Jaguars have always had their own essence. In order to properly assess this car, one must keep this in mind. The 2013 Jaguar XKR Convertible is a car that may confuse you. The Herculean brakes with big red calipers, the precision of the steering, the sound of the 5.0 liter 510 horsepower supercharged V-8 engine, and the imposing stance give credence to this being a car of extreme sporting pretensions. The cat assimilation is spot on with seamless thrust, It appears that the road is moving faster – not you. Rarely will one find an opportunity to put Jaguar’s supercharged 8-cylinder engine through its paces. I did not find any of those opportunities either. What I did find was a car that had a surge of power akin to a jet leaving the runway. You have the visceral effect you get from a roller coaster ride whenever you hit the loud pedal.
Adversely, the front seats fit the lanky and petite alike, with tons of adjustability. All controls are easily accessed from the touch screen in the center console, which means you don’t have to take your eyes off the quickly approaching road to turn on the seat heaters or change the radio station. Materials are all lux, and the seats have adjustable side bolsters for driver and passenger. This is a Grand Tourer of the highest order.
The XKR convertible is refined enough to stay classy and aggressive enough to seem dangerous. That is confusing to those unfamiliar with Jaguars. Seemingly, it is a jack-of-all-trades car…..seemingly. This is a Jaguar, a brand that has always played by it’s own rules and produced cars that inspire passion and loyalty from their owners and ire from their competition. A 911 is the result of hard work, but a Jaguar? That’s the stuff of realistic daydreams.
It’s a quarter the price of most of the Ferrari line, and about twenty grand less than its fellow Brit the Aston Martin V8 Vantage convertible. Though in the winter of it’s life, this is a car that seems to get better with age. I know this conclusion is probably surprising coming from a lover of the leaping cat, but one should take it out for a while before plunking down nearly $105,000. Keep in mind, it may not be great at being a GT or Sports Car, but it is excellent at being a Jaguar.
Rarified Air: 2013 Bentley GTC V8 Convertible
Take a look at this TFLcar video review of the 2011 Jaguar XK Convertible carving the Rocky Mountains:
