Jaguar’s got a treat for us, coming to the Geneva show. It’s low, mean, blue, and has a lot of power. In the next episode of “Making Aston Martin’s look overpriced and slow,” Jaguar is bestowing the XKR-S upon us.
It slots above the already ridiculous XKR in Jaguar’s lineup as the performance star of the model line. Under the hood, the big cat gets upgraded from a hardly sufficient 510 horsepower and 462lb-ft of torque, up to a more robust 550bhp and 502lb-ft of torque – which makes this officially the most powerful road-going Jaguar ever made. That honor was previously held by the XJ220 supercar of the early ninties, with it’s TWR-fettled twin-turbo V6 that pushed out 542 horsepower and 472lb-ft of torque.
Jaguar doesn’t say what’s been done to increase the power, but with a direct-injected, supercharged V8 there’s always going to be more on the table. A good guess would be an ECU retune and intake/exhaust work, but full details will be released at the car’s debut at Geneva in March. They do say the XKR-S will do 0-60 in 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 186mph, which puts it up there with the Mercedes CL63 AMG, Aston Martin DB9, and Maserati GranTurismo S as far as performance goes.
The XKR-S will also get revised suspension tuning as well as aerodynamic addendum, but that’s about all Jaguar is saying at this point. The whole XKR-S is part of a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the E-Type, which has got to be the sexiest 50-year old out there these days. Stay tuned for more pictures and information as they roll in!
