2003 Jaguar S-type R

2003 Jaguar S-type R 2003 Jaguar S-type R
Road Test

It's easy to get the wrong impression about some cars before you get to know them, as most Aztek owners will try to convince you. Study the vital stats, for example, of this brawny Jag S-type R-400 horsepower, 408 pound-feet of torque, giant brakes, 18-inch low-profile tires-and one might conclude that the Brits are looking to trump BMW's supersport, the M5. Laboring under this misconception, we anticipated writing the following cover blurb: We Test the Quickest Jaguar Ever!

It stood to reason, as the car enjoys a better power-to-weight ratio than that of the XJR or XKR and has an extra cog in its transmission. It ought to be quicker, right? In fact, given its advantage of 40 pound-feet over the equally heavy M5, the R should deliver M-grade acceleration. And at a price of just $63,072-10 grand less than an M5-the Jag looked like an easy comparo favorite. Then we flew to Spain's Costa Brava region and got to know the real S-type R-a gentle, sensitive, obsequious brute.

It seems Jaguar is convinced that its devotees don't want an M5. They don't intend to race their cars, so they won't put up with the flinty ride and heavy clutch and brakes that make an M5 difficult to drive smoothly in mellow, double-date driving situations. Jag folks, such as Sting and Eddie Irvine, are a genteel lot. They're more impressed by refinement and stealthy speed than by smoky burnouts and barroom bragging rights. And so, despite the R's impressive credentials, Jaguar has made some decisions that augur ill for spec-panel superlatives. Let's have a closer look at the credentials.

Under the hood is a thoroughly revamped edition of Jaguar's AJ V-8, stroked to 4.2 liters and enhanced with a new intake manifold, revised heads, and continuously variable (instead of two-position) intake-valve timing. These and numerous other refinements combine to improve emissions and boost power output by about seven percent, to 300 horsepower in the S-type 4.2 (many of the same improvements were also extended to the 3.0-liter V-6). For the R, an Eaton blower is bolted on, spinning five percent faster than the one in the XJR and XKR and exhaling 13.1 pounds of boost per inch through twin air-to-water intercoolers.

The only transmission offered on the R is ZF's stunning new six-speed automatic, fitted with exactly the same gearing as it gets in the BMW 745i. This is the state-of-the-slushbox art in terms of shift quality and gear spacing, and it's available on all S-types (sixes can now be had with a Getrag five-speed manual). Sadly, there's no manumatic control. Jag isn't selling to racy reprobates like us, remember?

So why can't this formidable powertrain go trolling M5s for pink slips? Part of the race is lost at launch. For packaging and cost reasons, the differential has no mechanical limited-slip device, so the brakes are used-rather a lot, as it happens-to prevent an individual wheel from spinning, even with the traction control switched off. A bit of launch-enhancing wheelspin is allowed when both tires have equal grip, but it's inevitably followed by an early upshift to prevent slippage in the next gear. Must maintain composure!

More difficult to explain is the general shift mapping. The solid redline is logically marked at 6250 rpm, just above the 6100-rpm power peak. But even in the transmission's sport mode and shifting manually, it shifts out of first at an indicated 5250 rpm, out of second at 5750, and out of third at 5900. That means the engine never made 400 horsepower during its 99-mph quarter-mile run in 14.1 seconds. Our test car's 5.5-second sprint to 60 mph trails that of the XJR by 0.2 second and the M5 by 0.8.