Some clear night, go out and look at the moon and consider that abroad in the world is a man named Ian Callum, head of Jaguar design, and he is sitting at his desk, that moon large in the window, and he's wondering what the hell he's going to do next. As Jaguar is on the cusp of redefining itself in the 21st century, traditionalists might want to scoop up the last heritage jag. WSJ's Dan Neil reviews the 2011 Jaguar XKR.
Land Rover/Jaguar's new overlords—the Indian conglomerate Tata—are pouring great coal trains of money into the companies. In the next 24 to 36 months, Jaguar will birth the XE series of compact sports cars (roadster, coupe, two-plus) aimed at the Porsche 911; and a new compact sedan, successor to the X-Type, to wade in against the BMW 3-series. Well, as long as they aren't taking on too much.
Meanwhile, as the 3-D modeling files are flying, Jag also has to reinvent the XK, the big grand touring coupe and convertible. Here it gets tricky for Mr. Callum and his merry band of designos. For while we're all agreed the XK is terribly dated, we're not all agreed that that is a terrible thing.
This week I drove the current generation of XK, which has been around since 2006 and actually has its design roots much deeper in the past. In general conformation—the priapic hood, the lozenge-style fuselage, the catfish mouth of a grille—the car reaches back to the E-Type (1961-1974), one of the great designs in automotive history. All things considered, the E-Type has been a kind of a curse for Jaguar, impossible to improve upon and impossible to escape.
For years, Jaguar's design portfolio has spiraled in on itself, as every year the cars seemed more reductive and derivative, more desperate to leverage the company's antique glory. Callum & Co. ended that this year with the introduction of the 2011 XJ, a devastatingly cool and contemporary fastback sedan that had zero to do, design-wise, with the previous XJ. (Incidentally, XJ's are selling as if their glove boxes were stuffed with Tesla stock.)
So it seems only rational that when the eventual redesign happens, the next XK will be a clean break stylistically with the current car. New owners, new company, new page, etc.
And yet…
And yet I couldn't have had more gawking, unbroken stares directed my way if I'd had a ranting Mel Gibson in the passenger seat. Or a supernumerary nipple on my forehead. Or antlers.
Honestly, college kids getting off the bus broke off their conversations and hitched their gait as this car drove by. Nicely kitted women eating in cafes were arrested in mid-fork, seemingly hit with an envious freeze-ray. People rolled down their windows to tell me—in sometimes rather alarming, unhinged terms—how beautiful the car was. What, you've never seen a Jag XK? It's been around forever. Get lost, you rube!
The Specs Base price: $93,908 Price as tested: $102,000 Powertrain: Supercharged direct-injection DOHC 5.0-liter V8 with variable valve timing; six-speed automatic transmission with manual-shift mode; rear-wheel drive with electrically actuated multiplate clutch limited-slip differential. Horsepower/torque: 510 hp at 6,000-6,500 rpm; 461 pound-feet of torque @ 2,500-5,500 rpm Length/weight: 188.7 inches/4,079 pounds 0-60 mph: 4.7 seconds Top speed: 155 mph EPA fuel economy: 15/22 mpg, city/highway Cargo capacity: 7.1 cubic feet
(roof down) More Cougar Than Jaguar Though the car is now older and a bit past its prime, the Jag XK's sex appeal—especially in the supercharged XKR trim—is turning out to be surprisingly durable. It raises an interesting sociological question: As a culture are we beginning to appreciate a more mature kind of sensuality? Ask Courteney Cox. Power, the Universal Solvent Whatever deficits the XK might have as a sports touring machine are nicely papered over with the application of obscene horsepower and massive torque. The corporate supercharged 5.0 generates 510 hp at 6,000 rpm and ferocious 461 pound-feet of torque from 2,500 to 5,500 rpm. Those are world-class output numbers from a blown 5.0-liter engine. Good on ya, mate. As Janis Said, Get It While You Can Lots of people actually didn't like the new XJ sedan, which put a fork in the traditional XJ styling. There are probably a lot of people out there who will feel nostalgic about the XK, when it is finally revised. My question: Why wait to miss it when you can buy it now?
My conclusion is that there is something ineffably pleasurable in the seeing of this car, something continually gratifying in the beholding of it, something that goes far beyond the simple act of recognition. I don't know what it is and I don't think I share in it—the car looks too soft and feminine to me, or maybe too much like a bachelorette-party novelty gift. But were I Mr. Callum, the prospect of walking away from that something, whatever it is, would make me lose sleep.
Meanwhile, if you're in the market for a Palm Beach bomber type car, and you like the old, unreconstructed Jaguar, maybe you should get it while you can. In 36 months, Jag's product lineup will be transformed.
This car is not exactly settling for less. The recipe for the XKR is tried and true: take a fine car and add ridiculous horsepower. Under the miles-long hood is the same supercharged/direct-injection 5.0-liter, 510-hp V8 as appears in the Range Rover Supercharged I drove last week, and it's a hugely heroic bit of reciprocation, capable of hurling the convertible to 60 mph in around 4.6 seconds—seven-tenths quicker than the naturally aspirated XK convertible—and from there it's a windy elevator ride to three-digit speeds, and jail. Nothing about this car makes you want to go the posted limit.
Certainly not the sound. The keepers of the brand have decided that aurality is a key part of the Jag experience, so they've crafted special sound filters to pipe engine noises into the cabin. Meanwhile, the active exhaust system in the rear has a sequence of flaps that open up as the engine climbs in rpm. The result is that when you get the car on the boil it cackles, it snarls, it bleats and burps pyrotechnically. Can I get that as a ringtone?
The cosmetic differences between XKR and the naturally aspirated version are minor. Apropos the air-pounding Roots blower, there are "power vents" in the hood. The XKR also sports some chrome mesh in the lower grille portion. Peeking out from behind the 19-inch front wheels are formidable brake calipers with the Jag R (performance-division logo).
It's easy to forget that the previous-generation XK had a conventional, old-school ragtop that when retracted piled up in a mess of canvas and roof bows exposed behind the rear seats. The current car has one of the best canvas tops on the market, which operates in a mere 18 seconds and when retracted tucks invisibly under the integrated tonneau. When the top is up, it's hard to tell the car isn't a fixed-roof. In sound isolation and resistance to buffeting, the three-layer top is worthy of Bentley or Aston Martin.
How's the XKR drive? Depends on how you drive it, really. It's obviously a big, comfortable car, and wickedly fast, but because it has no back seat to speak of and even less trunk—all the space is consumed by the convertible mechanisms—it's got a serious lack of luggage space for weekend drives. I suppose if you absolutely had to you could get one set of golf clubs in the back seat, but you'd have to lower the top to get them in and out of that well-upholstered sinkhole.
So, let's see: That makes the XKR a grand touring car for golf-hating nudists. Obviously, 510 hp versus 4,079 pounds of curb weight makes the car straight-line fast. What you wouldn't expect is that the car is so capable in the corners. Not nimble, exactly, but honorably determined to hang on in tight turns and change direction as hard as it can.
But the XKR can start to feel unsettled and over-reactive in a series of tight corners, as waves of unconstrained pitch and roll motions gather strength and start to overwhelm the suspension. This car is happier on one big corner than several little ones.
Note to Jag: Really appreciate the active limited-slip differential. That was helpful.
If you're buying this car to peel the bark off the local arbor, you're missing the point. This is less about the driving than the seeing and maybe the hearing. As Jaguar stands at this crucial turning point in its design history, perhaps the best advice for the old guard is to look while you can
Safe Harbor Statement:
Some forward looking statements on projections, estimates, expectations & outlook are included to enable a better comprehension of the Company prospects. Actual results may, however, differ materially from those stated on account of factors such as changes in government regulations, tax regimes, economic developments within India and the countries within which the Company conducts its business, exchange rate and interest rate movements, impact of competing products and their pricing, product demand and supply constraints.
Nothing in this article is, or should be construed as, investment advice.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment