Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Greg has been in touch, asking for people's thoughts about suspension setups for competition prep'd Mk2 Jaguars. Has anyone here experimented with Jaguar handling at all?

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I have a 1963 3.8 manual Mk2 which I use as a daily driver and for club
racing. It won a concours a few years ago and is in very nice condition.

I'm interested in your thoughts on the best suspension setups for
racing. Opinions on the front suspension seem to be consistently in
favour of upgrading to a stiffer sway bar and heavier springs & shocks,
but there are 2 distinct schools of thought on the rear suspension. One
side feels that a sway bar should be fitted between the trailing arms
and that the leaf springs and shocks should be much stiffer to give the
rear more rigidity and stability. The other side is strongly of the view
that the rear should be as free to move around as possible, ie no sway
bar and very light and loose leaf springs, and that this configuration
greatly increases the cornering ability high speed.

I have fitted the sway bar on the rear and stiffer shocks but with aged
original leaf springs. It seems to handle quite well with the 16" wheels
and semi slick tyres I use for racing. Are you able to shed any light on
the best racing suspension setups?

I've even seen an S type independent rear suspension in a Mk 2 and an
XJ6 rear suspension in a Mk2 I regularly race against.
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[Greeney in France]

There are so many things and stages to take into consideration from simple stiffer springs, anti roll bars etc and better shocks usually KONI to complete rebuilds. It really depends on what he is going to be doing with the vehicle and how much money he wants to spend. The upgrades to XJ6 spec is often done as there isnt a lot of work to swap items and they are easily available.
the chrome wires are even changeable for race spec spokes, vent disc braking systems from different cars are usable too
COOMBES used to be the spec to replicate

There are specialists like JD classics that specialise and are always willing to offer advise so would be a good place to start.

I have also seen rear suspension upgrades using xj6 or even S Type units but it still involves shortening and balancing drive shafts & serious engineering. The S Type suspension unit (in my opinion is superior) but I am biased, I have always thought the Stype was a better car but even this would needed to upgrade to race spec.
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