Jaguar->ke39 certainly knew what it was doing when it presented the XKR-S at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, as it has stolen the hearts of many car enthusiasts and also proven to everyone that Jag is still capable of developing amazing sports cars. As everyone expected, this was just the beginning of a new series of high-performance sports car. This was confirmed at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show, as that R-S lineup has been expanded with the incredible XFR-S.

After we have seen it in many times testing on and outside of Nurburgring, Jaguar has decided to use to finally unveil the new high-performance sports sedan. Unfortunately, supply to U.S. customers will be rather limited and the price will be astronomical.

The problem is that everyone knew what the new XFR-S will bring, especially after the firm’s global brand director Adrian Hallmark said in an interview: "’I can confirm there is a project to transfer the upgrades from the XKR-S to the XFR." The question remains: how this upgrades transformed the XFR-S’ performance figures?

Updated 03/20/2013: The XFR-S made its racing debut at Goodwood today,. It was driven by 1988 Le Mans 24 Hour Race winner, Andy Wallace. You can see the images of this Italian Racing Red XFR-S in the gallery.

Hit the jump to read more about the 2013 Jaguar XFR-S.

2014 Jaguar XFR-S

Specifications
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  • Model: 2014 Jaguar XFR-S
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Pros
Cons

Exterior

The 2014 Jaguar XFR-S borrowed the exterior design elements from the XKR-S to distinguish it from the standard XFR. Carbon fiber played an important role in developing the aerodynamic package and it is used on the deeper front bumper with its larger lower-central and side air intakes, and the front splitter at the lower edge of the bumper. On the backside, the same material has been used for the central diffuser and the large rear wing.

The exterior package also includes extended side sills and aero blade, side moldings, an extended rear bumper, and a new spoiler that reduces rear lift.

Customers can choose between five exterior colors: French Racing Blue, Ultimate Black, Stratus Gray, Polaris White and Italian Racing Red. All of them will be combined with a gloss-black trim around the grille, around the front and rear screens, windows and across the trunk. The XFR-S will be offered with lightweight Varuna forged alloy wheels featuring a ceramic polish applied to the outer surfaces.

Interior

The interior also offers the same choices as the XKR-S. It includes a selection of carbon leather on the seat bolsters and armrests, and a dark mesh aluminum fascia. An exclusive feature for the R-S model is the Warm Charcoal leather trim on the seats, doors, seat bolsters and armrests. An R-S logo has been embossed on the seats and it can be finished with a choice of contrast color micro-piping and stitching in red, blue or ivory.

THE XFR-S will also be offered with a standard 825-watt, 18-speaker surround-sound system from British audio experts Meridian.

Engine and Transmission

Under the hood, Jaguar has installed the same engine you will find in the XKR-S: a 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 unit that delivers a total of 550 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. That’s good for an increase of 40 horsepower and 41 pound-feet of torque over the XFR. With the extra power the XFR-S will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds and up to a top speed of 186 mph (electronically limited).

In order to obtain the extra power, the engineers needed to make revisions to the engine management system along with improvements to the intake and exhaust flow. The exhaust system replaces the central muffler with an X-pipe and near-straight-through rear pipes. Other changes include uprated half-shafts, a larger central bearing on the driveshaft, and a new torque converter.

The engine is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission with Quickshift technology. It can be operated in manual, Sport or Automatic modes. While running in the first two modes it automatically blips the throttle to ensure the XFR-S accelerates smoothly out of corners. In automatic mode, it can detect the manner in which the car is being driven by monitoring acceleration and braking, cornering forces, throttle and brake pedal activity, road load and kick-down request. From there, the transmission makes adjustments on the fly.

Technical Specifications:

Engine

5-liter V8 supercharged with Intelligent Stop/Start

Capacity (cc)

5,000

Bore/Stroke (mm)

92.5/93

Peak Power (hp@rpm)

550@6500

Peak Torque (lb/ft @rpm)

502@2500-5500

Transmission

ZF Eight-speed 'Quickshift' automatic

0-60 mph (seconds)

4.4

0-100km/h (seconds)

4.6

Top Speed (mph/km/h)

186/300 (electronically limited)

Fuel Economy2 (US EPA Estimated mpg)

15 city / 23 highway / 18 combined (Same as XFR)

CO2 Emissions (g/km)

270


Suspension and Braking

The XFR-S is a car specially designed for high-performance driving, so to no one’s surprise, the suspension and braking systems also needed updated.

The suspension system has been updated and then tested on the Nurburgring track and in Nardo, Italy. The stiffness has been increased by 30 percent, the front knuckles have been revised and engineers added a new rear subframe.

The XFR-S is offered with standard 20-inch Varuna alloy wheels wrapped in Pirelli tires exclusively developed for the XFR-S, and measuring 265/35R20 and 295/30R20 front/rear. The wheels are combined with a high-Performance braking system that includes 380 mm (14.96-inch) front and 376 mm (14.80-inch) rear discs.

Prices

The 2014 Jaguar XFR-S will be put on sale next summer at a starting price of $99,000. Only 100 units will be allocated for the U.S. market.

The Competition

The list of competitors for the XFR-S remains pretty much unchanged. It includes, among others, models like Mercedes CLS63 AMG with the Performance Pack, which increases its output to 550 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque. When equipped with this pack the CLS model will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds - 0.5 seconds faster than the XFR-S.

Despite the similar performance numbers, the two models are designed for two different categories of customers: the CLS addresses customers interested in luxury, while the XFR-S is for those strictly interested in high-performance driving.