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The X-type Jaguar is precisely the kind of car that Jaguar should be building. Forget SUVs, forget sedans that look like Fords, forget everything except speed, grace, and agility. That’s where the soul of Jaguar lives.  What's not to like?
Yes, the Jag is a luxury car – Jag has always had the big sedans (or “Saloons” in the British parlance) for the luxury market, and they’re very nice. But there are lots of really nice luxury sedans, but the racing history of Jaguar, from the C-type through the D, E, and now the X-types has always been where the marque got its mojo.
The XKR is the latest offering in this line, and it’s a very good car indeed. Like its storied predecessors, it’s got an aluminum body for lightness, a big engine (4.2-liter supercharged V8!), and just enough creature comforts to make the modern owner happy.
The 420 horsepower, 413 lb-ft engine propels the XKR from 0-60 in a flashing 4.9 seconds and will take it on up to 155 mph before the electronic limits kick in. That oughta put a tingle in your toes.  A striking car from any angle
I wish they’d seen fit to gift the XKR with a 6-speed manual gearbox, but once again, the necessities of modern legal standards and the wishes of the common denominator of modern drivers take precedence and we get a 6-speed automatic with paddle shifters. It’s a good box and the Jag shifts Right Effing Now when you slap the paddles, but I’d still rather have a stick in my hand.
You can’t complain about the handling being soft, either. I had the XKR on country roads and around the track at Laguna Seca, and it behaved very nicely. Flat and firm cornering, but your kidneys won’t hate you at the end of a long drive. Like all cars, it’s got stability control, but it’s unobtrusive and you can fant’sy yourself as Stirling Moss without too much effort, secure in the knowledge that your dream won’t come crashing down around you as you make the inevitable mistakes that separate Sir Stirling from us mortals.
In the interior, about the only complaint I can make is that the turn signal and wiper control stalks look like they came from a standard Ford parts bin. They’re nearly identical to those in my F-250. I liked Jag’s stamped and brushed aluminum interior trim – and I liked it all the more because I really do not care for woodgrain in a car, which is what I expected. It looks as fast as it is
You can get the XKR as a Coupe or a Convertible. I’ve been in the regular XK convertible – and it’s no slouch. But as with most racing-derived sports cars, for the real racing deal, you want the coupe. Its sexy lines are going to give that chassis the stiffness it needs for the track, and it’s lighter, too. The coupe weighs in at 3,671 pounds and the Convertible tips the scales at 3,781 pound.
Jag has recently brought out the full-race “XKR GT-3” version for track use – and the engineers who know what they’re doing chose the coupe.
But for enjoyment on the open road, I don’t think you can beat the convertible.
$86,000 can put you in one of these beauties, and that’s about the same money you’ll spend on any number of lesser cars. For example, the Jag XKR is $20,000 less than the BMW M6, and the big cat is a much better car.
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