The new Jaguar flagship, the 2014 XJR.
Jaguar is getting an all-new flagship, the 550-horsepower XJR, scheduled to make its debut at the New York Auto Show next week.
It’s the latest spin-off of the big Jaguar XJ sedan as well as the newest member of the expanding Jaguar R performance line-up. The maker promises to not only boost the performance of the 2014 Jaguar XJR but add “a raft of other modifications,” in line with keeping the R series the British marque’s most lavishly appointed line.
“It is clear that performance will continue to lie at the heart and soul of the brand,” said Andy Goss, President of Jaguar Land Rover North America. “To that end, the growing R performance lineup offers our customers truly elevated dynamics and design, but in a Jaguar luxury package. The Jaguar XJR is a British performance machine that delivers emotionally and dynamically on the road and on the track.”
While the maker isn’t providing all the details – it needs to have something fresh to announce in New York – it is highly likely the 2014 Jaguar XJR will share the same 32-valve 5.0-liter V-8 now found in the XKR coupe. There it makes 510 hp. But the Jag coupe is also available in XKR-S trim, that version jumping to 550 hp and 502 lb-ft of torque.
The decision to match the output of the top-line XKR-S seems to suggest Jaguar won’t later come around with and XJR-S – or will it? The Coupe can turn 0 to 60 times of around 5.0 seconds and its top speed is limited to 186 mph. The heavier sedan will likely be a little slower off the line but still should deliver an impressive launch.
An advance release from Jaguar suggests there will be some “interior and functional exterior design that sometimes subtly, sometimes not so subtly, hints at the elevated dynamics that lie beneath the surface.” The single image that accompanies the statement reveals special wheels, lower sills, new front badging and some other likely tweaks meant to improve aerodynamics.
If past is prologue, also anticipate a very, very heavily contented vehicle that should include all the electronic bells-and-whistles in the Jaguar catalogue, the finest in leathers and woods and more to be announced in New York.
The pricing, meanwhile, will readily exceed the current top-line sedan, the XJ Supersport, and probably nudge north of $125,000.