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Road Test: 2009 Jaguar XKR Portfolio Coupe car review: Just another hatchback?
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Just another hatchback, that’s what the Jaguar XK-R Portfolio Coupe is. It’s true. The XK-R, like lesser XK models doesn’t have a trunklid, but instead lifts the entire rear panel, including the rear window. That sounds like a hatchback to us.
But “just another” is something with which one might justifiably take issue. Hatchback and 420 horsepower usually don’t go together. Hatchback and $98,675 are seldom found in the same sentence. And using Jaguar and hatchback in close proximity is the stuff that instigates fistfights and brawls, and not just in a sentence such as, “You parked your hatchback too close to my Jaguar!”
Surely the 2009 Jaguar XK-R Portfolio Coupe is something special.
As indeed is the basic Jaguar XK. It’s hardly new, the coupe and convertible debuting in 1996 as the XK8 and XKR, the latter for the high performance model. Then undergoing a complete remake for the 2006 model year, the big Jaguar sports car became known as the XK, dropping the “8”, but again, XKR designates the more muscular model.Since its incarnation in 1996, the XK models strongly recall the original Jaguar E-Type, or as it was marketed in the United States, the XK-E. “XK” designated the long-lived twin-cam Jaguar six-cylinder engine, while E-Type referred to the car. Jaguar pulled a switcheroo in naming the XK and no one but purists really minded.
The modern design borrow the oval grille of its inspiration, the general Coke-bottle shape and the feline haunches, much more cat-like than the XJS that divided the E-Type and XK, and it still causes strong men to lust and ladies to swoon. This is what the late great autowriter Henry Manney called a “crumpet catcher.” Indeed.
Although the convertible has, well, the obvious benefits of a convertible, a coupe like our test car has a more serious, more purposeful look. Like the other models in the XK line, the body is crafted with advanced lightweight aluminum body construction. The XKR, however, has a different front fascia than the ordinary XK, with a stronger chin and larger lower grille with two smaller grilles incorporated with the fog lights. The trunk lid also gets a small spoiler.Under the hood, the XKR is differentiated from the ordinary—if there is such a thing—Jaguar XK by its supercharged 4.2-liter V-8. Instead of a naturally aspirated 4.2 V-8 rated at a mere 300 horses, the XKR touts a supercharged version of the engine that makes 420 horsepower and 413 lb-ft of torque.
The XKR Porfolio is part of a series of models with that extra name and it represents a whole list of changes. The 2009 Jaguar XKR Portfolio is available only in Shadow Grey metallic and has 20-inch Selena alloy wheels (ordinary XKR makes do with 19-inchers and 18-inch alloys come on the standard Jaguar XK) with a red “Heritage” centercap.
Alcon R Performance brakes replace the standard Teves units. The Alcon brakes have red calipers with six pistons front and four rear, plus huge 15.75-inch front and 13.8-inch rear discs.
The inside of the XRK Portfolio is a soft-grain leather cocoon, including the 16-way driver and passenger seats, instrument panel, center console, door and rear side panels and steering wheel. Interior colors are a choice of charcoal with cranberry twin needle stitching, or ivory with slate as in our test car, subtle but distinctive. The headliner is made from something called “Alston.” We’re not sure what it is but Jaguar is correct when referring to it as “luxurious.” It begs to be rubbed, as odd as that sounds.Our test Jaguar also had “engine spin aluminum” on the dash rather than “rich oak” veneer. For the high performance XKR the aluminum is a natural. The shifter is alloy with leather and an “alloy gate surround” is alloy as well and is held in place—or at least looks like it is—by a pair of Torx-like screws. It’s probably not necessary, but it looks racey tech.
Bi-Xenon headlamps are standard, with a crisp low beam and on high beams bright enough to light up the dark side of the moon...from earth. They're also "adaptive," a new term that means they steer. It's standard on all XKR models and it's very aggressive, turning more than most such systems. Cornering lights also turn on durning low speed turns. The headlights also turn on any time the wipers are on..
A 525-watt surround sound system by Bowers & Wilkins sounds as high tech as it sounds good, with low-distortion Kevlar mid-range speakers and aluminum dome speakers, tuned specifically for the XKR. Along with the rest of the XK line, iPod and USB connectors are located in the center console storage bin.
The audio system is almost redundant. Jaguar didn’t spare the mufflers on the XKR. It has a healthy throb at idle from its four tailpipes, and when it accelerates it’s all race car, just not quite as loud. It’s worth a detour to find a wall to drive along, a tunnel to drive through, anything to reflect that raspy hollow V-8 snarl. There’s one disadvantage of the coupe; in the convertible, the driver carries that sound around like mechanical headphones. There’s always putting the windows down. We’ll note, however, that the rear quarter windows do not lower. That’s a shame because it deprives the XK coupes full “hardtop” style.The exhaust might be bark but the Jaguar XKR does not lack for bite. The XKR’s 420 horsepower slings its 3814 lbs curb weight up to speed and triple digits comes up faster than one can say “uh oh.” Using cruise control is mandatory; it’s all too easy to look down and see a white needle pointing at the fine-lined markings on the speedometer and a number made up of a “9” and an “0.” There is a button on the passenger side of the console marked “ASL.” That stands for “automatic speed limiter.” Something for wusses, we say. It can be set to allow a maximum speed; the car has 155 mph limiter and we don't need anthing to set it any lower.
The six-speed automatic can shift on its own, but it’s it’s more entertaining to provide suggestions via the manual mode and steering wheel-mounted paddles, left for down, right for up. Response either way is instant. Forget any automatic transmission delay. Pull the paddle and its done. Torque converter slop? What’s that?
It’s all a big help when coaxing this grand tourer into its sports car alter ego. There’s a chunk of rubber at every corner and to quote ZZTop, the Jaguar XKR knows how to use them. The summer treads were hard and slippery in the cold weather we drove in and that showed up primarily when trying to dig out of corners. The traction control light lit up all too easily. The ride on those 20-inchers was noticeably firm, approaching hard but well short of harsh.
As a hatchback, a Jaguar XK is not as useful as it might be. The rear seatback doesn’t fold forward, limiting how may bags can be brought home from the garden store, for example. And the back seat was designed by Monty Python’s Flying Circus right after Ministry of Silly Walks skit. There’s a deep bum pocket, leg room is non-existent even if front seat passengers are cooperative and headroom ends right about the average adult’s shoulders. Forget the mulch, but a folding rear seatback and a cargo net would add a lot more grand to the touring.
(continued below)
Apparently one can’t have everything in one package.
We recorded 14.5 miles per gallon of premium in all-around use and 16.1 on a primarily highway trip. Wesaw over 22 mpg average at evelated speed highway cruise. The EPA says 15 mpg city/23 mpg highway. Obviously the EPA’s drive cycle isn’t nearly as, um, entertaining as ours, though why own a car like the Jaguar XKR if not to, well, exercise it occasionally.
Exercising this lean and hungry cat is one thing, and we’ll confess to enjoying 2009 Jaguar XKR Porfolio Coupe thoroughly. But seriously, as a hatchback, it comes up short. We’re sorry, Jaguar, but we call them as we see them.
| Base price, Jaguar XKR | $87,400 |
| Portfolio LE Coupe package | 7,500 |
| ALCON brakes | 3,000 |
| Delivery | 775 |
| Total | $98,675 |
| Engine | 4.2-liter DOHC 32-valve s'charged V-8 |
| Horsepower @ rpm | 420 @ 6250 |
| Torque, lb-ft @ rpm | 413 @ 4000 |
| Compression ratio | 9.1:1 |
| Fuel econ., EPA city/hwy mpg | 15/23 |
| Fuel econ., as tested, overall | 14.5 |
| Transmission, tested | 6-speed automatic |
| Drivetrain layout | Front engine, rear drive |
| Brakes, disc dia., in., front/rear | 15.75/13.8 |
| Wheels, front/rear, inches | 20.9.0/20 x 9.5 |
| Tires, front / rear | 255/35ZR20 / 285/30ZR20 |
| Wheelbase, inches | 108.3 |
| Length, inches | 188.6 |
| Width, inches | 81.5 |
| Heigth, inches | 52.0 |
| Trunk capacity, cu ft | 10.0 |
| Curb weight, pounds | 3,814 |
| United States/Canada | 5% |
| U,K. | 65% |
| Germany | 20% |
| Final assembly: Castle Bromwich, U.K. | |
Illustrations, Jaguar XKR Portfolio. All photos by John Matras.
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