2003 Jaguar XKR

Word has it that in the upcoming James Bond film Die Another Day, the bad guys drive a Jaguar XKR. This is very cool. One might assume the British-bred carmaker would prefer the XKR be Bond’s car, but I think the bad guy thing is a stroke of extraordinary good luck for Jag. The XK coupe and convertible, which receive significant performance enhancements for 2003, have enjoyed enviable reputations as ultra-luxurious, silky responsive, sumptuously styled touring cars. But this bad-guy image adds an adjective heretofore unapplied: That would be ‘wicked.’ It suits this new XKR, the supercharged version of the XK that boasts more power, more edge, more menace.

The Good News
Complaints about the XK leaning more towards soft than sport are mostly answered by this XKR. Although it remains pure Jaguar in its appointments, effortless delivery of power and gentle ride, the introduction of this new 4.2-liter V-8 – supercharged in the XKR, normally aspirated in the XK8 -- elevates respect among enthusiasts.

Up from a 4.0-liter V-8 producing 370 horses, this supercharged 4.2 delivers 390 horses at 6100 rpm and 399 lb-ft torque at 3500 rpm. That matches the 2003 Ford SVT Cobra’s output and tops the 50th anniversary Corvette’s by 40 horses.

Not that these cars are apples to apples. The Jaguar is a black silk suit to the Corvette’s casual Fridays to the Cobra’s, well, T-shirt. But the point is, beneath that sleek, sublime skin, this XKR can get ugly with the best of them.

Mid-range torque has been punched up, and 0-60 flies by in 5.2 seconds for the coupe, according to Jaguar. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 in all XKs. It flies.

The power engages via a traditional six-speed automatic, the first auto six-speed that isn’t Continuously Variable. The familiar J-Gate setup allows some manual shifting, and a sport mode raises shift points for more aggressive driving. It’s very sweet.

More electronics govern handling, braking (the XKR gets beefier Brembo brakes) and a new Adaptive Cruise Control. The latter, an $1,800 option on XKRs, detects slower vehicles ahead or vehicles coming into your lane and automatically adjusts to maintain safe distance. It keeps the driver from having to cancel set speed.

Although the engineering updates are landmark, the 2003 XKR changes little visually. Some new badging, wheel designs, colors, interior trim choices and Xenon headlamps round out styling revisions.

The Bad News
Perhaps it was because I had the coupe instead of the convertible XKR that I was acutely aware of how tight it is inside. Not only is headroom clipped, but the footwells, pedal placement and shoulder space all seem tailored for smaller-than-average folk. Since I qualify, I had no discomforts. But my 6-foot-1 husband found it terribly claustrophobic.

That’s not true of all sports cars.

I still think the XKR, and all the XKs for that matter, are pretty cars. Their graceful lines continue to hold up well. But I was struck when a friend pulled up in my driveway, looked at the rear of this XK and another car parked beside it and said, “Oh, a pair of Jaguars.”

The other car was a Mercury Sable.

One could surmise there’s some homogenizing happening with Ford’s ownership of Jaguar. Depending on how you look at it, that’s either great news for Ford or not-so-great news for Jag.

Gas mileage
EPA rated at 16 mpg city/23 highway

Price
Manufacturer’s base, $81,330;
Price as tested, $81,975

Is it worth it?
I was initially disappointed with the XK series when it debuted, anticipating a revival of the revered XKE racers and instead finding luxury/performance cars with emphasis on luxury.

This new XKR redefines that, however. It’s still slick and fancy, but it also gets down and dirty. Its newly developed muscle makes it more than worthy of a place among revered performers and makes its stratosphere price seem better justified.

Oh, and if you’re wondering what the good guy will be driving in Die Another Day, it’s back to the Aston Martin Vanquish for Bond. What a pity.

Beth Stein is a life-long car buff and free-lance journalist living in Nashville. She has reviewed new vehicles in print for 12 years as a weekly columnist for Nashville’s daily newspapers and on television for Road Test Magazine and Motor Trend Television. Currently, her reviews appear nationally on Car And Driver Television.