Jaguar XKR 75: Goodwood debut

The rather pleasant looking Jaguar XKR 75

We did say last week that Jaguar were about to make a production car out of last year’s XKR Goodwood Special. And as usual we had a punt at the name. Jaguar XKR-S? Seemed reasonable. XKR-R? Perhaps a bit less likely. But we’ve ended up with Jaguar XKR 75. We should have known.

But what we didn’t know last week was that this isn’t quite what we thought. We’d expected a halo model; the ‘R” version of the XKR, for want of a better description. In fact – although that’s what the XKR 75 is – it’s not a new production model; it’s a Limited Edition XKR to celebrate 75 years of Jaguar, and its starts at £85,500. That’s an extra ten bags of sand.

And guess how many Jaguar are building of the XKR 75? Yep, one for each year and only the UK, Germany,France, Italy, The Netherlands and Belgium will get the 75. So sorry to readers in the rest of the world – you’re missing out. And actually, you are. This is the ultimate XKR. Although perhaps not quite the ‘Ultimate’ it could have been.

As expected, Jaguar has had a play with the 5.0 litre supercharged lump in the standard XKR and have upped the power to 522bhp and 483lb/ft of torque. But that’s not enough to break the magic 300kph (as expected), with a new top speed of 174mph (280kph) and a 0-60mph of 4.4 seconds. Not a massive improvement, but it make this new XKR 75 the fastest thing coming out of Jaguar. Except the top speed is no different to the Speed Pack option on the 2011MY XKR.

The XKR 75 also gets a revised aerodynamic body kit with a front splitter, side sill extensions, a rear diffuser and a bigger rear spoiler to keep the more powerful XKR properly planted, and a computerised Active Diff Control adjusts the steering to stop it floating at high speeds – just like the new XKR Speed Pack.

And although it’s not always something you want in a Jag, Jaguar have fitted a semi-active sports exhaust to the XKR 75 to give the Cat a growl instead of a purr. Entirely fitting.

A Limited Edition wouldn’t be a Limited Edition unless it had a cosmetic tweak or three to make it stand out from its cheaper siblings. So the XKR 75 gets finished in Stratus Grey and a set of red callipers jump out from behind 20″ high-gloss alloys featuring diamond turn and a dark grey finish.

And if you want your XKR 75 to be shouty you can opt for a thumping great graphic down the side. But not the ‘Halfords XKR’ graphic like last year’s Goodwood Special. This one’s a contrast colour swathe running from the front bumper to the rear haunches. And it looks surprisingly good.

The interior of the XKR gets finished in charcoal with contrast stitching, piano black trim and black suede headlining. It’s a good effort at a limited edition XKR. Something that doesn’t come along very often.

But maybe it’s because it’s quite early in the day, and the milk had gone off for my wake-up mug of coffee. Or maybe I’m just turning (turning?) in to a grumpy old git. But I’d expected more.

Yes, the extra 20 horses and the same amount of extra torque is nice to have. And it gives the XKR 75 an edge over the bog-standard car. But that’s it; an edge. All the bits bar the extra smidge of power are available with the new option packs on the 2011 XKR. I think I’d expected more. Something with a genuine hard edge. Something more hardcore.

Still, it’s a very good looking XKR.  And it’s not lime green.

By Cars UK