In less poetic terms, driving the XKR-S left
me wanting more, much more, of the most powerful production car ever to
wear the Jaguar badge. Honestly, though, this ravenous appetite for more
seat time was an unexpectedly pleasant surprise.
When
Jaguar first showed the XKR-S I was skeptical of the whole street/track
hybrid concept. And I didn’t really like how the wind tunnel had
reworked the svelte XKR coupe. The busier surfaces struck me as an
aerodynamic engineer’s wet (fluid dynamics) dream and not the reflection
of a Jaguar owner’s secret inner self. So why screw up a really good
car, I thought, to build a poseur?
Regardless of this
hack’s opinion, it is a good time for Jaguar to offer a high-priced
($132,000) version of the XKR. Jaguar’s place on quality surveys is
higher than it’s been in most car buyers’ memories, and profits are up
under Indian company Tata’s ownership, so why not offer a hyperbolized
Jaguar, particularly if the outstanding result is quite unlike anything
else on the road?
Essential elements of the S program begin with the
corporate 5.0-liter supercharged V8. Rated at 503 hp in the XKR, it
received rewritten software and a revised exhaust for S duty, increasing
output to 542; even better, peak torque rises from 451 to 502 lb-ft.
Zero to 60 mph comes up in a quick 4.2 seconds, about half a second
quicker than the XKR, and 100 mph flashes by in less than 9. The
six-speed paddle-shift transmission is right out of the XKR, and it’s
one of the best around. Upshifts are without delay, and it can skip
gears for quicker downshifts. Fitment of bespoke ZR-rated Pirellis, the
additional power and the slippery shape allowed Jaguar to raise the top
speed from 155 to an impressive 186 mph, makes the XKR-S a new member of
the rather exclusive 300 km/h club.
The S sounds impressive, too, emitting a rumbling
idle that hasn’t been heard around the Jaguar works since the race shop
closed up. Unique to the S model is a new “performance active exhaust,”
which uses valves to moderate low-speed decibels and then unleash them
with a baritone growl as the revs increase. The system also features a
new crossover pipe that eliminates one of the mufflers and reduces
backpressure. And to remind the driver why he’s paid around $35,000 more
for his S than for a standard XKR, a small duct siphons a delicious
measure of that roar into the otherwise well-insulated passenger
compartment.
Additional power is always welcome for track
days, but whatever competition cred the XKR-S will earn has to come from
below the beltline. Beginning with revisions to the wishbone
suspension, Jag’s engineers also stiffened the front uprights, increased
spring rates by 28 percent in front and 32 percent at the rear,
developed an “active” locking differential, wrote new software for the
driver-selectable handling aids and fit lightweight 20-inch forged
wheels wrapped by Pirelli P Zeros with staggered sizes of 255/35 front
and 295/30 rear.
The most striking element of the makeover,
Ian Callum’s design, might suggest the surly visage and bulging muscles
of an empty-headed male model stalking a fashion runway, but solid
science underlies the aggressive attitude for a reduction of overall
lift by 26 percent. The nose is markedly different from previous XKs and
sports slimmer LED headlamps, a new front bumper, carbon-fiber
splitter, lower spoiler and trick vertical slots at the outer edges of
the front fenders to channel air along the lower side sills for greater
directional stability. Rear lift is kept in check by a new, S-only wing
with carbon center section and a carbon venturi structure under the rear
bumper.
Not so with the XKR-S. It’s balanced in the
corners, stable at high speeds, quiet when cruising and voluble when
pushed hard. It’s probably the most well-adjusted bipolar car on the
road, capable of switching between goddess and whore at the driver’s
whim. It not only satisfies on so many levels—it leaves you wanting
more. This is the sign of a great car.
For aggressive
drivers, the new front buckets are a welcome addition. Broad enough in
the beam to accommodate even the plus-sized, and with substantial
bolstering for shoulders and thighs, they also are heated and
electronically adjustable 16 ways for a level of comfort rarely found in
performance seating. Also exclusive to the S are a new three-spoke,
multi-function steering wheel; bespoke trim materials and several
combinations of micro-piping stitching in the leather upholstery.
Customers can opt for a dark aluminum finish to the interior panels or
go for more traditional wood accents.
This is all good stuff, but is it enough to
transform a luxurious GT into a capable track car, if only for a
gentleman racer’s weekend lark at the motorsports club?
Jaguar
was bold, even a bit reckless, in choosing an F1 test circuit,
Portugal’s Autodromo Algarve. A new car, an unfamiliar and very
technical circuit full of elevation changes, blind crests, off-camber
corners and short braking zones seemed a recipe for disappointment, if
not disaster. I figured on a few safe, lazy laps before hitting the
public roads and a less frantic test environment.
But
after just a few laps of recon, with the car’s traction aids fully
engaged, I felt entirely comfortable. The XKR-S is big and heavy, but it
drives like a smaller car because of the prodigious power and
exceptional grip. It was able to both feed my need for speed and still
make me hungry for more.
This hunger caused me to switch to the new
Trac DSC mode, which provoked an entirely different experience. With the
engine’s power almost completely unrestrained, an inattentive right
foot in the wrong part of the corner overwhelmed the Pirellis and sent
the rear end off on a tangent of its own. Bringing the chassis back in
line, was, however, very easy due to the quick, precise steering and the
active rear nanny, er, differential. Even so, I’d had enough after one
lap of “throw and catch” and reverted to a less aggressive setting.
Default track behavior is slight understeer, so the quickest way around
is slow in and fast out of the corners, letting the engine’s muscle make
up the time lost in the braking zone, the weakest link in the car’s
repertoire. A good set of carbon brakes would go a long way to making
the XKR-S even more trackworthy.
Even
with the compromises to comfort and safety, the XKR-S is a capable
track car. In the right hands, the XKR-S is bloody fast. It ran the
Nordschleife in under 8 minutes, remarkable for a luxury GT—but it
probably won’t take fast lap of the day away from, say, a Porsche 911
Turbo, if for no other reason than the brakes, which are just fine on
the street but fade after a few hot laps, and the Jag’s weight. Racing
technology begins with adding lightness, but the XKR-S tips the scales
at a far-from-lightweight 3,900 pounds, about the same as the normal
XKR. It helps that the extra mass of the body panels and rear wing is
offset by a reduction in unsprung mass (around 11 pounds) from the
larger, lighter Vulcan forged wheels, but there’s no evading the fact of
the coupe’s heavy footprint, no matter how “racy” it looks.
If the S was good on the track, it was absolutely
brilliant on Portugal’s winding backroads. Despite the stiffer
suspension, it still gobbled up the miles with the compliant grace
expected from the Jaguar motoring experience. In fact, I felt energized
rather than exhausted after hours-long blasts over the narrow roads.
Driving some performance cars is like making love to a nymphomaniac:
great fun at first. Then, when you need a breather, maybe a cuddle, all
you get is an insistent tap on the shoulder and the command to climb
back into the saddle.
2012 Jaguar XKR-S
Layout
Longitudinal front engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine
5.0-liter V8, dohc, 32-valve, supercharged
Transmission
Six-speed automated manual
Suspension
Front and rear independent double wishbone, coil springs, electronically damped shocks
Brakes
Single-piston swing calipers,
compound discs
Dimensions
Length/Width/Height (in.): 188.7/74.5/51.6
Wheelbase: 108.3 in.
Curb Weight: 3,857 lb.
Performance
Peak Power: 542 hp @ 6000 rpm
Peak Torque: 502 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm
0-60 mph: 4.2 sec.
Top Speed: 186 mph (limited)
MSRP: $132,875
Source:
EuropeanCarWeb
