Standing next to the Jaguar XKR in person may cause nervous pangs in the stomachs of drivers before they’re even seated on board. Like any gorgeous landscape, sculpture or famous building, photographs simply don’t do this machine justice. It’s a piece of styling work that needs to be seen in person-- and when it is, its visual punch is stunning, infectious and almost nerve-wracking.
XKR is executed with emotion and passion on a level beyond the norm for its price range-- and the tester’s ‘Black Pack’ even added goodies like a front lip, rear spoiler and gloss-black wheels for further effect. All said and done, the Black Pack creates a side profile that’s completely dark, except for the red brake calipers. Equipped thusly, crowds will gather everywhere the XKR parks, so prepare to make new friends.
Hop aboard...
Once comfortably seated on board the leather and suede-lined cabin, drivers start the five-litre, supercharged V8 engine with the touch of a button, after which point a metal shift-dial rises from the console. Twist to select your desired gear.
Feeling frisky? There’s a ‘Dynamic Driving Mode’ that can be toggled for additional suspension stiffness, a more aggressive rear differential setting, increased throttle response and a more assertive gearshift pattern. Just click the button, and the XKR starts acting like it’s gotten into the catnip.
Oomph-a-plenty
Dialed in as such, XKR puts 510 horsepower at the driver’s disposal, as well as six paddle-shiftable gears. The slick automatic transmission swaps cogs quickly, and even self-blips for rev-matched downshifts. It’s not as hurried to shift or blip as a more advanced dual-clutch unit from Porsche or BMW, though speed and obedience are well into entertaining territory nonetheless.
Power delivery at full throttle is liquid smooth, very potent, and nearly frightening as the revs approach the 6500 RPM redline.
At any touch of the accelerator, even from very low revs, XKR squats back, leaps ahead, and snorts like an off-shore speed boat at full rip. It’ll blow past an 18-wheeler almost as quickly as the throttle can be floored, and with the windows down, drivers can even hear the meaty, crackling exhaust bark reflecting off of nearby buildings. It sounds like gunfire and testosterone.
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| Equipped thusly, crowds will gather everywhere the XKR parks, so prepare to make new friends. (Photo: Justin Pritchard/Auto123.com) |
XKR is executed with emotion and passion on a level beyond the norm for its price range-- and the tester’s ‘Black Pack’ even added goodies like a front lip, rear spoiler and gloss-black wheels for further effect. All said and done, the Black Pack creates a side profile that’s completely dark, except for the red brake calipers. Equipped thusly, crowds will gather everywhere the XKR parks, so prepare to make new friends.
Hop aboard...
Once comfortably seated on board the leather and suede-lined cabin, drivers start the five-litre, supercharged V8 engine with the touch of a button, after which point a metal shift-dial rises from the console. Twist to select your desired gear.
Feeling frisky? There’s a ‘Dynamic Driving Mode’ that can be toggled for additional suspension stiffness, a more aggressive rear differential setting, increased throttle response and a more assertive gearshift pattern. Just click the button, and the XKR starts acting like it’s gotten into the catnip.
Oomph-a-plenty
Dialed in as such, XKR puts 510 horsepower at the driver’s disposal, as well as six paddle-shiftable gears. The slick automatic transmission swaps cogs quickly, and even self-blips for rev-matched downshifts. It’s not as hurried to shift or blip as a more advanced dual-clutch unit from Porsche or BMW, though speed and obedience are well into entertaining territory nonetheless.
Power delivery at full throttle is liquid smooth, very potent, and nearly frightening as the revs approach the 6500 RPM redline.
At any touch of the accelerator, even from very low revs, XKR squats back, leaps ahead, and snorts like an off-shore speed boat at full rip. It’ll blow past an 18-wheeler almost as quickly as the throttle can be floored, and with the windows down, drivers can even hear the meaty, crackling exhaust bark reflecting off of nearby buildings. It sounds like gunfire and testosterone.
 |
| At any touch of the accelerator, even from very low revs, XKR squats back, leaps ahead, and snorts like an off-shore speed boat at full rip. (Photo: Justin Pritchard/Auto123.com) |