Jaguar XKR Most Powerful and Fastest Series Production Sports Car

Jaguar's Geneva show-stopper has been revealed in new pictures out today. It's the long-heralded XKR-S, and the most powerful and fastest series production sports car the company has ever built.

Thanks to an uprated supercharged AJ-V8, now making a hefty 542hp and 501lb ft of torque, the attention-grabbing new model will top 186mph (making it a paid-up member of the 300kph club for our continental friends), and....


....sprint to 60mph in 4.2secs. Jaguar calls this 'the ultimate expression of duality of purpose; GT character with incredible performance'. We'd probably call it V8-powered pornography.

While there has been a limited edition XKR-S before (in 4.2-litre guise), the new model is the production evolution of the hotter XKR that Jaguar has been toying with for a couple of years, and which was first explored as the Goodwood Special prototype in 2009. That car turned into the XKR 75 special edition, which had a 'halfway house' power upgrade over the regular XKR of 523hp and 483lb ft, giving it a 174mph maximum and a 4.4secs 0-60 time.

Like the XKR 75 the new XKR-S features some significant suspension mods, with bespoke set-up changes front and rear designed to increase precision, control and driver appeal. There's also a new set-up for the Adaptive Dynamics system which Jaguar says will allow enthusiastic drivers to 'explore the edges of the handling envelope'. Knowing Jag's handling guru Mike Cross as we do, that probably has something to do with travelling sideways at will...

As the pictures show, the new Jag should be unmistakeable on the road thanks to a selection of eye-catching modifications. Up front the muscular nose features an intriguing combination of down-swept raised curves around the grille and up-swept side intakes that is an obvious development of the XKR 75 design, as well as couple of new vents on the leading edge of the bonnet. The rear, with its squared-off rear wings and diffuser treatment looks suitably aggressive too, we reckon.

Those purposeful quad tailpipes might look the part, but hopefully they'll sound the part too because Jaguar claims this new car's 'active exhaust' delivers an 'authentic, race-car inspired soundtrack'. And all while emitting less than 300g/km of CO2, which is apparently best in class. (Do we really need to know that? Ed.)

The XKR 75 was listed at around the £85k mark, but we're still waiting for confirmation of prices (and an on sale date) for the XKR-S. All will be revealed at the show next week.