Jaguar XJ Super 8

I saw one in the flesh this week and man is it a great looking car. With my very short lived relationship with a STR due to back seat room I have been looking for a replacement. The Super 8 is a XJ that has been stretched five inches with all of it going to rear passenger leg room. They use the same supercharged 4.2 that the STR used and has every option available standard.  

So has anyone here had one?  Has anyone driven one?  I think I am going to have to look in to these some more. 

The standard length version has been on my list a while.  Apparently theres’s a hose under the blower that need to be watched as well as the air ride system. Aside from that they seem to be shockingly reliable for something English.

I have had the short wheelbase relative and both the hose issue and the suspension issue.

The hose is a right pain to get to. The access to things at the rear of the supercharger under the windshield is pretty dreadful. As is the EGR valve on the exhaust manifold. If you have access to a lift it is probably easier. Some find it easier to drop the motor/subframe to accomplish this task, and I believe it. But, I was able to accomplish the task in my driveway. Just cursed a lot and had a lot of pain in my back and knees being under that hood. 

The air suspension is easy to repair and really nothing to worry about. The arnot replacements however are a disappointment compared to the original equipment. The ride is just not the same. 

Would changing the suspension back to springs be a better option?  Using OE jag parts would maintain a jaguar ride even if it was fixed. 

In reply to dean1484 :

Don’t think any of the XJs in those years has springs. They either had “sport” airbags for the XJR and super or they had the “standard” for everything else. Some places have the same part number for both, others differ, so I am not sure if all bags are the same. One of the problems with the arnot replacements is that you lose the adaptive damper. It is just a resistor bypass the dash light. The other is that for whatever reason it just did not feel the same as the stock units, felt soft. The original bags, except for one, on mine made it to 80 or 85k. I replaced a pair from arnot for the same price as a single oem unit, wished I bought the oem unit instead...