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Fortunately for jaguar, we are putting more emphasis on how these cars perform on the road than on the tracks. On the paper, the new XKR-S looked like it might do well around Anglesey. To the standard XKR’s stiff, relatively light weight aluminum construction and 416bhp supercharged V8 and the S adds firmer, 10mm lower suspension, revised steering and CATS adaptive damping, and six port Alcon brakes in addition to a bunch of cosmetic changes inside and out. Jaguar plays up its Nurburgring honed handling, and its chassis engineers seldom seem to get it wrong. Yet the XKR-S was easily the least comfortable on tracks, outpaced and out handled even by the open-topped, 300kg heavier SL. We watched the XK’S glorious long bonnet pitch and wallow before us like a Yngling in the heavy seas, hating Anglesey’s awkward, sudden direction changes. After the other the jag felt imprecise, uncooperative and just not the fast; a lap time of 1min 5.4secwas the slowest in the group. But while Merc SL’s surprising talents on the track translated directly to the road, the reverse was true of the jag. Its disappointing on the track precisely because it has been carefully, correctly optimized for the road. Despite the revised suspension and the big 20-inch rims it keeps its easy fluid ride at low speeds and over poor surface; it’s a little better than SL in this regard, and infinitely better than the other three.

The refinement stays at speed but its joined by terrific body control. There’s some float and roll; this is a GT after all, not a hardcore sports car, and this progressive change feels natural and keeps you in touch with car. Are we spoiled and out-of-touch to criticize a car for having only 416bhp? Maybe, but this is a comparison test, and that’s how we felt when we got into the Jaguar after one of the other. There isn’t much else to criticize, but its enough to send the XKR-S back Coventry.

Posted November 7, 2009 Comments(0)

  The Jaguar XKR-S Coupe will be on sale summer ’08 and only 200 cars will be produced. They will only be available on the European markets, with left and right hand drive and all cars will come in black. It’s the fastest of its kind, with 19mph more then the XKR and the fastest since the XJ220 from the early 90s.

  It reaches an electronically limited top speed of 174mph (280kph)The groundbreaking performance comes from improved aerodynamics, unique suspension set-up and recalibrated engine management. The optional ultra fast manual shifts controlled by steering wheel – mounted paddle shifts – with shift times measured in milliseconds probably makes the XKR-S have the fastest shifting transmission in the world. Without loosing comfort, Jaguar made some radical changes to the suspension and steering to provide further enhanced ride and handling characteristics making the XKR-S more agile then previous models.The breaks for the XKR-S developed by Jaguar’s Special Vehicles team in partnership with British competition brake specialist Alcon can only be characterized as high performance. After thousands of miles of testing on some of the most demanding roads, the XKR-S Alcon R Performance Breaking System features 400mm diameter discs on the front and 350mm discs at the rear which are radially ventilated for cooling and to resist fade under the hardest use. The breaking system was specifically designed to match the XKR-S’s top speed.

 The exterior has been changed, so it looks different without being overstated. The body has a stiff all aluminum structure whit new front air splitter, side sill extensions, a rear spoiler and a new rear bumper with a diffuser panel.

  The XKR-S has new bespoke springs, anti-roll bars and unique dampers. The core suspension parameters are recalibrated, the XKR-S uses the Computer Active Technology Suspension (CATS) with unique tuning and it also uses a faster ratio steering rack. Last but certainly not least, the 4.2litre V8 supercharged engine under its hood isn’t something to be overlooked.

 Inside it has a luxury sport theme whit soft leather, ivory twin needle contrast stitching, electrically adjustable seating with adjustable bolsters and black veneer trim.The Jaguar XKR-S Coupe is a mix of high speed performance, dynamic excellence and crafted luxury which definitely makes it a super car.

Posted March 10, 2008 Comments(0)