Jaguar XFR: UK Drive
We try Jaguar's fantastic new super-saloon on UK roads - Chris-R reports
I’ve never really been a fan of Mondays (or for that matter of bands from Manchester), but some Mondays are undeniably better than others.
XFR - every car park should have one
PH first reviewed the XFR in left-hand-drive guise back in March, when our contributor Adam Towler left us in no doubt he felt the new Jaguar had cracked it – describing the 503bhp, 5.0-litre supercharged machine as ‘the best super-saloon all-rounder there is’. He clearly wasn’t alone, as similar rave reviews have piled up in the Jaguar scrap book, so it’s been a tantalising few months' wait to get our hands on the new car here on UK soil.
The seat of power - 503bhp, to be exact
The seat of driver, and fantastic fascia
Ease the selector into reverse to back out of your parking space, and the rear view monitor reveals a fantastically clear picture of the scenery behind you – even at night – while a pair of curving yellow lines predict the vehicle’s path on any given steering angle. It may not be world-beating technology, but I still can’t get enough of systems like this that allow you to ‘point and shoot’ parking spaces with barely a second thought! Adaptive Cruise Control is another incredibly useful gadget that still hasn’t outplayed its novelty value, while features like the touch sensitive interior lights and glovebox catch all help to reinforce the sense that the XFR is a mightily clever box of tricks.
Cabin ambience is unbeatable
The car gets off to a fine start as the standard XF body is already one of the stiffest in the business, which Jaguar says is the key to the XFR’s superb ride and handling. On top of this rigid platform, two new developments have been employed – Adaptive Dynamics which is a sophisticated active damping system that adjusts settings to road conditions and driving style, and Active Differential Control which is a torque-vectoring axle that actively varies torque between the rear wheels to maximise traction.
Automated dash vents and drive selector
And thrust can be unleashed in a big, big way, thanks to the new V8 that has some pretty impressive technical credentials. The engine features a stiff aluminium block with cast iron liners and cross-bolted main bearing caps. The aluminium heads have four valves per cylinder, and Jaguar claims an industry first for its centrally mounted multi-hole fuel injection system. The compression ratio is up to 9.5:1 from the old supercharged 4.2-litre V8. The inlet cam has Camshaft Profile Switching that gives increased valve lift when required, and there’s a variable inlet manifold to help optimise torque across the rev range. The Roots-type twin-vortex blower (apparently the same unit that’s fitted to the Corvette ZR1) feeds air through a pair of intercoolers, and a ‘high helix’ rotor design has all but eliminated the traditional supercharger whine, says Jaguar. In fact, so refined is the new V8 that acoustic trickery has been employed to make sure a decent soundtrack is relayed to the driver. An acoustic filter tuned to ‘tenor C’ ducts the engine’s V8 beat into the cabin, but only when the car is revving hard – and the result is an engine note that howls deliciously like a (somewhat muted) NASCAR racer when you want some fun and games.
Plenty of room in the back seats, too
My first couple of drives in the XFR were long-ish motorway commutes, during which the Jaguar’s supple damping and general sense of refined quietude belied the car’s capacity to beat up the M5 and the ‘vorsprung durch RS’ brigade. Yet even with the damping in its ‘normal’ setting, you’ll need to be travelling very fast indeed over uneven tarmac before the car’s near two-tonne mass will begin to show any sign at all of overwhelming the active damping system’s firm grip on body control. Select Dynamic Mode, however, and, as well as firming up and further flattening the ride, the electronics are programmed to sharpen up throttle response, and modify the stability and transmission parameters to further stretch the car’s fearsome performance envelope.
Looking glamorous at Goodwood
In fact the only impediment to progress I found was that the ‘manual override’ paddle-shifters are too small and occasionally get lost behind the wheel - for instance as you’re getting on the power, unwinding lock and looking for the next ratio when a corner opens out ahead. But with gearbox as clever as the XFR’s, there’s not much call for the manual option anyway.
For the full-on XFR effect, I think that selecting Dynamic Mode then sticking the autobox selector into ‘S’ instead of D is the most rewarding option on the road. (You can kill the DSC for controllable power-on oversteer, but such antics are probably best left to the track at XFR ‘drift’ speeds.)
Chrome highlights on grille and intakes
If you’re tempted to unleash this performance – and it’s so readily accessible that you surely will be - just keep an eye on the fuel gauge. The XFR has prodigious thirst for unleaded when Sport mode is engaged, and probably the rest of the time as well.
Quad tailpipes and a small boot-lip spoiler
But while the XFR isn’t perhaps the most politically correct car for these straitened times, it’s certainly indecently rewarding to drive. If your regular commute includes the school run, for instance, I doubt if there’s currently a better way to spend £60k to spice up Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays…
I'm glad that a lot of people do seem to like this car and i think it's a genuinly good car but I'm not convinced about the styling. It's not low & mean like the X300 XJR always seemed to look, yes, I know you get bugger all interior space.
Additionally, it has all this engine trickery on it CPS, variable intake tract length etc. for an efficient engine then has alot of its good work undone by having a supercharger bolted on to it. To me, this seems like an inefficient way of getting additional power (at full power, I think that the old XJR's supercharger took about 70bhp to run it - I'm sure someone reading this will know a more accurate figure). I understand that turbocharging is a more efficient way of charging an engine.
I hope it sells well.
It doesn't quite have the prowess of say the M5 through the bends but it's not far off!! But the thing that makes this a much better car than say the M5 and the RS6 to a degree is that it is effortlessly smooth and a hell of a lot easier to live with from day to day (although with my heavy right foot the MPG wasn't anywhere near the figure quoted here!!).
Also, I personally think that it looks more striking than the other cars in it class as well.
Fancy heading home after a tough day? Well just turn off the 'dynamic' mode, used D instead of S on the auto, set the climate and pop on something relaxing on the DAB and waft all the way home.
Fancy an early morning blast? Well select S, select dynamic, turn the traction to the appropriate setting, use the paddle shift and the car firms up, the throttle responds in an instant, the gearchange is super fast and it starts to sound like a muted Nascar.
It really is a car for all occasions and it's even got a big boot
It even made me forget about the headlights, which is a mean feat and about the only thing I had reservations about when first seeing the car. It grows on you in the flesh.
Good to see a road report and pleased to hear it's a more useable proposition than the M5 while being hugely competent. Racetrack performance aside, it seems to be the better option and more what this class of car ought to be about.
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