Jaguar is seriously considering a hotter ‘S’ version of the Jaguar XFR super saloon. Senior company insiders admit that the 503bhp XFR is “a bit outgunned” by new rivals such as the 552bhp BMW M5 and 549bhp Mercedes E63 AMG, and Jaguar plans to retaliate with the introduction of a faster and more focused range-topping model that will be badged XFR-S.
The ‘R-S’ moniker has already been established on the recently launched Jaguar XKR-S, and sources admit that they are likely to “give the XFR the same treatment.”
No specific details are known, but expect firmer chassis settings, more aggressive styling and exhaust note, plus a power upgrade to bring the output of the 5.0-litre supercharged V8 up to around 550bhp. The car was spied in testing at the Nurburgring last summer.
As the range-topping model, the XFR-S will cost at least £5k more than the standard Jaguar XF, which is likely to continue to be sold just as the standard XKR is still sold beneath the XKR-S. The premium would put the hottest XF at over £70k – very close in price to its key rivals.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Re: Jaguar plots hot XFR-S
God I struggle with the format of these pages, very unclear and al over the place it seems to me.. Don't know who you are but anyway "True, the current Jags are in a different planet in terms of their engineering" ... Well that was then and this is now. They are competing with the German makes, though as I have said elsewhere (God knows where it shows up, under my name perhaps?) I agreee Jag are missing a trick in not quite (but almost) matching ze Germans' CO2 and emissions figures by (still!) failing to employ brake regeneration across its entire range.
You seemed to be complaining that Jags today were not 'jaguar-enough'. They were before and were not selling, people kept buying foreign, unlike the Germans. They are not excellent cars and Jaguar regularly trounces BMW, Merc and Audi in Customer Satisfaction Surverys like Driver Power.
Where there remains a gap in their range (ie, an estate or a compact exec like the 3-series) I don't blame people for not buying Jag, but I do when they have the choice and buy German anyway.
Re: Jaguar plots hot XFR-S
I don't blame you for buying a car you cannot get from Jaguar. As you say hopefully Jag will have learned from the Germans and be looking to put models and varients in many sectors of the market in furute, and by that I mean the very near future. Little sideshows like an XFR-S are fine but cannot sell enough to make money.
Agree, a fully-fledged, dynamically brilliant and cost-effective X-type would be Jag's biggest seller and revenue earner. Long overdue. Can't understand why estates take years to get to market after a new model is introduced.
As for all the nay-sayers, they live in a dream world, one where old-fashioned Jaguar saloons sell like hot cakes. It hasn't been the case for a long time and lifestyles have changed so radically, and types of cars have adapted to meet that so greatly, that to cock a snoop at that is just plain nuts and will not work.
I can't afford a Jag or anything else frankly but what annoys me is those that ca but buy foreign. Not however when there is no alternative, that's fine. Then if Jag plans to provide that and give itself the best chance of increasing slaes and revenue the same ol idiots complain that it's not Jaguar-enough. Do they want a company called Jaguar in the world or would they rather it die?
Sometimes I think the British are a bit nuts. Ze Germans are far more practical, they know what selss, make it, sell it earn the money, take the jobs and sit bakc while others flounder in the red. Wake up Britain is all I can say.
I hope Jag do bring the XF Estate to market soon. Should have been here by now, but at least then you'll have an alternative. Two actually, a 2.2D and the 3.0D.
Final thought, I read that Jag are designing a new 3-litre V6 petrol. Is there the demand for one? Perhaps, but if they bring it market in models that even then fail to employ green-tech like brake regeneration that would help their cars match the figures of the Germans, as with the XF 2.2D, then frankly someone within the company should be shot.
Re: Jaguar plots hot XFR-S
People, here and overseas, did buy Jags/other Brit cars and lots of them for decades, until they started selling dross to the customers.
My uncle was one of them. He bought two Jags, one in late 70s and one in the 80s, because he wanted to buy British and because the totally uncritical (and equally partiotic - blindly so) Brit motoring mags kept saying how utterly wonderful, and far better than the German rivals, the Jags were. Well, guess what? Both cars turned out to be turkeys.
Aside from not being good drives (yes soft ride, but all over the sea handling, almost unconnected steering, appalling build/ergonomics/gearbox/consumption), they spent half their time in garages because they broke down so often. You see Sid, patriotism and charm/characters of the cars can only take you so far. My uncle (who's now left this world of ours), ended up buying himself a 7-series and called it the best car he ever owned.
True, the current Jags are in a different planet in terms of their engineering and can now be called genuine rivals to the Germans, but it takes time for the bad rep to wash away. And I'll tell you something else Sid; despite mags like Autocar still flying the flag and continuously feeding us hopefuls the line that XF, XJ, XK etc are the best in their classes, Jag still has some catching up to do with the nasty 'ol Germans in many areas.
Here is hoping they can do it........at least they seem to be on the right track now.