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21st May 2013

The Jaguar XK-R: Buckle up…

Recently, motoring journalist and Engine Room Show co-host Dave Humphreys, was given the beastly Jaguar XK-R to review. So here’s what he thought...

JOE

Recently, motoring journalist and Engine Room Show co-host Dave Humphreys, was given the beastly Jaguar XK-R to review. So here’s what he thought…

by Dave Humphreys

Even up until a few years ago it would have been easy to pigeon hole the Jaguar brand into being one that was solely driven by stuffy old businessmen, but nowadays Jaguar has been making some big changes and is now starting to edge past another iconic British car manufacturer – Aston Martin – in the cool stakes.

The XK is indeed one of the older cars in the current range, having evolved from the XK8 and has since spawned the XK-R which is a supercharged version of the Jag’s 5.0 litre V8.

The stats aren’t quite ‘earth shattering’, but by no means are they un-impressive. The engine produces 510hp and a grunty 625Nm of torque which gives it as much ability to tow the polar ice caps as it does to melt them thanks to the emissions of 292g/km which equates to a road tax bill of €2,350 per year.

The star of the show

The engine is of course the real star of the show here. Sit into the soft leather sports seats and press the glowing Start button and enjoy a few seconds of aural pleasure as the V8 spins into life, revving itself up to 2,000rpm before setting down to an idle that still exudes power even when stationary. The automatic gearbox’s drive selector rises from the plush centre console. Simply spin it around to D and the big cat slithers away.

When driving around town with a light foot the Jag is calm, almost serene. The gearbox is silky smooth and it quite happy to simply cruise around. As soon as you decide to give it the beans the XK-R instantaneously comes to life.

You can choose to take control of the gear shifts yourself via the steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters. Either way, the sound that the supercharged V8 emits when you plant the throttle is beyond glorious. The quad-tailpipes at the rear come on song and the Jag’s 510hp ensure that you are kept firmly into the back of your seat. The gear-changes come quickly and are hardly perceptible as the V8 makes the world go by at ever growing speeds.

Despite being a 2+2 Gran Tourer, the rear seats are, at best, suitable only for small children and serve a better purpose to hold additional luggage as the Jaguar’s boot isn’t the most spacious in the world.

As an overall package, the XK-R might not suit most people but it is in fact a very useable everyday car. Even with its huge 20-inch wheels it gives a comfortable ride over even on poor roads.

Now its just the small matter of the €142,000 price tag to look into.

Make sure to follow Dave on Twitter via @LordHumphreys and check out his motoring podcast, The Engine Room Show with Dave Moore and Steven Cooper from 98FM, over here.

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Car Reviews