Road Test: Jaguar XFR 5.0 V8 Supercharged

It’s bizarre isn’t it? Jaguar I mean. It’s bizarre that Jaguar has a history including great things like the Mk2, its racing D-Type’s at Le Mans, the gorgeous E-Type, maybe even the ballistic XJ220 can be added to that list as well and yet, when you look a little deeper, for all its ‘hits’, there have been just as many ‘misses’. Like the 1980s, when the Coventry lads decided to go on strike. Then in the 1990s, after they’d finished striking, when Ford seeded control of Jaguar and spent most of its time building Lincolns that looked like the S-Type or the X-Type – a Mondeo with some cuff-links. They even had a flighty idea of trying Formula 1…, it didn’t end well as we know.

If we were talking about a person here, you’d say these ‘misses’ have helped build character. When it comes to Jaguar and its characterful failures, this is exactly true of the experience. When you drive ten metres down the road in a Jaguar you realise immediately that you are driving a car that may not be brimmed to the very top with fuel or oil, but it is completely brimmed with character. My favourite quote about ‘building character,’ rings perfectly true for Jaguar and its chequered past. It’s from Charlie Chaplin and it says: ‘Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but it’s a comedy when seen in long-shot.’ So true Charles, you must have had a Jaguar, but I wonder if character alone is enough to make a super saloon?

That’s where we start talking about the Jaguar XFR. Sporting Jaguars have always played third or fourth fiddle to the highly formidable Germans. In the power-addled world of enormous, stubby exhaust pipes and low profile tyres, the performance nomenclature of ‘M,’ ‘AMG’ and ‘RS’ simply towers over the red and British-racing-green ‘R’ attached so nonchalantly to fast Jaguars. It is a fair assessment of the situation I have to say. The Germans have always taken ‘high performance’ just the little bit more seriously, arguably to the detriment of other aspects of their cars.

The Jaguar XFR is different. First and foremost it looks absolutely stunning. It has bigger flared wheel arches than a regular XF, 20-inch wheels, new, thinner headlights, which hark back to the original Ian Callum XF concept drawing. The front is adorned with day-time running lights that loom bright in the rear-view mirrors of slower traffic. Accompanied by the chromed grille, shapely lines and supercharger nostrils on the bonnet, this attractive kitty cat has some real big cat presence.

Interior-wise, however, the XFR is beginning to feel a generation out of date. The traditional blue backlit dials for instance are very basic compared to the ‘thin film transistor’ screens you now find in the XJ and Range Rover. All the technology one expects to find in a top-end car can still be found though. Satellite navigation, park sensors, reversing camera, Bluetooth, USB jack, electronically operated / heated seats and a raft of buttons to hone the driving experience, can be found on the transmission tunnel along with the throbbing starter button and gear selector that rises triumphantly when you start the vehicle. The fascia too looks a little flat, with its only party piece being the air conditioning vents that cover themselves up when not in operation, or the ‘R’ logo’s on the steering wheel and embroidered into the seats. Then again, the XF has always been understated and that’s always been the Jaguar way, adhering to Sir William Lyons’ maxim of “grace, pace and space”.

Under the bonnet this Jaguar XFR now has a 5.0-litre V8 with a supercharger bolted to it and it fires 375 kW and 625 Nm to the rear wheels. The V8 rumble is bellowing and popping through the exhausts, but not deafening inside or outside the cabin. It’s sonorous like a baroque classic backing track, not AMG and the Rammstein division. Right at the top of the rev range you’ll define the supercharger whine; it’s nowhere near as present as you may think. I like that about it though.

Zero to 100 km/h happens in 4.9 seconds and the car will pull to a limited top speed of 250 km/h, or maybe a little bit more, but ssshh… I didn’t tell you that. How it gets there is the amazing thing, however, it has pulverising, unrelenting pulling force through the mid-range. Torque from the blown 5.0-litre is delivered in totally disobedient fashion. When other vehicles feel like they are slacking off the XF-R feels like it is gathering all its strength. Maximum power and torque arrive quite close to the red line of 6 600 r/min. Don’t doubt for a second that the supercharger provides some drag to the drivetrain. When other vehicles would coast downhill, the XFR requires slight throttle inputs to keep it up to pace.

Dynamically, I find with big (this one is 1 891kg), powerful cars that it’s best to build up confidence before attacking the turns with full venom. The more you drive it, the more confident you get in understanding what its behaviour is like. With the XFR this process took a while. I started at a certain level, pushed a little further, but then decided to retrace my steps back to the original level, which was more comfortable, faster and more fun. The XFR responds best to the driver who is conscious of transferring its weight as smoothly as possible between the axles and from side-to-side. The XFR exhibits enough roll and enough tail happiness to taper any ‘live free or die’ cornering, or sudden direction changes, and the steering has a muted level of communication.

Sure, it’s entertaining when you push really hard, if only for the hold-your-breath, will-it-understeer-will-it-oversteer moments. Although it rarely does either, but it is a pity the intermediate TSC (track) mode isn’t a little more relaxed, along the lines of the BMW M5’s MDM (M Dynamic Mode), which allows a lot more, but still safe, levels of slip before cutting in. Most of the dynamic process in normal traction or track mode is of the rear-end being tied up by electronic red tape, but the brakes are sharp and deliberate, and when the time is right. on a wide open road. with third, fourth and fifth gear to make your own – the power, luxury and refinement are gloriously aristocratic, sweetened by the fact that any would-be challengers to your bitumen throne remain just that (would-be). The driving experience is still hugely fast, but would be heightened if the driver could be given more sense of an interaction at the XFR’s limits.

I’d peg the Jaguar XFR as a good all-rounder as it turns out. It sounds good, looks even better, is very comfortable, is good value for money compared to its rivals and, while you’re unlikely to see it featured on the front page of ‘WiRed’ magazine for its levels of technology that are superseded by its competitors, the big kitty still wins hands down in the area of traditional Jaguar dominance: character.

What we like…

• It’s big, beautiful and elegant just like a Jaguar should be.
• Its eight cylinders deliver everything in spades: power, torque and soundtrack.
• Quite comfortable considering the large and low profile wheel and tyre combination.

What we would like…

• Some more traction and better body control for it to qualify as a real ‘sporty’ drive.
• The driver modes to be more deliberate in how they change the cars behaviour.
• A bank loan to pay for the fuel.

Comments

comments