. Seriously undermines the AJ V8's low end torque and the DEW platform's poise and balance.

The new XF is still based on this same platform and uses the same engine (though evolutions of both, obviously). It continues the trend of balance and lightness, though it has gained some weight over its predecessor--but it also gained a LOT of power and a very fancy differential.

The recent retro Thunderbird is also related to the S-type and LS. It's basically a shortened LS convertible. Sadly, the structural reinforcements necessitated by its toplessness countered a lot of the weight-saving engineering that benefitted its four-door brethren.

Yeah I heard the 1st ford jags were basically ford tauruses with jaguar emblems on them, and absolutely horrendous.

None of them were Tauruses, but the X-type was a RWD Mondeo (basically the Euro Fusion or Contour) with Ford powerplants and Mini-XJ looks. The S-type was the other way around, though: Jag developed, then rebadged as a Ford. It's got a Jag V8 (not a Ford Modular) in the top-end model, or a Ford V6 in the base model.

I love the Hell out of my LS. Anyone who says it's just a Taurus has never driven one. It was designed to fight the E39 540i and puts up a damn good fight. 51/49 weight distribution, readily available torque, and a very neutral, graceful chassis. Parts of the LS interior feel like Taurus bits, but the Jag suffers no such issues.

[alms24sebring]

Ive driven a 03-06 S-Type. Had an airbag light but dont know if thats a major recurring problem with those cars. Dont really know anything about them but the engine felt strong. Good low end torque and a nice fairly even power band that gave a good pull on the highway.

[Jesda]

I dont think the 4.2 V8 had the same timing chain tensioner issues as the 4.0, but you'll want to double check.

Ive driven a 03-06 S-Type. Had an airbag light but dont know if thats a major recurring problem with those cars. Dont really know anything about them but the engine felt strong. Good low end torque and a nice fairly even power band that gave a good pull on the highway.

If it uses the same steering components as the LS, it probably just needed a new clockspring. Cheap fix.

[alms24sebring]

Thats what I figured but I just drove it for a friend. They said its been to a dealer a day or two and they couldnt figure it out. Whatever.

[300ZXttZMAN]

I dont think the 4.2 V8 had the same timing chain tensioner issues as the 4.0, but you'll want to double check.

Ive driven a 03-06 S-Type. Had an airbag light but dont know if thats a major recurring problem with those cars. Dont really know anything about them but the engine felt strong. Good low end torque and a nice fairly even power band that gave a good pull on the highway.

If it uses the same steering components as the LS, it probably just needed a new clockspring. Cheap fix.

+1 the clock springs going bad. People call alot for them. My dad sold the one we had out of a good column for $50 IIRC.

According to my computer the steering components do not interchange with the LS though.

[timay]

Ive driven a 03-06 S-Type. Had an airbag light but dont know if thats a major recurring problem with those cars. Dont really know anything about them but the engine felt strong. Good low end torque and a nice fairly even power band that gave a good pull on the highway.

Was it an R, or just the regular S?

If a regular S thats not supercharged felt strong, this should be pretty ridiculous.

[alms24sebring]

Yeah it was just an SType, I wish it was the R. I would have had waaaay more fun with it. I mean it wasnt snapping necks or anything but was satisfying to know that I could easily catch up with traffic.. or get away from it..

[timay]

Yeah it was just an SType, I wish it was the R. I would have had waaaay more fun with it. I mean it wasnt snapping necks or anything but was satisfying to know that I could easily catch up with traffic.. or get away from it..

The dealer has been sending me pics at my request since yesterday, car is f'ing clean.

Engine compartment is spotless, underneath is spotless.

I cannot even wait until Saturday...

[alms24sebring]

dam Id like to drive one. I hope it doesnt f*** you as soon as you pull out the lot.

[timay]

Me to...me to.

lol.

[s0m3th1ngAZ]

Ive driven a 03-06 S-Type. Had an airbag light but dont know if thats a major recurring problem with those cars. Dont really know anything about them but the engine felt strong. Good low end torque and a nice fairly even power band that gave a good pull on the highway.

Was it an R, or just the regular S?

If a regular S thats not supercharged felt strong, this should be pretty ridiculous.

I drove an 01 (02?) XKR convertible over 1,000 miles. 400 HP pushed that beast along pretty well I must say.

[hudy]

Check spare in trunk. Area likes to fill with water a lot. Biggest problems we see are electrical in nature. Wires like to corrode mid harness for no apparent reason, both inside and outside the passenger compartment. Ball joints on front lower control arms. Like someone said about CATS, shocks like to leak. Everything is expensive. HID and regular headlights like to break loose inside the housing. Someone mentioned BCM issues. I haven't seen that unless the trunk had been filled with water.

Very fun to drive. Very good sleeper factor. I feel spoiled because the new XF-R makes the S-type R seem slow, by a lot.

Pics?

[Bubba1]

Me to...me to.

lol.

A week has passed. How about an update?