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It wasn’t that long ago when, in the middle of their brand reinvention, Jaguar released the refreshed XKR sports car at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. A year after the new XKR made its debut to the public, Jaguar is headed back to Geneva with another XKR model. Only this time, it’s the hot-as-a-scorching-summer’s-day XKR-S. The new XKR-S features exclusive new paint colors that reflect Jaguar’s racing heritage. As with competition Jaguar cars of the past, the exterior of the XKR-S adheres to the principle of form following function. Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar’s new Global Brand Director, describes the car as a "bold and exciting new model for Jaguar". He adds: "The styling of this car isn’t about image, it’s about true performance. Like other iconic Jaguar cars before it, the styling has been driven by geometry and aerodynamics for genuine design purity." UPDATE 08/01/2011: What’s better than one Jaguar XKR-S driving around Nurburgring? Why, 12 XKR-S models, of course! Hit the jump to check out what it looks and sounds like when 12 Jaguar XKR-S models whip around the Nurburgring in a variety of colors and revving their AJ-V8 all-aluminum engines. UPDATE 10/04/2011 : Check out the gallery for new images of the Jaguar XKR-S! Details on the Jaguar XKR-S after the jump. Exterior  The new XKR-S is the first Jaguar designed entirely under the guidance of Design Director Ian Callum. The new sports coupe is distinguished by slimmer LED headlights, more compact main air intake, and a vertical side power vent. In order to achieve a top speed of 186 mph, Jaguar improved on the car’s aerodynamics. The most impressive changes were made to the front of the car: there is a new bumper design featuring near vertical feature lines running down from the edges of the oval air intake and supporting the new carbon-fiber splitter and lower spoiler. The rear gets a separate rear wing, while the car sits on 20-inch Vulcan lightweight forged alloys in a dark finish. The Jaguar XKR-S is offered in four exterior colors: Stratus Grey Metallic, Ultimate Black Metallic, Italian Racing Red, and French Racing Blue. Interior The same sporty theme is continued on the interior. The car gets new trim materials including ebony soft-feel paint for the switches and gloss black finish to the center console. Customers will only get a Dark Linear Aluminum finish as an option to the wood veneers. Exclusive for the XKR-S model, Jaguar is offering new Performance front seats with integrated head restraints and increased lateral support. The XKR-S also gets a leather-wrapped, multi-function steering wheel and carbon leather accents covering the seats, featuring contrast micro-piping and stitching combinations in Reims Blue, Red and Ivory. Duotone combinations of Charcoal with Tan and Charcoal with Red are also available. Finetune your Jaguar XKR-S by visiting the official online configurator. Performance Under its hood, the XKR-S comes with an AJ-V8 all-aluminum powerplant with twin-vortex Roots-type supercharger that delivers a total of 550 HP and 501 lb/ft of torque, making the XKR-S’ engine the most powerful Jaguar road engine ever made. With this amount of power, the sports coupe will get to 60mph in 4.2 seconds and will go up to a top speed of 186 mph. The XKR-S comes with an aluminum architecture, but both front and rear suspensions have been upgraded. The double wishbone front suspension has been comprehensively revised with a new aluminum steering knuckle that significantly increases camber and castor stiffness. Pricing  Jaguar has just released the pricing for the new XKR-S: $132,000, that is $36,000 more than the ’standard’ XK-R. It sounds like a lot for only 40 HP more, but if you pay close attention to details, it is worth every penny. The seats, the leather stitching, the body kit. Adding all those using aftermarket parts would cost you same or more and it would only be a pile of mod, while the XKR-S is a factory collectible.  Competition  As great as the XKR-S looks and performs with that 550-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 engine, there is still no shortage of competitors looking to tame this pouncing cat. One such car is the BMW M6, which comes with a 4.4-liter V8 engine with 555 horsepower and the same amount of torque - 501 lb/ft - as the XKR-S. Nothing becomes more difficult than having two spruced-up luxury sports cars with pretty much mirroring engine specifications. So while the BMW M6 has always been a go-to model for those with the budget to afford one, conventional trends are something that we, more often than not, go against the grain on. So if it we’re up to us, we’re going to give the M6 a serious double-take, but at the end of the day, we’re going to give the XKR-S a shot, if for nothing else other than it being something we’ve never driven before.  Twelve Jaguar XKR-S Models on the NurburgringJay Leno’s Review of the XKR-S Round the ’RingAutocar’s ReviewJaguar’s Racetrack Promotional Video Powerful engine
Refreshed exterior upgrades
Looks cat-quick
No pricing yet
Stiff competition with other alternatives
Jaguar doesn’t have the cred BMW has
55 comments: Jaguar XKR-S 186 mph of this Jaguar is really quite impressive for this sports sedan and as for the exterior of it, I can say that BMW has the more attractive appearance than on this one.
 They made an upgrade on exterior but not on the interior! But though, I think there would be a difficult competition on the market! Even if the price is not yet to be determined. There are a lot of alternative out there!
 I really love Jaguar cars! No wonder why their cars are really too expensive!  Anyway, this Jaguar XKR-S will surely be one of their biggest successes. I’m so impressed with the aggressiveness of the appearance of this even in its powerful engine.
 Its air intake on its front bumper only adds more aggressive looks with this XKR-S and it is really looking so perfect for that! I’m also impressed with its engine output, which could truly give to it a nice speed.
 The powerful engine of this vehicle that can deliver an output of 550 horsepower is really so striking about this one, for the fact that it is not a sports car. Well, it only gives me an idea that this one is very fun to drive with!
 Its air intake is looking so perfect on this Jaguar, and I must say that I really love the cool design of its headlamps! Anyway, I’m already quite satisfied with its engine output.
 I don’t like the design that its front bumper had, but the headlights of it is truly looking good on it. Anyway, for a sports car, I never expect that it could have a very impressive interior.
 The body paint option of this Jaguar is absolutely looks so great on it, and I’m glad that they still managed this one to have a nice engine specification, and I can say that I love the slimmer LED headlights of it.
 Jaguar XKR-S is still looking so striking in spite of having only a simple design. Anyway, I’m glad that it had an impressive engine that can deliver a powerful horsepower that is very suited on a race car like this.
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Posted on
02.7.2012 @ 20:10