New cars: Jaguar XFR

Automobile

Jaguar’s new owner, India’s Tata Motors, is determined to make every Jaguar a Jaguar again. So the XFR doesn’t “behave like an English car that’s trying to ape a German car.” Translation: no stiff ride, no inscrutable technology, and plenty of luxury. The thrill is back, with a supercharged powertrain and a perfectly tuned chassis that are world-class.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Latest Videos From

We yawned when we heard that the supercharged 5.0-liter direct-injection V8 in the new Jag flagship delivers a mere 510 hp—less than the 556 hp in the Cadillac CTS-V or “Audi’s head-banging 572-horse RS6.” The vented hood, 20-inch alloy wheels, and quad taillights are also “entirely predictable.” On the road, however, the XFR out-sashays its rivals like a “big cat running down a fast-moving gazelle.”

Car and Driver

The XFR is “tantalizingly close” to perfect. Test-runs notched 4.3 seconds to 60 mph. The six-speed transmission “ticks off nearly instant upshifts with barely a stutter.” Electronically varying shocks and larger anti-roll bars provide the chassis with a “rigid horizontalness,” though stability control is still a bit nervous. “Does Jaguar suddenly best BMW’s best?”