Upgrades for V8 Saloons
Unlike the SP250, the Daimler Saloon has a multitude of upgrades available due principally to Jaguar's successes with the Mark II in Motorsport and the sheer volume of these cars still on the road. Most of these upgrades can be used on the Daimler Saloon.
3.54 rear axle ratio
With a standard 4.27:1 rear axle ratio (some early cars were 4.55:1) motorways are tiresome as the engine has to rev hard to maintain today's cruising speeds. Whilst you can get round this by fitting a modern multi speed gearbox such as a ZF unit, this is an expensive route and leaves you having to develop solutions for the inhibitor switch and finding a means to convert digital road speed information into data that can drive a speedometer cable. A simpler solution is to change the rear axle ratio to 3.54:1 by utilising a c.w.p from the Jaguar parts bin. The result is car that will cruise at 70mph at 3,000rpm and return around 25mpg. I have fitted this ratio to several customers' cars and have been very pleased with the feedback to date. I have also installed it on my own Daimler 2.5 saloon and will happily give you a test drive should you need persuading! Another thought is that if you are replacing the c.w.p, it would be an economical time to fit a limited slip differential.
Brake upgrades
You have quite a choice here. 4 pot front callipers provide significantly more stopping power than the standard brakes. Additionally, vented front brake discs will dissipate heat more quickly. The 4 pot front brake calliper is shown with ventilated disc on the left. Right is the uprated rear brake calliper with solid disc. Rear brakes with uprated pistons can be installed together with an uprated servo to reduce pedal effort. I would always recommend installing braided flexible hoses when upgrading the brakes.
Rear "sports" spats
These first saw life on racing Jaguar Mark IIs but many people think they make the car look a whole lot sportier as well as allowing wider wheel/tyre combinations. These spats are made from steel and fit using the same Dzus fastener arrangement as the full-size version which is accessible via the rear door aperture. The ones in the picture are fitted on my personal Daimler Saloon which is always available for viewing.
Suspension upgrades
The handling of my own V8 saloon has been transformed by fitting front/rear adjustable gas dampers. If your car is feeling a little tired, it is worth considering this upgrade. However the benefit of refined damping will only be realised if the suspension is functioning correctly. This may mean installing new springs, bushes etc, something we can quickly assess in the workshop.