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For several long decades Jaguar carried the stigma of being a car brand made for old folks—something of an exotic, high-end Buick, if you will. This perception began with the demise of the XKE in the mid-1970s, when the whole of the British car industry suffered a grievous drop in build quality and reliability. That perception, however unfortunate, persisted all the way into the 21st century.



And amazingly the company survived, largely due to financial support from parent companies like British Leyland and, later, the USA’s very own Ford Motor Company. Now Jag is out from under the dark cloud under which it resided at Ford, which had cultivated colossal image problems of its own, and is sheltered under the financial umbrella of Indian industrial titan Tata. And given the internal autonomy it so desperately needed, Jaguar seems again to be finally turning out the sorts of cars it has been sorely lacking for years. That is to say, exciting ones.



The first real ringer in the Jaguar revolution was the all-new 2007 XK, the two-seat sport coupe and convertible. Its design, penned by Ian Callum of Aston Martin fame, was drop-dead gorgeous and brought back fond memories of the D- and E-Types of yore, widely regarded as some of the most beautiful cars of all time. Its performance and mechanical integrity, however, were the true revolution.

The real bread-winner, though, would come two years later, and it was the car that would make or break the company: the XF sedan. Reviews were positive and the XF became an industry success. In 2009, Jaguar topped the JD Powers rankings in initial quality (along with, ironically, Buick).

But when we first heard of the pending release of an R-branded XF, it was the first Jaguar in a long, long time we actually got excited, sweaty palms and all, about driving. And when we finally did drive it, it didn’t disappoint.

In the past, R-branded Jags simply represented supercharged versions of run-of-the-mill V8-powered cars; whether XK, XJ, or S-Type (the latter of which the XF has replaced), a supercharger was bolted onto the standard eight-pot power unit and in each case it pushed 400 hp and change.



The Car
The new R represents a third tier over the mid-level XF Supercharged (itself one tier above the naturally aspirated XF). A massaged version of the Supercharged’s blown V8 now pushes 510 hp and a substantial dollop of torque: 461 lb-ft peaking on a broad plateau from 2500 to 5500 rpm. This model includes standard drive systems like Adaptive Dynamics, which analyzes body movement and steering inputs and adjusts the suspension accordingly for maximum stability; Active Differential Control to maximize traction (which you’ll need with all that torque); and a thundering 14-speaker Bowers & Wilkins surround sound audio system—yep, that comes standard too.

Put simply, this thing is a total beast, much in the vein of a Mercedes-Benz AMG. Stomp on the throttle from a standing start and you’ll be rewarded with some rear-end squirm and a smidgen of tire burn before the active differential hooks up, the rear tires bite the pavement, and you’re slingshotted down the road as though you were saddled in a medieval trebuchet. It’s a total stoplight racer in the vein of old Detroit iron, and complete, pure entertainment when used in this fashion.

But it remains confident in the curves, too. I wouldn’t call it a canyon carver like, say, the comparably sized BMW M5—the steering is not quite so alive, and it never feels quite as nimble on its feet, er, tires—but steering precision is good and the at-speed ratios are tight. It’s a heavy car and it always feels that way, but the manner in which it rails around corners, even as its mass is clearly evident, makes it something of a mind-bender.

If you’re really into a sporting drive, gently push down on the drive selector and turn it one click past D to put it in “S” sport mode. The transmission winds closer to redline under hard acceleration and will hold higher revs off-throttle. Or you can just shift it yourself using the wheel-mounted shift paddles. Despite the fact that the gearbox is a true automatic, the gearchanges are about as fast as you could expect.



The Electronics
The best thing about the car though, and about the XF line in general, is the way it interfaces with its driver and occupants. It’s comfortable, warm and inviting in its layout, in a way so many of its German competitors are not. In the end it seems to come down to the small things, the details. First, every XF, R-trim or not, is completely keyless—that is, you don’t need to insert a key into any cabin orifice for the thing to work. Keep the fob in your pocket. Get inside, close the door, and the ignition button on the center console begins to pulsate with a heartbeat cadence. Fire up the supercharged V8 and the climate vents roll up and open, while the signature rotary gear selector, called JaguarDrive, rises into your palm. The sequence plays out as though the car knows and recognizes you—which, in effect, it does.

The 7-inch touchscreen display, embedded in the dashboard center stack, controls most of the car’s comfort, navigation, and entertainment functions. Some have complained that it’s too hard to use while driving, but brace your hand with a couple fingers on the sill and use your index finger for the business tool and you’ll have no worries. Climate, nav, radio (satellite or terrestrial), CD, seat warmers or ventilators, MP3 player (each XF features that kind of hookup standard)—it’s all there. Your biggest worry will be cleaning smudges from the screen itself. Admittedly, we’d love to see a bigger touchscreen interface, maybe something on the order of BMW’s big and bold 10.25-inch display, but our money says that’s already in the works.



The Audio
The Bowers & Wilkins sound system in the XFR has to compete with sound from the engine for the driver's attention. Jaguar even markets the car's "sound quality". Of course they are referring to the sound from under the hood. According to the company, their engineers "deliberately accentuated the acoustic feedback into the cabin in order to further increase the driving pleasure."

They wanted the V8 intake sound that's not produced by the supercharged engines, so they took the intake manifold pressure pulsations and fed that into an acoustic filter at the rear of the engine that is, get this, tuned to "tenor C". The output from the filter is ducted into the cabin. The filter allows the acoustics to enter the cabin only under certain conditions (when the engine is accelerating). So the XFR is optimized for sound in more ways than one.

OK, but even the most ardent performance car enthusiast wants some other entertainment, especially on long trips. Thus you have the Bowers & Wilkins audio system. Also a very well-tuned piece of technology. Bowers & Wilkins is well-known for the home audio products and they've transferred some of their know-how to the mobile environment. The XFR has the company's Kevlar midrange speakers and their aluminum tweeters.

Like a lot of OE systems, the audio controls are pretty simple, you have the option for standard stereo, their 3-channel sound and Pro Logic ll. After A-B'ing some different tracks, we preferred the 3-channel setting. The music staged higher and in general had better imaging. In stereo the sound exhibited some side bias and music staged significantly lower. In Pro Logic ll you get more depth of sound, but the bass suffers, it seems more ill-defined. On some tracks though it performed quite well, offering a broad soundstage and greater dynamics.

The audio has terrific clarity on the high end. On tracks with not a lot of bass information, the system sounds excellent. Try to play some heavier tracks and you notice that the bass is not that tight, it lacks definition. Depending on what you're listening to you might notice an almost muffled quality to the bass. Of course, this is a common problem on a lot of OE systems, and why a lot of aftermarket enthusiasts will add a woofer and an amp even if they leave the frontstage untouched. Overall we liked the midbass reproduction, but did notice some resonance issues. There was some obvious panel rattle and a speaker grille on the door buzzed at higher volumes on a couple tracks. But then, we did crank it!

This is definitely a higher quality OE system, but one that could use the help of some aftermarket gear. Then again, there is the sweet sound of the engine. —Ben Oh

Standard Features
As standard, the Jaguar XFR comes with a lot of stuff. Optional equipment includes Adaptive Cruise Control with Brake Assist, a system wherein you can set and maintain a certain speed while keeping a predetermined distance from traffic ahead of you, and that will actively slow the vehicle should you come too close to said traffic; R Performance red brake calipers; and a heated windscreen. That’s about it; everything else is rolled into the $80,000 MSRP (which includes destination charge). Optional accessories include small things like chromed side “power vents” behind the front quarter panels; chrome mirror guards; wheel locks; logo valve stem caps; or the traditional Jaguar “Leaper” hood ornament.

So, in sum, the Jaguar XFR is a bestial, tire-smoking ride that remains comfortable and inviting enough for your mother to drive. That’s a hard thing to say about a lot of hardcore, high-performance cars on today’s market. And it’s a tribute to what Jaguar has finally redefined itself as.