Jaguar XFR debuts at the Detroit Auto Show boasting 500hp

Until today, Jaguar’s elegant XF didn’t have an R-badged derivative at the top of its range. That all changed at the Detroit Auto Show when the British marque took the wraps off a new 503-hp supercharged version of Jag’s comeback-kid four-door sedan. The same engine is also offered in the new XKR coupe, which also debuted at Detroit.

XKR and XFR go on sale in the United States this spring.

Both cats get subtle body enhancements and chassis revisions. The XFR changes are the more dramatic of the two, but you’ve got to look closely to spot the deeper front spoiler and lower stance. The most visible feature on the XKR is a heavier chrome front grille.

Both share a neat feature on the new aluminun wheels—a supercharged script cast into the center boss.

But the real promise of the XFR is to add a big slug of the sledgehammer performance that rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and, dare we say, Bentley manage.

In two much-improved critical measures--0-60 mph in 4.7 seconds and 50-70 mph in 1.9 seconds--the XFR faces off against the BMW M5 and Audi RS6 and even the Bentley Flying Spur.

At the heart of this transformation is a ground-up new, 5.0-liter V8, in the development since 2002. Just two components--the cylinder head bolts and a bracket--are carried over from the 12-year-old 4.2-liter V8.

Developed while Ford still owned Jag, Dearborn engineers helped Jag in the early stages of development when the Blue Oval was working on its latest V6.

Jag describes the new V8 “as its most technologically-advanced petrol engine ever” and since it features a Jag-first direct-injection, who are we to argue?

The new 5.0-liter engine provides two power outputs—379-hp naturally aspirated and 503-hp supercharged. Jaguar is sticking with its trademark Eaton blower, now in its sixth-generation, to take advantage of instantaneous power delivery and a flat torque curve.

There’s more than a hint of a smile from Jag’s engineers as they point out Audi’s recent conversion to supercharging for its high-output V6.

With or without a supercharger, the new V8s generate major improvements in power and torque over the 4.2 V8.

Power of the naturally aspirated unit goes up by 26 percent, moving it upscale and away from competitors’ latest V6s, which make nearly as much power.

The boost given to the supercharged engine, now pumping 460-lb-ft of torque, pushes it close to the limit of the six-speed automatic tranny. Both XFR and XKR are fitted with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters.

Jag has another surprise up its sleeve: The old 4.2-liter will stay in production, partly because it is needed in the XJ sedan, but also because its 300 hp output offers a V8 alternative to competitors V6s.

Another change in the U.S. line-up of the XF is that it will continue to offer the luxury S-V8 trim, the best-seller, with the new 503-hp supercharged engine.

Detroit Auto Show News

By Julian Rendell