Jaguar XJR Road Test

Jaguar XJR

What We Liked

• The outrageous performance
• Class leading ride
• The engine / Supercharger note
• The ambience

What We Disliked

• Some of the unnecessary ‘R’ exterior styling
• Fuel economy
• The quality of the interior could be improved

What We'd Like To See

• It pretty much has everything you could want

Build Quality

Jaguar has worked hard on their build quality and now has a reputation for delivering well built and reliable cars. Everything on our test car was of a high standard, materials were acceptable but perhaps not class leading. The rear electric blind at first wouldn’t rise but a quick poke and it solved itself, not really a major problem.

Jaguar dealerships have a good reputation for customer service and the whole Jaguar range has crept to the top of the customer satisfaction polls.  

Value For Money

At a little over £60,000 the Jaguar XJR is around £4,500 cheaper than a BMW M5 or £10,000 less than Audi’s S8 and over £13,500 less than the Mercedes CLS AMG. Sure the Jaguar is the underdog, some might argue outclassed but it is very good value and we believe that it can hold its head up high amongst its peers.

Overall Opinion

The Jaguar XJ has evolved into a very desirable range of cars, from the entry level diesels, with their fantastic engine through to the outrageous supercharged 400 bhp XJR.

If we were looking for a prestigious saloon then the XJ would probably be our choice, it faces very tough competition from Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz but although we find those cars technically very competent they don’t have the soul of the Jaguar, they are clinical - where the XJ has soul. Some ill-informed people consider the Jaguar brand to be for the old man, well I am a male in my early forties and my test partner female in her thirties and both of us felt very comfortable with the brand. It is credible with younger drivers, when I asked my twenty something nephew about the  Jaguar brand he considered it desirable and aspirational.

If it were my money I might look at the diesel model, saving on fuel bills with little compromise on every day ‘useable’ performance. Of course the XJR is far more capable, it is super car quick, with few five seat competitors but you do have to drive it hard to explore the true advantages, which is more of a reflection on modern road conditions than the XJR's performance.

The Jaguar XJR certainly comes highly recommended, in some ways it is better to live with than the XK coupe, which for the family user is a no no. It is very quick and yet it still has the decorum that other marques can only aspire to.