Jaguar’s fastest ever sports saloon and super-German rival will be using all of its fairly whopping 542bhp (and 680Nm of torque) on the famous Goodwood hill climb course today, as the new mega-cat makes its no doubt rather noisy UK public debut.
Driven by 1988 Jaguar Racing Le Mans 24hr race winner Andy Wallace, who should have a pretty good idea of what big power through the back wheels feels like, the Italian Racing Red production-ready XFR-S – it’s French Racing Blue in these pics, however – is set to show off its 4.4 seconds-to-60mph sprint time on the legendary hill, but unlikely to trouble its limited 186mph top speed on the tight, twisty and obstacle-dotted course.
This new XFR-S is based of course on the current, 503bhp XFR, with both cars enjoying Jaguar’s 5-litre, supercharged V8 petrol engine and a 6-speed sequential paddle-shift gearbox. The XFR-S gets a supercharger boost and fuel increase to make the extra grunt (39bhp), and having driven both the XFR and the XKR-S – Jag’s flagship 2-door coupe which now shares its engine with this XFR-S – I’d expect the new super sports saloon to be seriously rapid, and steer-from-the-rear nimble.
At the heart of the beast is the all-aluminium V8 motor that relaunched Jaguar’s range of fastest cars a few years ago, and its been rocking the highways of the world ever since. The combination of 5-litre V8 heft and supercharger torque makes for an extremely smooth and powerful engine, and through that decent – if not quite as good as the top notch German auto-manual gearboxes – 6-speed sequential ‘box, any Jag with an R or an R-S badge on the boot is dramatically quick. The engine’s thumping torque equates to relentless acceleration, all the way up to silly speeds, and the noise it makes is like Armageddon through a megaphone!
The new Jaguar XFR-S is available to order now, priced at £79,995, and if you’re in this kind of new car market, based on past big R and R-S Jag experience, we’d definitely recommend a test drive.
UPDATE! Here are some pics live from the Goodwood hillclimb track of the Italian Racing Red XFR-S in action today. Think I prefer the French Racing Blue!
By Dan Anslow
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