Jaguar cars are literally creeping onto Indian roads without the company needing to push hard for the kind of visibility they are getting. It is not too difficult to see why. There is no baggage about the current ownership and the brand’s past market performance amongst buyers here. On the contrary, there is a lot of respect for the Jaguar brand and its heritage, and then of course, most Indian buyers, even in the luxury segment, are also value conscious.

The Jaguar XF and XJ have become very popular amongst luxury saloon buyers and though a bit rarer, the XK too has started sharing road space with the Audi R8s and Lambos already on Indian tarmac. All the Jaguar cars represent handcrafted luxury and yet offer more value and road presence compared to competing cars in each of their segments.

2012 changes

But the current XK and its variants are a unique, very special creation from Jaguar’s Design Director Ian Callum and is a serious competitor capable of taking on the German and Italian marques. This Jaguar Grand Tourer in its coupé and convertible styles has a unique design appeal and remarkable road presence.

I recently drove the 2012 XKR in Mumbai and it drew more stares on Marine Drive than the Lamborghini Gallardo that was crawling alongside in peak-hour traffic.

For model year 2012, Jaguar has made some subtle exterior changes and a few interior additions to further boost the XK series’ appealing package. At the front, the new 2012 XKR has been given a larger bonnet grille, now in full black finish and with only a slim chrome surround. A new bumper and a new set of alloy wheels featuring 7 twin-spokes with the Jaguar Supercharged branding carved on it also catch your attention. A new Black Pack version of the XKR is also offered with even more glossy black trim and 20-inch black alloys and other body coloured aerodynamic additions.

The most striking change at the front of the 2012 XKR is of course the changes to the headlamps, which now feature integrated LED turn indicators and the running lights on the outer edges shaped like brackets, giving the car a distinctive appearance. The headlamps themselves seem to have gotten a bit slimmer. The power vent positioned just behind the front wheel arch and along the front wing is now a horizontal unit with the Jaguar brand etched on it, instead of the earlier vertical design.

At the rear, the XKR now gets a thinner chrome strip on the boot lid and the leaping Jaguar mascot in chrome now sits prominently on top. The interior gets new Ebony soft-feel paint for the switches, gloss black finish for the centre console, new trim materials for other parts and a new phosphorous blue backlit instruments and ambient lighting. The heated, leather-wrapped, multi-function steering wheel, a seven-inch touch-screen display on the centre stack for navigation and other controls and myriad customising options are also on offer to the XKR’s buyers.

Power and Pleasure

The 16-way powered perforated leather seat in the XKR is so comfortable that you’ll not want to get up. The same can’t be said about the cramped rear seats though. Sitting at the wheel and relishing the feeling of cosseting luxury that Jaguar’s cabins are so famous for is undeniably addictive. Press the engine start button and the 5-litre AJ V8 GEN III supercharged petrol engine thrums to life, with the sports active exhaust’s quad pipes at the rear singing the familiar tune of the 510 horsepower motor. The rotary machined knob – the Jaguar Drive selector – rises up from the centre console and awaits the driver’s next command even as the engine powers up.

The engine is mated to the same six-speed automatic with Jaguar Sequential Shift. Beautifully matched and with loads of torque, actually 625Nm, available from as low as 2,500 rpm, the XKR is seriously quick. The 0 to 100 kmph run just takes 4.8 seconds and the top speed in the variant I drove was limited to 250 kmph (no, I didn’t get to check that out personally). The supercharged engine spools up so quickly that you’d better be ready to handle the car at speeds, the moment you jab the throttle. Steering response is super crisp and under the hood tech like adaptive dynamics, active differential control and Trac DSC make sure that the car is at its agile best and yet the ride quality is not too harsh even in city driving conditions.

For a more hands-on, agile driving experience, I am able to manually control the ZF gearbox using the steering mounted paddles. The XKR-S is the even more powerful (550bhp) sibling, but I find even the XKR supremely capable and offering a range that will remain unexplored to its full potential in most Indian driving conditions, except the race track. A higher top speed, an uprated suspension and the performance exhaust system are all available as part of the Speed pack option for the XKR.

During my test drive of the 2012 XKR, the car delivered a mileage of about 25 litres per 100 kms.

Prices for the Jaguar XKR start from about Rs 90 lakh and can vary based on choice of trim and options pack. Last week Jaguar has also launched a new Special Edition version of the XKR with new Artisan interiors and a few discreet exterior changes.

muraliswami@thehindu.co.in

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