Cone Filters on a Supercharged Jaguar XJ 5.0: Whine vs Heat
Cone filters on a supercharged Jaguar XJ get you a lot more supercharger whine. Whether they get you any power depends on where the air comes from.
The Short Answer (TL;DR)
On this Jaguar Forums thread about a 2012 XJ Supersport with the 5.0 supercharged V8, owners say open cone filters add a lot of supercharger noise. Without a cold-air feed, though, they turn the factory cold-air setup into a hot-air one and can cost torque. One owner fed his cones from the factory ram-air tubes and got intake temperatures to within about 5-10 degrees of stock. Nobody posted dyno numbers.
The question
The thread starter had just bought a 2012 XJ Supersport. He wanted to pull the factory air boxes, fit cone filters, and get more supercharger whine. He asked what filters to use, how hard the job is, and whether it's worth doing. He also asked whether drop-in K&N panels in the stock boxes would be the better buy.
What owners said
- Noise: Everyone agrees cones add a lot of supercharger whine. One reply put it as "no gain, only noise."
- Heat: The stock system already pulls cool air from the front. Open cones in the engine bay breathe hot air, and one owner says that loses some torque and performance.
- Stock filters: One reply says clean factory filters already flow more air than the engine can use at max rpm, because the supercharger keeps the intake manifold under positive pressure.
- A kit that worked: One XJR owner ran a cone-filter kit but said its sheet-metal boxes fit badly and needed a lot of rework. He connected the factory ram-air tubes to his own filter boxes and says that brought intake temps to within about 5-10 degrees of the factory air box.
The symposer side note
Two owners pointed out the 5.0 V8 usually has a symposer. It's a mechanical part that pipes intake sound into the cabin, and some owners find it sounds odd. They blocked it off instead of changing filters. One reply notes this makes the cabin quieter, not louder, so it doesn't help if what you want is more whine.
If you go with an intake kit
The lesson from the thread is to keep cold air going to the filters. If you fit a kit, keep the filters fed from the front of the car and shielded from engine heat. We sell a cold air intake filter kit for the 2010-2021 XJ and XJR with the 5.0 supercharged V8. Check your year and engine before you order.
Shop the XJ/XJR 5.0 supercharged intake kit
Frequently Asked Questions
Will cone filters add power on a 5.0 supercharged XJ?
Not according to this thread. Owners report more noise, and pulling hot air from the engine bay can cost power. No dyno numbers were posted.
How do you keep intake temps down with cones?
One owner hooked the factory ram-air tubes to his filter boxes so they still got cool air from the front. He says that brought intake temps to within about 5-10 degrees of stock.
