It's a sly old cat, Jaguar. It could have ventured this latest little fact about its new XF-R saloon during the launch
at Detroit, but no, it's waited until now - just when we might be forgetting about it in the mid-Detroit show lull.
Nonetheless, a saloon that can top 225mph is pretty special. That's right, an XF-R has officially recorded a speed of 225.675mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, making it not only the fastest Jaguar ever - beating the iconic XJ220 supercar's 1992 217.1mph record - but one of the fastest cars on land. Consider, a Lamborghini Murcielago can muster a mere 210mph from its 6.5-litre V12.
But let's not get too carried away, for there is, of course, a catch. 'Minor' aerodynamic modifications and a host of engine tweaks helped the XF-R get there. We knew it was too good to be true. Jaguar remapped the ECU, modified the air intake and exhaust, and revised the supercharger to get more horsepower from the 5.0-litre V8. How much extra they won't say.
Still, it bodes well for a car Jaguar is hoping will be catapulted into the ether occupied by Germany's finest four-doors. As a little footnote, Jaguar has also now ventured the 0-62mph time for the standard car as 4.9 seconds. No big surprise, but we until now only knew the 0-60mph time - a somewhat archaic and illusionary performance measurement often used to make a car appear slightly faster. Not that we'd fall for such tricks.
Available in March, the
503bhp 5.0-litre V8 supercharged XF-R is shaping up into something special, which we can confidently say even though we haven't driven it. Who said PR didn't work?
Mark Nichol - 15 Jan 2009