In lieu of anything completely new to show in Geneva, Jaguar will rock up with a headline-grabbing pair of packs for the hot XKR. The foremost, called the Speed Pack, will loosen the car's electronic speed control, allowing the coupé to charge to 174mph. Pointless in the UK, but nice to have in the same way it's nice to bake oven chips in an Aga.

The Speed Pack, which recalibrates the engine and transmission management, also endows the car with a revised front splitter for extra stability at high speed, a bigger rear spoiler and fettled steering management so that the rack is less twitchy when you're going flat out. A specific palate of colours is available to Speed Pack cars, while the side sills and rear diffuser are painted body colour too.

The other pack is the Black Pack to flat pack in your backpack. Not really. It's a styling thing that, weirdly, has noir as its central theme. Black Pack cars get black 20-inch alloys, black surrounds for the windows and black, white or red paint. Inside is awash with charcoal leather too, which we assume is black. It's only available on Speed Pack cars and costs £4,000 in addition to the £3,500 that option costs - not available for the convertible either.

Buyers can also specify a 'sweeping XKR side body graphic that runs along the door sills' with the Black Pack.

A couple of minor changes across the range will also be launched in Geneva: all XKRs get red brake callipers as standard now, and there's a tyre repair kit in place of the spare wheel, which frees up boot space for some Jaguar luggage, we're told. Prices start at £75k for the XKR coupé, or £81k for the convertible.

Mark Nichol - 17 Feb 2010