News : Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake debuts at Geneva

Jaguar_XFR-S_Sportbrake

The Jaguar XFR-S Sportbrake has made its public début at the Geneva Motor Show. The super-estate is powered by Jaguar’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine delivering 542bhp, goes head-to-head with the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG and Audi RS6, and will cost £82,495 when it goes on sale this April.

The Sportbrake is the third R-S model from Jaguar alongside its XF saloon counterpart and the XKR-S. It uses the same 5.0-litre engine and an eight-speed automatic transmission with Quickshift technology giving a 0-62mph time of 4.8 seconds – only 0.2 seconds slower than the XFR-S saloon. The top speed is limited to 186mph.

To handle all that power and the extra weight of the estate body, the suspension has been stiffened with new rear spring rates and changes to the adaptive dampers. The XFR-S Sportbrake also has a recalibrated active electronic differential and comes with 20-inch Varuna alloy wheels as standard along with uprated brakes with vented discs.

So that the XFR-S sounds the part, it’s fitted with a sound symposer that channels some of the induction noise into the cabin while the exhaust has straight-through pipes to create a crackle when you lift off the power. On downshifts, the engine automatically blips the throttle too and the gearbox is intelligent enough to know when you’re in a corner and will hold the correct gear.

To make it stand out from the standard XFR, the R-S gets a deeper front bumper with side air intakes and extended side sills. At the back there is a deeper carbon fibre diffuser designed to reduce lift. Gloss black trim replaces the traditional chrome around the grille and side vents and there are five paint colours to choose from: Ultra Blue, Ultimate Black, Stratus Grey, Polaris White and Italian Racing Red.

Inside the XFR-S Sportbrake gets carbon effect leather on the seat bolsters and arm rests along with an 18-speaker Meridian sound system.

Jaguar_XFR-S_Sportbrake (1)

Keith Adams

16 Comments

  1. I am not surprised to read this announcement as deep down most of us thought it was a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ such a very high performance derivative would be produced, following the Sportbrake’s unveiling in 2012.

    That said, it is a worthy halo addition to the Sportbrake’s line-up and will hopefully add further to its showroom appeal. I am seeing quite a few XF Sportbrakes on our roads and it is certainly a very handsome looking estate.

  2. @8 Even in these days of electronic chassis control systems, the key to driving cars with this level of performance is learning to be progressive in the application of the throttle pedal.

    Shame that the AWD option is only available for the left hand drive petrol V6.

  3. I want – dark grey metallic please.

    The next car is almost certainly an XF but probs not in this spec – the wife would kill me if the fuel bills didn’t

  4. I guess Sportbrake is Jaguar’s answer to the oppositions name “Tourer” or “Avant”. I’ve only seen a couple of XF Sportbrakes – this one looks & sounds mammoth.

  5. The sportbrake does not appeal to me for a simple reason : when you get in, and look backwards, it is like looking through a letter box . Not one of Jaguar’s best efforts – unlike the XF saloon which is a splendid car

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