2010 Jaguar XFR

2010 Jaguar XFR

The XFR, too, induced the same sort of awe. Few cars I test turn women’s heads as much as men’s, but Jaguar’s designers have a knack for making beautiful baubles that almost no woman can ignore. I’d love to think it was the recent tan I’ve acquired of course but young, fashionable, well-heeled ladies both fair and dark sent lustful glances toward the car—and just toward the car. One woman in a supermarket parking lot walked right up to the XFR, addressing it, not me, with a huge grin on her face, and peppered away with rapid-fire questions. Sated with knowledge, she just walked away, looked back at the car as if to confirm a mental catalog of details, and belatedly remembered there had been a human being she’d been talking to and said, “oh, sorry, thanks….”

Fast as Bloody Hell

If only I could’ve given a ride to every ogler of the Jag the company might find itself a huge new client list. True, maybe all those ladies (and men too) wouldn’t ever tap into the 510 horsepower V-8 under the bulging hood of the XFR, but that also might not matter, because this four-door is quite civilized unless you don’t want it to be.

I certainly didn’t; with 40 more horsepower than the XF Supercharged (and $15k more tallied to the sticker price) and an engine that nails peak torque (461 pound-feet) at a a barely twisting 2,500 rpm, the stats box alone should tell you what this car can do. That torque curve feels nearly flat as well, and that huge grunt equals more than a fast run (4.7 seconds, claimed) to 60mph. From 70 mph, passing a logging truck and three SUVs on a two-lane rural highway, the XFR downshifted its six-speed gearbox to third, held it to the nearly 7,000 rpm redline, and proceeded to upshift into fourth and so on. Looking down finally at the speedo I was rocketing at twice the legal limit. This could get dangerously addictive.