XYZ Racing Tarmac Rally Coilovers — Jaguar S-TYPE (Fr FORK) 1999-2008

The Jaguar S-TYPE is a heavy executive saloon riding on a Ford DEW98 platform shared with the Lincoln LS, and that mass – well over 1,700kg before a driver climbs in – is the first thing any rally-spec damper has to answer for. The Tarmac Rally coilover for the JA01-chassis S-TYPE is built around that reality: a sealed-surface rally damper engineered to keep a long-wheelbase RWD saloon planted when the road surface fights back.

Tarmac stages punish soft, comfort-tuned saloon suspension. The factory S-TYPE setup floats over crests, runs out of front-end bite mid-corner, and pitches under heavy braking into a tightening hairpin. This kit is the answer to that specific brief: a damper tuned for sealed-stage tarmac, not gravel, not show stance.

What this coilover does for your 1999-2008 Jaguar S-type (fr Fork)

On the S-TYPE you feel three things immediately. First, the nose stops diving on the way into a turn, which means the front tyres stay loaded and the steering finally tells you what the chassis is doing. Second, the back end stops wallowing on mid-corner bumps – important on a long saloon where a loose rear under power tends to arrive all at once. Third, crests and broken tarmac stop unsettling the car, because the damper is absorbing the hit rather than letting the body throw its weight around.

For a fast-road S-TYPE driver this translates to a saloon that finally feels like it has the body control to match its straight-line pace. For a stage car, it means the driver can commit on undulating sealed surfaces without the chassis writing cheques the tyres can’t cash.

About the Tarmac Rally coilover

This is XYZ Racing’s sealed-surface rally damper, and the brief is narrower than the all-round track or fast-road kits in the range. It is engineered specifically to absorb the impact of uneven pavement – the kind of patched, cambered, mid-corner-bumped tarmac that defines a real closed-road stage. The damping is set up to suppress body movement when the car crosses a large bump, then settle quickly so traction returns to the contact patch rather than scrabbling for grip.

The settings draw directly from XYZ Racing’s own Tarmac Rally programme, which is the point: the valving baseline isn’t theoretical, it’s developed from competitive use on sealed stages. On a 1.7-tonne RWD saloon like the S-TYPE that experience matters more than spec-sheet adjustment range, because getting a heavy long-wheelbase car to behave on broken tarmac is a damping problem before it’s an anything-else problem.

Fitment for the Jaguar S-type (fr Fork) (1999-2008)

This coilover is fitted to the Jaguar S-TYPE on the JA01 chassis, model years 1999 through 2008, with the front-fork strut arrangement. That covers the full pre-facelift and facelift production run of the S-TYPE on the DEW98 platform. Confirm your car’s chassis code against the build plate before ordering – the "Fr FORK" designation is specifically the front-fork variant.

What buyers also search for

• Jaguar S-TYPE rally suspension upgrade for sealed tarmac stages
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• XYZ Racing Tarmac Rally coilover settings for RWD executive saloons

Pick your spring rates and damper spec below and configure the kit for your S-TYPE.