First Drive Review
Whether or not you’ve heard of Jeffry Life, you know his face—or, more accurately, his body. Dr. Life is the balding 74-year-old with the chiseled torso in those hormone-replacement ads that look like an old head that’s been manipulated by Photoshop onto a young body. Like Life, Jaguar has recently rediscovered a more youthful self, and the XFR-S appears, on first blush, to be digitally enhanced, as well.
But that Schwarzeneggerian physique really is Life’s, and this is no faux mash-up of a Jaguar and a Mitsubishi Evo. The Jag’s wing is real (albeit optional) and is backed up by genuine muscle. Changes to the engine-management controls and exhaust system squeeze an additional 40 horsepower and 41 lb-ft of torque from Jaguar’s blown 5.0-liter V-8, for totals of 550 and 502. That’s good for an estimated 0-to-60-mph time of barely more than four seconds and a terminal velocity of 186 mph. A symposer pipes intake noise into the cabin, but the guttural exhaust howl is all you really want to hear. A new torque converter and uprated half-shafts aim to keep the driveline intact.
Life-Affirming Chassis
The front and rear springs are stiffened 40 percent compared with the XFR’s, meaning they are 100 percent more rigid than those on a regular XF, and the adaptive dampers are firmer in their baseline and Dynamic settings. The R-S packs a new rear subframe, stiffer bushings, and fresh knuckles front and rear. The braking hardware is untouched—and given the 160-foot stop we’ve previously recorded from an XFR, entirely capable—but underbody ducting is said to improve cooling. Twenty-inch wheels are 0.5 inch wider up front and 1.0 wider out back and are strapped with 265/35 front and 295/30 rear rubber. Jaguar says lift is down by 68 percent from the XFR’s, crediting aero tweaks such as resculpted fascias front and rear, unique rocker panels, and a wing that looks as out of place on a Jag as Dr. Life’s action-figure lats do on him. (A smaller lip spoiler is standard but seems incongruously prudent for such a screamer.) French Racing Blue and Italian Racing Red are among the five color choices, but, perhaps because it is too demure, British Racing Green isn’t.
The base XFR is one of the smoothest-riding cars in its class, but firming up the suspension to XFR-S stiffness levels doesn’t wreck the ride. It does add needed discipline to the body control, and the result is behavior deserving of a big, gaudy wing. Turn-in is greatly improved, and the tail is happy to aid directional changes. As one of a decreasing population that still uses hydraulically boosted power steering—and thanks to a claimed 80-percent increase in the stiffness of its front knuckles—the R-S’s steering wheel boasts delightfully linear effort buildup in corners. Slight twitchiness under braking reinforces the impression that the car is spring-loaded for directional changes, a hooligan of the highest order.
Jaguar will bring only 100 XFR-Ss to the U.S. in 2014, at a price that outpaces the XFR’s by nearly 16 grand. Budgeted for the hormone-replacement treatments that helped Life get his physique (they reportedly cost as much as $1500 a month), that's only 10 months’ worth. Even at $99,895, the XFR-S is the cheaper way to keep both you and Jaguar looking and feeling younger for longer.
