Jaguar XKR

Jaguar XKR Jaguar XKR
Road Test

Forget, for a moment, the 370-horsepower, 4.0-liter supercharged V-8 under its hood. Put aside thoughts of its Computer Active Technology Suspension or how quiet it is at cruise or whether the warranty stretches beyond the term of the second mortgage it'll take to buy it. Instead, just look at Jaguar's XKR. It's sex on wheels! A lot sexier than the naturally aspirated XK8 upon which it's based and not sexy in a vulgar, lecherous, strip-club-near-the-airport sort of way, either. But Elizabeth Hurley-wearing- Versace-at-the-Oscars sexy: provocative, confident, not at all trashy, with an upper-class British accent.

Still, all that sex appeal is just luscious icing on a fast, well-mannered, well-built cake. The XKR is the most desirable Jag two-door sold here in at least 25 years. And $79,465 for the coupe (or $84,715 for the convertible), although hardly cheap, represents some real value in comparison with other high-end performance cars such as the eerily similar Aston Martin DB7.

We tested the right-hand-drive, British-market XKR in July 1998, while Jaguar was completing the 100,000-mile emissions certification for the car now on sale here. Except for the mirror-image driving position, the Euro- and U.S.-spec cars are virtually mechanical twins (although the U.S. car weighs, according to the specifications, 19 more pounds). The XKR formula is a no-brainer. The supercharged drivetrain first seen in the '98 XJR sedan has simply been dropped into the sultry XK8 coupe and convertible shells. There's some tweaking to get the plumbing of the supercharger's twin air-to-liquid intercoolers under the hood, but the basic supercharged AJ V-8 is untouched. So are the Mercedes-built five-speed automatic and the 3.06:1-ratio final-drive gearset. About the only apparent difference between power production bits in the XJR and the XKR is the two-door's two-piece driveshaft. The exhaust system downstream of the ceramic catalyst is subdued XK8.

Despite the spectacular looks, it's the engine's magnificence that defines the XKR's character. As in every other factory-supercharged automotive powerplant sold here, the device doing the work is a belt-driven Eaton Roots-style blower. In the 370-hp, 4.0-liter DOHC AJ V-8's case, it's the same 112-cubic-inch Eaton that Ford uses on its other supercharged V-8, the 360-hp, 5.4-liter SOHC V-8 found in the SVT F-150 Lightning pickup. On the Lightning's long-stroke, two-valve engine (which redlines at a mere 5250 rpm), the M112 supercharger spins at 2.1-times engine speed and peaks at eight pounds of boost. Atop the relatively short-stroke four-valve AJ V-8 (which spins to 6200 rpm before a fuel cutout turns off the fun), the blower turns at 1.9-times engine speed and huffs out 11.6 pounds. The relatively low supercharger drive ratio, says Jaguar, "enhances the refinement and reliability of the supercharger installation." That, and the fact that the blower nestles under its intercoolers, also means it runs more quietly compared with the same unit's operation in the Lightning.

Whatever their differences, Ford's two M112 supercharged V-8s both yield majestic wells of low-end torque. At 1600 rpm, says Jaguar, the supercharged AJ V-8 is making more than the unblown version's peak 290 pound-feet of torque on its way to its own peak 387 pound-feet at 3600 rpm. Toe into the accelerator, and there's no telltale sensation that this engine is supercharged other than the massive thrust. It's not some old big-block muscle-car engine (it revs too eagerly and silently), it just pulls like one.

To keep up with the engine, every U.S.-bound XKR gets Jaguar's Computer Active Technology Suspension (CATS), which uses two-stage damping to improve adhesion while maintaining a cushy ride. Furthering the advantage is a move up from the XK8's 17-inch wheels to 18s encased in 245/45ZR-18 front and 255/ 45ZR-18 rear Pirelli P Zero tires. It's somewhat surprising that Jag didn't take the opportunity to upgrade the brakes from its XK8 specification. Not that the ABS-controlled platter-size discs aren't up to the job (in fact, they work quite well), only that, in a world of beautifully detailed Porsche rotors and calipers, the XKR's brakes seem drearily ordinary behind those huge wheels.