XKR to F-Type V6 S

[8bit]

I currently have a 5.0 XKR, considering a change to an F-Type. There's a 2013 V6 S (380PS) convertible at a local independent dealer which I'm interested in, going to see and drive it tomorrow. Obviously everyone's impressions of these things vary but I wondered if anyone in here had gone from a 5.0 XKR to a 3.0 F-Type and how they find the performance, experience and whatnot between the two? Do you miss your XKR or haven't looked back? Does the F-type feel more or less special than the XKR etc.?

 

[Henry_B]

Hmm 2 litres smaller and lacking 2 cylinders!

Nah i'd keep the 5.0 XKR

 

[8bit]

So yes... but newer, potentially better chassis, better transmission, sportier handling, etc. etc....

 

[OzJagXFS]

I went from a 2010 XFR to a V6 F-Type coupe and I don't regret the move at all.
Well maybe just a tiny bit as the XFR had my all-time favourite paint and interior colours, Kyanite and Ivory, while with the F-Type I had to settle for Lunar Grey and Red Zone.
The F-Type sounds great (just missing that V8 burble!) and is in fact quicker than the XFR was, even though the XFR had the 550 PS XKR-S tune.
I put that down to much less weight (about 250 kg less), a better gearbox (ZF8 vs ZF6) and stickier rear tyres. And for the last 3 years a pulley and tune taking it to 450 PS.
It also handles a lot better, again less weight and stickier tyres (as well as lowered).
Then there are the looks, the XFR wasn't too shabby but the F-Type is in a whole other league.
But the only way you can be sure is to take a/the F-Type for an extended test drive.

 

[8bit]

Great, thanks for that. Not a bad comparison, my XKR has the same engine and transmission as your XFR had and mine also has the R-S tune on it.

One thing I'm always wary of with sports cars is everyday useability, with the XKR being a GT the road manners and refinement make it just as special on mundane drives as when out for a drive for the pleasure of it. How does the F-type feel as a daily driver, does it adapt well?

Interested to hear more about the pulley and tune on your F-type, I take it that made a fairly big difference?

 

[OzJagXFS]

Great, thanks for that. Not a bad comparison, my XKR has the same engine and transmission as your XFR had and mine also has the R-S tune on it.

One thing I'm always wary of with sports cars is everyday useability, with the XKR being a GT the road manners and refinement make it just as special on mundane drives as when out for a drive for the pleasure of it. How does the F-type feel as a daily driver, does it adapt well?

Interested to hear more about the pulley and tune on your F-type, I take it that made a fairly big difference?

No problems at all with the F-Type as a daily driver, and only two minor hassles:
1. Being a strict 2 seater I can never have more than one passenger - no biggie for me and very similar to an XKR anyway.
2. The space-saver spare in the hatch takes up far too much room so I run without it, which caused me a few problems when I had a complete tyre blow-out! I can only imagine what it would be like trying to put luggage etc in the convertible, although some on the F-Type sub-forum claim it's liveable.

With the pulley and tune I started off with a tune only (VAP) which took it to around 416 PS. A noticeable performance improvement but nothing to write home about seeing as I started with the 380 PS "S" rather than the 340 PS base.
Then a couple of months later, once the new car warranty had expired, I fitted the pulley and associated tune taking it to around 450 PS or maybe even a little more.
This time the performance hike felt much greater, a lot more than I expected from what in theory was very much the same hike in power and torque (36 PS then 34 PS). It really flies now and pulls right through to the red line with none of the previous feeling of running out of puff at around 6,000 rpm. As an added bonus the pulley + tune added a lot more SC whine, from almost nothing to "whoa, 747 taking off" at WOT.

 

[8bit]

Thanks for all that!

So just back from driving a V6S convertible. Lovely car, British Racing Green with tan roof and black/tan interior. The alloys were all a bit tatty and there was some bubbling under the paint on the rear driver's side corner of the bonnet, just above the wing vents. There's also a brief rattle on engine shutdown so I suspect the supercharger coupler needs changed. Other than that, it sounds lovely - even coming from a V8 the noise under full-throttle acceleration was fantastic.

However I thought it felt pretty gutless. I know I'm coming from a 550-ish bhp V8 but given the F-type's weight advantage and much better, 8-speed gearbox I expected it to feel a lot more exciting at full throttle than it did. The 0-60 time is quoted as better than my old 4.2 X150 XKR but it didn't feel as quick as that did, let alone my 5.0. I know it's two litres and two cylinders down so I was expecting a bit of a difference but not as much as all that.

The handling was superb though, felt very capable if a little bit vague but the Pirelli P-Zero tyres won't be doing it any favours there. I guess I need to have a think and decide if the trade-off from performance to handling will work for me.

 

[OzJagXFS]

Consider getting a used V6S then buy and fit the VAP lower/crank pulley and tune, and you will find it is not at all "gutless" or "slow" compared to the 5.0 XKR. Either that or pay a hefty premium for the V8 version, and I mean hefty, a tuned V6S will still come in several thou below a V8.
And a big yes on dumping the crap P-Zeros and fitting something decent like Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, that will make a huge difference to the grip and handling. If you are lucky your preferred F-Type S already has worn out P-Zeros and you can negotiate with the seller to either knock a couple of thou of the price or fit new decent tyres, that is what I did when I bought my old XFR, the seller knocked $2,000 off the price as the tyres (MPSS) were worn out.

 

[8bit]

This one was a used V6S with around 38k miles showing (about 20k less than my XKR). I did actually wonder if there was something wrong with it, the 0-60 time is (on paper) right in between my old 4.2 XKR and current 5.0 so theoretically it should feel somewhere around there, but this one at least didn't. Not sure if the worn S/C bearing (assuming that's what's making the rattle on shutdown) perhaps impacts performance too - not sure but yes if this is how they all are as stock then I can see a pulley upgrade and remap would make a significant difference.

I haven't ruled one of these out yet but I'll try some more before deciding I think as I'm not convinced this one was working at its' best.

 

[OzJagXFS]

A rattly and worn coupler / torsion isolator won't make any difference to the performance until it is really really worn and 38k miles isn't enough for that to be the case. When they start to rattle seems to be all over the shop, some go for 60,000 miles before they rattle, others after only 15,000 miles. When I bought mine with some 18,000 miles on it it was already rattling and I had it replaced under warranty.