Jaguar XKR (2011MY) Review & Road Test

A slightly mud spattered Jaguar XKR after yet another 'Brisk' country run

If you choose to think about the history of Jaguar, there’s a fair chance you’ll end up thinking about the two cars that have come to epitomise all that Jaguar stood for – the 1961 Jaguar E-Type and the 1968 Jaguar XJ.

If you delve further in to the mush that passes for a brain you’ll probably manage to drag up remnants of automotive lust for cars like the XK120 and XK140 or the D-Type or Jaguar SS or maybe even the Jaguar MK II. And those memories will probably reinforce in your mind that Jaguar are makers of classy, swift and desirable sports cars and sports saloons.

But if you analyse what you’ve concluded – as I have after a week with the Jaguar XKR complete with Black Pack and Speed Pack – you’ll probably reach the same conclusion as I did; now is the first time in forty years that Jaguar can claim to have truly desirable cars across their range. And yes, that includes the Jaguar XK, and especially the Jaguar XKR.

The latest Jaguar XK (X150) has been with us since 2006, and has matured beautifully. Which is no mean feat considering it was born in the depths of Ford’s greatest angst with its ownership of Jaguar, and seemed to have been conceived with a budget Matchbox would have sniffed at for their version.

But despite the ‘New car on a Shoestring’ feel the XK had when it arrived it had some wonderful aces up its sleeve, not least the way it looked. Finally we had a Jaguar Sports car to lust after. Yes, it felt a bit cheap in places and the 4.2 litre V8 was carried over from the previous model – as with most everything else – but it looked almost as good as the Aston Martin DB9. Which probably had a lot to do with the input of Ian Callum on both cars.

A surprising delight though the latest XK was, it only really came to life as a performance car when Jaguar fitted the 5.0 litre supercharged lump last year. Suddenly the XKR offered levels of performance that took it in to the supercar league, with 60mph coming up in around 4.5 seconds – and feeling quicker.

Perhaps the only thing missing from the XKR was any signs of real aggression. Yes, that’s a Jaguar trademark - understated rather than shouty cars – but the XKR was crying out to be made a little meaner. We saw the first signs that Jaguar were starting to believe more could be done with the XKR’s darker side when we saw Jaguar’s Lime Green Goodwood XKR last year.

The Goodwood Special XKR foretold much of what the new Speed Pack and Black Pack bolted on to our XKR are about. It even had the rather un-Jaguar graphics down the side (something you should pass on when you tick the options box – please) and the ‘Black Chrome’ the Black Pack offers the XKR.

So does adding the Speed Pack – which ups the top speed to 174mph, adds a front splitter and rear diffuser, a bigger rear spoiler and adds a bit more butch to the sills – and the Black Pack – which adds some very nice gloss black alloys and turns the chrome to gloss black – make the XKR more appealing?

Oh, yes.

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By Cars UK