2009 Jaguar XKR Reviews

What a beast! Jaguar’s XKR-S makes its presence felt a hundred metres away, even when being driven in gentle sociable manner. Its supercharged V8 engine roars, spits and burbles. It idles with a gruff grumble to tell you that it would rather be revving to the heavens than idling.In everything it does this Jaguar supercar gives the world the definite message it wants to get up and work - work hard. Everywhere we drove our big cat attracted attention, not all of it favourable it must be said...ENGINEWhen you do give it a big bootfull the 540 horsepower (404 kW) Jaguar V8 becomes much happier. It jams you back in the seat with fearsome acceleration of the type only enjoyed by supercar owners, lifting it from rest to 100 km/h in just 4.4 seconds on its way to an electronically limited 300 km/h – on a racetrack of course.This ultra-hot Jaguar is built with track days in mind and takes the big coupe to a new level of performance. The standard Jaguar XK coupe is already a quick car, adding the R package to bring it up to XKR status and it’s fearsomely fast. But now there’s even more – for those who think too much isn’t quite enough Jaguar has come up with the XKR-S edition.The huge 540 horsepower (sorry, kilowatts just don’t work in supercar land) is put through a six-speed automatic, which passes it back to a sophisticated active electronic differential.DRIVINGThe big Jag grips the road within milliseconds of the throttle being mashed. If you’re at the track most of the driver-assist gear can be detuned or turned off completely. Obviously you don’t just stuff a 404 kW / 680 Nm engine under the bonnet and hope for the best. The complete Jaguar XK has received a major working over to match its straight-line capabilities.There are aerodynamic tweaks to increase downforce as speed rises, pushing the big coupe down to maximise cornering grip as well as safety. Obviously, the suspension settings lean in the direction of firmness, but the adaptive system means this XK variant isn’t as hard riding as some others in the same class.Huge disc brakes haul off speed even faster than the engine can pile it on. Jam the pedal hard and you feel yourself being jammed forward against the safety belts.And doesn’t it look just great. After attracting the attention of other road users, particularly pedestrians, by its racetrack sound, our big, Jaguar XKR-S coupe pleased almost all who saw it during our all too short week on the Gold Coast.VERDICTWould we pay $299,000 plus on-road costs to buy one? Definitely - but only if we had some money to spare for another car (or two) for everyday use as the XKR-S is too hard edged for a day-to-day machine.We love the shape of the Jaguar XF, so that would be added to our list, and the upcoming Jaguar F-Type, the smaller brother to the XK, is coming down under very soon. A nice trio...Jaguar XKR-SPrice: from $299,000Engine: 5.0-litre SC V8, 405kW/680NmTransmission: 6-speed automatic, RWDThirst: 12.3L/100km, CO2 292g/km      The Jaguar XKR-S GT is the fastest Jag since the XJ220.   

Jaguar's new XKR has those traits in abundance, yet it can be as docile as a house tabby.There are few more unforgiving environments than the luxury sports tourer market, inhabited by the likes of Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. It really is a jungle out there.Jaguar was well aware if its newest top cat — recently launched world-wide in Spain — was going to survive, let alone thrive, it had to have the right stuff."When we started down this track there were some truths we knew we had to face," Jaguar senior body engineer Mark White explains."The goal was to create the ultimate sports GT and to do that we set the target of exceeding the XK by some 30 per cent in a whole range of performance criteria."What the Jaguar engineers aimed for was a performance benchmark of five seconds for the 0-100km/h sprint — they achieved a 4.9 for the coupe and a five flat for the convertible. But more importantly, the performance had to be accessible in the crucial mid-range for overtaking and it had to be refined."Torque ... and how it was delivered ... was the key to meeting our performance goals," White says. "I have to say the result has exceeded initial expectations."Australian owners will start taking delivery of their XKRs about April next year.Jaguar Australia will not say how much the cars will be, other than to suggest a 30 per cent premium over the XK models. That would see the coupe about $245,000 and the convertible tipping over $270,000.Based on the strong demand for the basic XK and with the XKR historically comprising about two-thirds of XK sales, Jaguar Australia is expecting sales of about 80 a year. A large part of the XKR's credentials come from the high standards set for the new XK; the "base" car."In the XK we had a starting platform that was simply outstanding," White says. "In a way, that posed some difficulties in that realising the 30 per cent improvement benchmark we set was always a challenge because of how high the bar was to start with."While there was no need to further stiffen the already superbly rigid chassis and all-aluminium body of the XK, the XKR engineers concentrated on providing an engine with extra heart, suspension that delivers a stiffer ride without additional harshness, and brakes capable of reigning in a rampant XKR when required.Strapping the supercharger to the 4.2-litre V8 was the obvious first step and with it came variable valve time on both inlet and outlet cams. The power boost was some 40 per cent over the XK, taking maximum power to 313kW at 6250rpm and a thumping 560Nm of torque from 4000rpm.The whipcrack engine has been coupled to the latest of the ZF automatic gearboxes. Featuring shift changes as smart as 600 milliseconds and as smooth as custard, the box can be driven as a full automatic in cruise mode, a sports automatic with computer-generated blips on the downshifts or as a full-control manual utilising the wheel-mounted paddle shifts.To keep the extra urge from its attempts to separate car and road, the spring rates were stiffened 38 per cent at the front and 28 per cent at the rear, rollbar thickness was increased by a millimetre and damper response improved by 25 per cent.The CATS (computer active technology suspension) system — that switches the dampers between soft and firm — has a similar response time to the XK but has been tweaked to switch from soft to firm earlier.The other critical area of improvement is in the braking. Compared with the XK, the R car has 26 per cent greater swept area on the discs and a huge 37 per cent improvement in cooling efficiency. The heftier brakes can haul the XKR down from 100km/h to zero in a most reassuring 2.5 seconds.One of the joys of the XKR, particularly the convertible, is the oh-so angry exhaust howl at full throttle. If you happen to be in a tunnel through the Spanish hills, so much the better.Unlike the Aston Martin with its clever engine-speed-activated butterfly valve or Maserati's push-button arrangement, the XKR's throaty exhaust note is a simple affair. The more you poke it, the louder it growls. The XKR does utilise active exhaust technology, which alters the flow through the primary silencer, depending on throttle position and revs. But it is progressive rather than arriving with a howl at about 4000rpm, as does the Aston.However, poke it really hard and you risk scaring yourself. In any event, you will certainly draw the attention of anyone within a considerable radius. What is not immediately obvious is the expected induction whine of the supercharger. It is far more muted than the outgoing model — or than the same engine tuned for the S-Type R.At full roar, it adds a menacing undernote to the exhaust but is surprisingly absent at anything from idle to comfortable cruise ... just the way the engineers planned it.What is absolutely reassuring about the XKR at full charge is the rock-like stability through the most testing of mountain roads.With the stability control in operation the intervention is gentle and unobtrusive.Each time you think the limits of adhesion are approaching and push that little harder the chassis finds even more suction-like grip.It was a test of nerve that the XKR eventually won. We simply couldn't push hard enough on public roads to reach the dynamic limits of the car.The styling variations for the XKR are subtle. There's a chrome mesh grille and side airvents and a couple of discreet R badges.The sports seats are firm, comfortable and sensibly bolstered. General trim is stylish, the standard navigation system simple to use and, in the convertible, the flip-up airblocker behind the seats proved effective in reducing cabin buffeting with the roof down at speed. As with many of the 2+2 GT cars, there's a pointlessness to the rear seats which are so cramped as to be almost useless.FAST FACTSPrice: estimated $245,000 (coupe), $270,000 (convertible)Engine: 4.2-litre DOHC 32-valve V8, supercharged, 313kW@6250rpm, 560Nm@4000rpmTransmission: 6-speed automatic with sequential shift; steering wheel mounted paddle shiftsPerformance: 0-100km/h 4.9sec (coupe), 5sec (convertible); top speed 250km/h (limited)Fuel: 12.3L/100km combined cycle (supplied); 71-litre tank