Last night I watched Clarkson enthusing again about his Jag S Type diesel.
Now, being a patriotic midlander, I like jags. In fact I almost bought a petrol V6 XJ6 instead of my BMW 530D SE ... only the dated "cardigan man" looks of (even the latest ) Jaguar put me off.

However; the XJ6 is a fine car and stands comparison with the 5 series. But the S type is not in the same league.

I get a bit miffed when I see Clarkson saying "the S Type diesel is the only diesel worth buying ." He punted it ( a manual Jag S Diesel) round the nurnburg ring in 10 minutes ( though the attractive German girlie posted a time of 9 min 20s.

So my question is; What does the jag have that the 5 series does not? What would a 5 series lap the ring in ? I would have thought a 535D would be far better and even a 530 or 525 D would thrash the jag.
Are any of you tempted to have a go? A lot of my friends at work frequently try their Elise and Boxsters there ..... I'm tempted.

 

First of all clarkson hasn't got a clue. Fact. He hasn't got a clue about cars, slags everything off apart from a ford gt. Then he thinks diesels are a joke. Well I've heard rumours that the 535d beats the 545 around the nurburgring. The only reason he is a presenter is that he can talk. As I have said before, he is a muppet.

 

Yes let's go!!

I have already looked WWW.nurburgring.de

Skaffa

 

Poor old JC really can't get the hang of diesels can he? I tried both the Jag S type diesel and the Merc E320 before going for the 530D. I think the BMW performance and handling outclasses both the others by a long way. Why does JC insist on driving to the red line all the time? I suppose that's what you get used to with petrol engines. Max power and torque is a lot lower down the rev range in a diesel. It's gotta be time for a serious head to head on somewhere like the Nurburgring using drivers who know how to handle the different characterisitcs of these cars. Let's see how the BMW compares with the Jag and Merc and how it fares against the petrol versions too. I mean the test is a much more realistic reflection of on the road performance than standing 1/4 miles or 0-60 times for example. I'd put my chipped 530d up for a lap or two, but couldn't afford the tyres!

 

Tell me more! From where, how much, hp, torq, impressioions.

Skaffa

 

Golfnut,

whats the scoop on chipping - who did you use? I'm thinking about getting mine done. I have had previous bmers chipped by Van Arken and have heard good things about their diesel boxes.

any info would be welcome!!

cheers
dave

 

Sportec are currently working on a 535d map (which probably already means they have a 530d map) to be available via AmD in Bicester - I only know this as I use AmD for some of my TT tuning and knowing they also do BMW I called up and asked...

 

Perhaps I used the wrong term - I have a tuning box fitted. Mine is from Cadini Performance, (approx ?350), but my impression is that they all do a similar job. Tunit are very popular, for example. Performance increase is from 218bhp to approx 250 and torque increase to over 500nm. Put into perspective, that means that because it was not speed limited, the extra power/torque allows you to go way over the 155mph barrier. I've had mine up to 162mph before chickening out. Secondly, if you really hammer it from a standing start, the traction control cuts in to stop you spinning too much in first, second and third gears. That is phenomenal!! I guess the sports set up would be a better configuration, but I'm only using this for commuting and social driving - I'm not really a boy racer. It's just nice to know that you have this capability when you get a buzz box in your mirror and the red mist descends! LOL

I took my car in to the stealers for some software upgrade and removed the box in 5mins. They didn't detect it. Only thing I would mention is that I had this fitted since new (Aug2004) but the real performance increase has only just started to kick in (7,000 miles). Now I know a lot of that will be the running in and loosening process of the engine, but I wonder in retrospect whether it wouldn't have been safer to wait for 5000 miles before beefing it up. Oh and you REALLY get the most out of it using Millers and decent fuel (Shell diesel extra).

All IMHO of course - and don't tell the nice insurance people!

 

If You don't tell, we don't tell.

Kempower what I'm getting Friday is a chip but should be not detectable in service. Let's see

Skaffa

 

Skaffa. where are you getting this done? If in the UK, what is the price? Is the Kempower chip somehow different that it will not be detected?