Jaguar XKR

	There’s no faulting the power delivery or the smooth six-speed automatic transmission, and on the road, the Jaguar’s performance was exemplary.

As a result, it was ill at ease around Croft’s testing curves. It coped well enough, but felt out of place and didn’t engage the driver in the action. We couldn’t fully disable the stability control (you will be able to on production models), so it lapped relatively slowly, and more than one tester said the brakes started to fade after only one lap. That makes a mockery of Jaguar’s claim that this car was developed at the notoriously tough Nürburgring in Germany.

Still, it has few problems getting up to speed. The supercharged V8 sounded so fabulous that we went looking for tunnels and walls to make the most of the rumbling exhaust! There’s no faulting the power delivery or the smooth six-speed automatic transmission, and on the road, the Jaguar’s performance was exemplary.

It was at its best when allowed to settle into a relaxed cruise, and the driver could enjoy the surroundings of the XKR’s sumptuous cabin. Tempting, but hardly the stuff of which dreams are made. Although the Convertible was developed alongside the Coupé, we suspect the latter’s stiffer body and more dynamic attitude would have resulted in a higher placing.

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