As automotive journalists, we get to drive a lot of really cool, high-performance vehicles. It really is the single best thing about this job. However, our access to vehicles is generally limited to the newest offerings on the market. That means, much like the general public, we don't really get access to vintage iron.
We'd consider giving up vital organs for the opportunity to drive any number of vehicles on the Nürburgring: supercars, racecars, track cars, even hot hatches... but a station wagon? That might not seem like a top choice at first blush, but this is no ordinary wagon. This is the Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake.
Oh look, another super-hot wagon that won't be making its way to the US. Awesome.
In the market for an amped-up Jaguar? Look for the letter R, adorning such performance models as the XFR and XJR sedans, the XKR coupe and convertible and the new F-Type R. But if it's bonkers performance you're after, you'll want to add the letter S into the mix as well. Jaguar uses the letters to
Want to haul ass down the Autobahn with the whole family and all their gear in tow? Forget that Porsche Cayenne or Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 – what you'll want is a power wagon: something like an Audi RS6 Avant or Noah Joseph
Adding performance to a car is rarely cheap – whether you're looking to do it yourself or rely on the factory to do it for you. In the case of the new Jaguar XFR-S, the cost differential over an already-impressive (and somewhat expensive) XFR is a stout $16,800. Auto Express recently got a hold of both cars to see whether that price pays off on the track.
It was Steve Sutcliffe at Autocar who got the tough job of comparing the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG to the limited edition Jaguar XFR-S on the track and sheep-strewn British B-roads. In UK spec both Mephistophelean sedans wrangle the same 542 horsepower, but step out of the corral and things look to weigh heavily in the Mercedes' favor: it has more torque, it's lighter, it's quicker from 0-to-60 and it's less expensive.
This is the Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake, which is too cool for North American sale (the Sportbrake, not the XFR-S sedan, which we're getting soon). Like the XFR-S four-door, it has a 5.0-liter, supercharged V8 pumping out around 550 horsepower.
Jaguar has given us glimpse of a new "ultra-high-performance" XFR-S ahead of the vehicle's world debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show. Jaguar calls the four-door the fastest and most powerful sedan the company has ever produced, and confirmed details are scarce beyond the fact that only 200 of the vehicles will make it to US shores.
There's little question that the Jaguar XFR (pictured above at left) is an impressive cat, indeed. Five hundred horsepower and a healthy dose of British charm will do that for you, after all. The trouble is that with around 550 hp apiece, the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and BMW M5 are that much more impressive. And so Jaguar is reportedly working
When is a Jaguar XFR not a Jaguar XFR? When it's an XFR-S, that's when. So while this vehicle may look like your standard supercharged Jaguar sedan, it's actually a British rocket aimed – in a bit of role reversal – squarely at Germany.
