The Crittenden Automotive Library

Jaguar XFR - Play Dirty

Topics: Jaguar XFR

Jaguar XFR - Play Dirty

Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite
December 23, 2013

I will, with shame, admit to taking the shocking images you see on this page; but seriously, it wasn’t my fault. When this XFR turned up (sparkling clean) from Jaguar the other week I couldn’t wait to get out on the road. Mrs DriveWrite wanted to go to Cheltenham of all places for some extravagance or other so I seized my chance to put the pedal to the metal.

Now, at this time of year our roads are not the best place to be. Summer’s deposits have combined with mud from tractors and the general detritus of many motors. Mix this with light rain and a sticky, gloopy spray develops and envelopes anything it falls upon. It becomes impossible to keep any car clean for more than five minutes. Personally, I blame the government. In any event, I enjoyed driving this car so much that I neglected to do the snaps and left it to the last minute. A quick attempt to clean it up was unfortunately less than successful, but it doesn’t detract from the fact that this is a very fine car indeed.

The car featured is a Jaguar XFR and you can see a couple of clean images in my preliminary article here. It has a 5.0L supercharged V8 engine but doesn’t shout about it. If it wasn’t for the air louvres on the bonnet, the very smart 20” wheels and the subtle R badges it would be hard to tell it apart from its brethren. To keep the specification details to a minimum, they are shown below and in that way you can see all the facts, including the price. Frankly, it’s worth every penny.

Inside, the XFR is typically Jaguar. Very comfortable, smart and uncluttered. You never get tired of the rising Drive Selector and the opening vents on start-up. The sports seats are excellent and it’s easy to find that ideal driving position. Crucially, the ride is less firm than I expected for such a powerful car, making cruising a pleasure with a very composed ride, although I would suggest that under certain road conditions the XFR could be a touch lively with an over-enthusiastic driver. You can take my word for that.

Jaguar reckon that around an average of 24mpg is achievable and I would say that’s pretty accurate, with consumption aided by an unobtrusive Stop/Start system. It is a simple matter to turn this on and off to suit the circumstances. The trick is to not constantly be planting the right foot into the carpet. Unlike the XFR-S, which is built for a purpose, this is not a car that demands constant competitive driving; it is a long distance mile-muncher that has immense power on tap when needed, complemented by the superb eight speed ZF gearbox.

The XFR is a stunningly effective super saloon that’s as much at home on the school run as it is at speed. I previously noted that the XFR-S was the best drive I’ve had regardless of price and I’ll stick to that but for the real day to day driving that we all to do the XFR is the one to choose. Even if it is a bit dirty. Highly recommended.