[xk8] Hello, everyone. Questions on the XK8 transmission

Hi, I’m new to the forum, but have been in love with Jags since
birth. (literally, I was driven home from the hospital in my Dad’s
67 E-type FHC.)
I plan on selling my 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution and
purchasing an XK8 coupe. I am bothered by the lack of a manual
transmission however. I understand that the auto may fit in with
the whole Grand Touring image, but being a 25-year old designer, I
would prefer something a bit more sporting.
So my questions are:

A. Does there exist a manual transmission that can bolt into the
XK8, either through parts sharing or adaptor kits? (I know the
difficulty involved with auto to manual swaps, I did this on my
Nissan track car.)

B. If not, how effective is the J-gate?
I have driven several cars with ‘‘manual’’ modes, and most
(especially the MB SL600) left a sour taste in my mouth. For
example, while in the J-gate, will the transmission override your
gear selection? Or will it hold a gear until you tell it otherwise?

I searched the forums before hand for information, but found only a
little on the effectiveness of the J-gate, and less on the manual
conversion.
Is there anyone who tracks their XK-8 that could give me input?
Thank you for bearing with my newbie questions.
-Yuri–
Yuri
Long Beach, California, United States
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A. Does there exist a manual transmission that can bolt into the
XK8, either through parts sharing or adaptor kits? (I know the
difficulty involved with auto to manual swaps, I did this on my
Nissan track car.)

B. If not, how effective is the J-gate?

There was a Getrag manual box available for the XJR, though I’ve not heard
of it being fitted to the XK. Someone - Paramount maybe - do a paddle style
gearchange mechanism.

The J-gate allows you to select the top gear to be used by the 'box. Hence
you can force a downshift and hold a gear as speed builds, though the 'box
is free to select a lower gear if it wants. This is usually only on from
standing start or if you use kick down anyway. The downside with the system
is a lack of feel in the selector, meaning you have to be careful not to
move the lever further than intended.

Personally, I find the standard auto in ‘sport’ mode is fine most of the
time, particularly once, like any auto, you learn to use the throttle to
tell it what to do.

Cheers - Jez

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In reply to a message from jez sent Tue 6 Feb 2007:

Hi,

Many people dreamt of that one, but nobody, out of Jaguar,
could realise it.This because to do it you’d need to have
access to the ECM, TCM, etc. parameters and programming
systems, and these are proprietary… They accepted to do
it it for one of the racing XKRs, but also with a V12
engine…

One option, as already stated is to go for the paddle system
developped by Paramount (or Arden?). But it remains an
automatic tranny with a torque converter loosing plenty of
power, etc…

Or, not really more expensive, to go for a DB7, which has a
manual tranny and shares many components with the XK8…

My advice: try the automatic tranny: it’s really excellent,
and decide afterwards. I was also more a manual fan, but it
convinced me.

Brgds,

TC–
Charles_3000
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