Jaguar XKR

CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
For too long, British sports coupes have come with a list of caveats as long as your arm. Here’s one that needs no excuses – Jaguar’s XKR. By Andy Enright

Let’s kick this off with a benchmark figure. Call it 1,840kg. Focus on that number because that’s what the benchmark model in the luxury coupe sector weighs. The 310bhp Mercedes SL500 is undoubtedly a fine car and it sells well but it’s had an easy ride for too long. Not any more. Let’s imagine a vehicle with 100bhp more to power it, which is newer, better looking, quicker, around £8,000 more affordable, with a greater sense of occasion, a more special interior and which, crucially, weighs a full 175kg less so is also more agile. You’d have to say that if such a car existed, it would put a crushing move on the Mercedes. Imagine no longer. The Jaguar XKR is a production reality and is a great technical showcase for British manufacturing.

As much fun as the old MK1 XKR was, it was a hugely inefficient car. Rarely had so little space on the inside been offered by something so big on the outside. It was almost like a reverse TARDIS. The same length as a seven seater Ford Galaxy, the XKR struggled to seat two decently sized adults. The latest car gives you a lot more practicality and a bigger serving of on-road capability as well. Let’s start with the engine. It’s still a supercharged eight-cylinder powerplant as before, but this time it’s good for 420 rather than 370bhp. The Coupe model loses 70kg of weight and the Convertible sheds 100kg compared to its progenitor, so it’s not hard to imagine the concussive punch the XKR can wield. Jaguar quotes a sprint to 60mph in just 4.7 seconds with the 50-70mph increment dispatched in a vanishing 2.5 seconds. An electronic limiter intervenes softly at 155mph, fast enough for most of us. Without the limiter, Jaguar insiders reckon that over three miles a minute are possible given the car’s slippery aerodynamics and leggy gearing.

"The XKR is more of a sports car than its predecessor. More of a car - period – come to think of it"

It would be tempting to think of this car as an evolution of the old XKR. Tempting but wrong. This latest generation model is built from entirely different stuff. The advanced aluminium construction and massively superior technology embodied in the latest XKR raise its game enormously. Let’s take a closer look at the engine. With fully 120bhp more than the normally aspirated XK and good for a fulsome 560Nm of torque, the XKR has the firepower to make good on its aggressive styling. This is no crude old V8 with a blower bolted on. Designed to comply with the strictest emission laws, this unit features four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing and an electronic return-less fuel system. A Variable Inlet Camshaft Timing system helps boost torque at low revs while the engine’s breathing is helped by twin air inlets. Drivers will notice that the ‘four milk floats of the apocalypse’ sound of the old XKR’s supercharger under full acceleration has been muted to allow more of the engine note to dominate. This is a good thing as at higher revs, the 4.2-litre unit has an almost Aston-like aural signature. A paddle-operated six-speed Jaguar Sequential Shift automatic transmission handles the gear changing duties.

There’s also a welcome injection of practicality to the XKR. The high hipline remains, but Jaguar has worked at making the interior feel a good deal airier, with a low scuttle and clever use of colour combinations. The wheelbase has increased by 162mm, and rear occupants will notice the difference immediately. Up front, there’s way more room around the pedal box and beneath the steering wheel. Gone is the rather mean boot of its predecessor – unforgivable in a car with Grand Touring pretensions – and in its place is a more versatile hatchback arrangement.

Unlike many premium convertibles, the XKR drop top model relies on a fabric roof rather than the voguish folding hard top, but there are valid engineering reasons for doing so. Folding tin tops require a whole host of heavy electric motors to operate and the ethos of the latest XKR is clever design and light weight. It may be a mere 1.5cm longer than the old car, but thanks to that advanced aluminium construction, its weight has plummeted to 1,635kg. The ‘body in white’, the car’s metalwork before being painted, tips the scales at a mere 287kg – fully 20 per cent lighter than the old XK8 Convertible. What’s more, that weight loss doesn’t come at the expense of body rigidity, the latest car being 50 per cent stiffer than its predecessor. The hood does its stuff in a fraction less than 18 seconds, stowing neatly beneath an aluminium tonneau, so you should be able to go from open to closed or vice versa in the time it takes for a set of traffic lights to change.

XKR-specific bits include a revised front bumper with colour keyed finish that incorporates fog lamp housings, an aluminium trimmed side power vent, old-school bonnet louvres and an aluminium trim on the mesh grilles. There’s additional aluminium brightwork on the rear and Senta 20-inch alloys as standard along with Jaguar Premium Surround Sound, alloy pedals and a heated windscreen. Blake brake callipers with an ‘R’ logo are fitted as is a quad exhaust system and a unique lower bumper design.

It’s tough to argue with the XKR as a value proposition. Its power to weight ratio is 34 per cent better than the normally aspirated XK for a 12.5 per cent price rise. At £70,097, the Coupe model undercuts cars like the Mercedes SL500 and the Porsche 911 Carrera 4S but the BMW 650i is a little cheaper, albeit far less exciting. The Jaguar has them all trumped when it comes to sense of occasion. It’s tough to see how the company could have improved it.