jaguar XF

Jaguar XF 2010 :

Somebody get the record player out and put on Al Stewart, because this is turning into The Year of the Cat. The English marque just showed off the new XFR and XKR, a slightly modified XFR broke the company’s speed record formerly held by the Jaguar XJ220, and chatter suggests that the automaker is working on a new supercar. On top of all that, the Jaguar XF 2.7 V6 Diesel Luxury has won the What Car? magazine award for Best Executive Sedan for the second year in a row. The XF didn’t just beat cars from its own class, it beat the best buys among executive sedans in higher and lower price brackets. The other challengers were the best sedan buy under £30,000 (around $42k USD), the BMW 520d SE, and the best buy over £35,000 (around $49k USD), the Mercedes Benz CLS 320 CDI. The Jag walked it for being “beautiful to look at, brilliant to drive, an event to be in, and worth every penny of its running costs.” Which means that if the 2.7-liter could take the award two years in a row, with the new 3.0-liter coming on line this year the XF might be a good bet for the trifecta come 2010.

jaguar xfr

Jaguar XFR 2010 :

The renaissance of Jaguar really began with the introduction of the XF sedan. It was the first Jaguar model in, well a long time, that deserved serious consideration from luxury sport sedan buyers and the first that could hold its own against rivals from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. The second salvo came at this year’s Detroit Auto Show where Jaguar unveiled the XFR. Powered by a supercharged, direct-inject version of Jaguar’s 5.0L V8 that produces 510 horsepower, the XFR was specifically designed to stare down the BMW M5 and Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG.

Jaguar North America has just announced pricing for the 2010 model XF, and the XFR model rings at $80,000 even. That’s a few thousand less than both the M5 and E63 AMG, and the XFR produces more power than both. The Audi S6, meanwhile, is less expensive than all three, but also significantly less powerful with just 435 hp (the 580-hp RS6 isn’t sold in the U.S.). Ah, but then there’s the Cadillac CTS-V, which is faster than them all (even the RS6), more powerful and the least expensive. We wish the XFR good luck. It’s going to need it in this segment.