Jaguar has been promising for some time that it would use this year’s Geneva auto show to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its iconic E-type. Many expected this nod to the company’s heritage would include the announcement of a new small sports car. That is not the vehicle you see here. This is the 2012 XKR-S, and it proves that someone decided to make the XKR very angry. The thing looks as if it’s been raised in the wild. By a pack of badly behaved race cars with an obsession for body jewelry.
On the subject of heritage, it should be noted that this is not the first time Jag has used these four letters in a row. The company brought a 550-hp XK-RS concept with a supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 to the 2004 Chicago show. And then in 2009, Jaguar built a run of 200 XKR-S models for European customers, giving the cars unique appearance bits but no additional power. The 2012 XKR-S happens to combine traits of both cars: the engine is a hopped-up version of the XKR’s supercharged 5.0-liter, and the car takes aesthetic crazy to new levels.
The 5.0, tuned to the same 550 hp of the XK-RS show car and producing 502 lb-ft of torque, propels the car to a claimed top speed of 186 mph. Jag projects a 0-to-60-mph time of 4.2 seconds, but we would expect to better that time; a 2010 XKR we tested, with its V-8 producing 510 hp and 461 lb-ft, hit the mark in four seconds flat.
Unique front and rear fascias are evident, the hood is mostly vents and nostrils, and there’s a big fixed rear wing. We believe Jaguar when it says the design of the XKR-S was “aerodynamically driven.”
We’ll be able to relay additional details on the XKR-S once it debuts in Geneva. We’ll also keep you up to date on the merriment surrounding the E-type’s 50th, should that bear any fruit of interest.
Thanks to: Car and Driver