The new Jaguar XFR roars into Rivals

I drop into the driver’s seat of the new Jaguar XFR. The home button flashes red. I push it in and the rotating, circular shift wheel rises like a phoenix from the console. It is something symbolic for Jaguar. Vents, nowhere to be seen, suddenly open up on the dash. The new XFR model of the year 2010 is open to the public. I turn the gear stick to ‘D’ and press down on the right pedal to start the road test. There’s a roar coming from all four exhausts… a deep growl that only a high-output V8 produces.

I listen carefully. I think I hear him say ‘AMG E63 I’m going to get you’. The revs go up and he speaks again: ‘BMW M5… I’m here.’ Jaguar calls it the beginning of the “revitalization.” Jaguar doing what Jaguar does best: performance sedans, though the XF sometimes looks more like a coupe than a four-door. XFR is the latest addition to the XF range. A powerful and high-end flagship. A car to face the Germans: Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.

The XF range launched in 2008 with Jaguar’s familiar 4.2-litre V8 alongside a petrol V6 and a 2.7-litre V6 diesel. Two of those engines haven’t made the cut in this makeover. The 4.2-litre has been replaced by a new Jaguar-designed 5.0-litre V8 making 283kW of power (up 23%) and 515Nm of torque (up 12%). The XFR gets special treatment via an Eaton supercharger with a new intercooler and this brings it up to 375kW and 625Nm.

The highly sophisticated 2.7-litre diesel engine also gives way to a greatly improved 3.0-litre engine which features a different and improved twin-turbocharger system than that found in the 2.7-litre engine. The supercharged V8 propels the XFR to 62 mph in 4.9 seconds, a cat’s whisker behind the E63 AMG and a similar whisker in front of the M5. It’s being in good company.

We took our test drive from Sydney onto winding roads, interspersed with long straightaways. The big cat grips wet roads with surprising ease. There are not only new engines on board the XF, but also new technology. The Adaptive Dynamics system monitors body movements 100 times per second and wheel positions 500 times per second to instantly adjust for optimal handling and ride. Inspires driver confidence. There is also an active differential control that limits slip between the rear wheels.

Unlike its direct competition, the Jaguar doesn’t sacrifice ride and comfort for handling. He has both. We hit a long straightaway, up a steep hill and a slow truck. We’re out, past the truck, and back in before you can say ‘God Almighty.’ It takes 1.9 seconds to accelerate from 80 km/h to 113 km/h. The king of Australian rugby league football, Wally Lewis, would be proud. A perfect pass. For those who like to be in control of the ride, the XF range features F1-style paddle shifters on the steering wheel. One on the left for downshifts and one on the right for upshifts, making up for the lack of a lever. The six-speed transmission is the proven ZF gearbox that handles the task of harnessing the grunt with complete ease and smoothness.

The XFR has a conservative appearance. Its alloy wheels are 20-inch, and the only reference to being supercharged is subtly written on the wheels and hood louvers. The XFR has unique interior and exterior design cues, including revised bumpers and lowered front air intakes, sill extensions, hood louvers, quad tailpipes and decklid spoiler. It is the first XF to bear the ‘R’ badge, Jaguar’s symbol of a high-performance model.

While the XFR lived up to high expectations, the surprise package in this latest XF range is the 3.0-litre turbodiesel. It is simply impressive for its lack of diesel noise, economy, emissions and outright performance. With an economy of 6.8 litres/100 km, this super quiet oil burner will get you from 0 to 100 km/h in just 6.4 seconds.

To put that in perspective, the naturally aspirated XF 5.0 V8 will go from 0-60 in 5.7 seconds and the 3.0 diesel will be breathing down your neck the whole time. Jaguar did away with the twin-turbo setup of the 2.7-litre and replaced it with primary and secondary turbochargers running in parallel with the goal of eliminating turbo lag. The diesel has 202 kW of power, but the important figure is the torque: 600 Nm on tap from just 2,000 rpm. At 1,500 rpm, the 3.0-litre diesel has 61% more torque than the 2.7-litre, which means the car shoots out. It cuts the 0-100 km/h time of the 2.7-litre by 1.8 seconds or more than 20 percent.

The current XF model has already made an impact at Jaguar. In Australia, 511 XFs were sold, redesigning Jaguar sales by 27 per cent in 2008. More significantly, the average age of Jaguar buyers plummeted from 55 to 49 years since the XF’s launch, with the average age being 44-year-old XF buyers, with 50 per cent new buyers to the Jaguar brand. In effect, this means that Jaguar is shedding the label of being an ‘old’ car.

FIRST DRIVING TRACES

In this update, Jaguar has concentrated on improvements to the transmission and suspension, and that stands out dramatically. In our road test, we drove the XFR for more than nearly 220 miles across a variety of roads. We covered 140 kilometers in the diesel, which is identified with a simple ‘S’.

They are different cars for different buyer profiles, but they share common attributes: excellent handling, effortless performance and the luxury expected of a Jaguar. The most visible part of any car is the boot and Jaguar has placed a chrome Jaguar jumper in the center of the boot. The grille and center of the steering wheel feature the ‘roarer’, Jaguar’s roaring emblem, leaving no doubt as to which brand you drive.

The XFR is shining in its performance, but this comes at a low cost for comfort. The ride is slightly firm, yet luxuriously comfortable, even through uneven country roads. The ‘S’ has an even smoother ride. High performance cars can be a pain in the urban jungle. The XFR Jaguar is at home both on the open road and in the suburbs with the driveline smooth and content to drive in rush hour traffic while eating up the motorways.