Jaguar XK V8 Convertible Spl

Jaguar XK V8 Convertible Spl

The Jaguar XKR is the high performance version of the XK, mixing a supercharged 503bhp 5.0-litre V8 with the rest of the XK's talents, including a comfortable and luxurious ride. It gets a more aggressive look than the standard car but is still one of the best-looking models on the road. In late 2011 the XKR was facelifted to include a new bumper and lights. One of the trademark features of the way the XKR performs is its effortless speed. There's so much power on offer that you’ll never feel like you need more. At any speed you can floor the throttle and the car will surge forwards. Official figures put the 0-62mph time at 4.8 seconds. The cabin is always extremely quiet unless you’re accelerating hard, when valves in the exhaust direct engine noise into the cabin. With a glorious V8 engine, that's no bad thing. There's no doubting that the XKR is a luxurious car, with sumptuous leather trimming the seats, roofliner and dashboard. For a car as performance-oriented as this, the ride is surprisingly soft too. Rough roads are soaked up without much fuss allowing for a smooth and jolt free journey. There's plenty of space in the front seats but rear passengers will struggle to even squeeze into the cramped back seats. No major problems have been reported with the Jaguar XKR but in our experience there are some minor electrical faults. Each time the fix has been as simple as turning it on and off again but they could develop into something more serious. There's a long and wide load area in the back of the Jaguar made easily accessible by the hatchback opening. The only problem is it's quite shallow, which leaves only 283 litres of boot space. Buyers can use the tiny rear seats as a storage area though. With the high price-tag comes a generous level of standard equipment. On top of the luxuriously appointed cabin comes gadgets like sat-nav, parking sensors, heated front seats and keyless-go. Jaguar claims that the XKR will travel 23 miles on a gallon of fuel but in our experience this figure is much closer to 15 miles. That makes trips to the forecourt a regular and wallet-crushing occurrence. CO2 emissions of 292g/km put the Jaguar in the most expensive road tax bracket too.