Spy Shots: Jaguar XF coming with 500HP
by John Neff on May 31st 2007 at 11:57AM 
It appears that the XKR caught with Jaguar's new JaguarDrive gear selector was also accompanied by a group of test mules for the upcoming XF sedan. The convoy was encountered in Austria where Jaguar has rented a house and garage behind a gas station to work on the cars in private, or so they thought. While we've seen XF mules before, it's always fun to check in and see how the production car's development is progressing. One of the mules, in fact, is an S-Type with widened wheel flares, which could be a test car for the high-performance version of the XF. We reported a while back that Jaguar is planning on releasing two supercharged versions of the XF, one of which would use the current S-Type R's 4.2L V8 producing around 420 horsepower, and the other using a supercharged 5.0L V8 producing in excess of 500 hp. The XKR Coupe with which these XF mules were spotted, the one with JaguarDrive gear selector, is likely housing the supercharged 5.0L V8 that will also be used in the ultra high-performance XF sedan. Needless to say, the current horsepower wars have invaded the luxury sedan segment with both Jaguar and Cadillac readying their own 500+ horsepower four-doors.
[Source: Motor Authority, pic from Riicharrd and Crispijn]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
aSHIRTandTIEguy 1:43PM (5/31/2007)
Customers no longer want to just have a car that is "acceptable" to drive around for transportation. EVERYONE wants to have the "I've made it", "I am better then you", "my car is faster, sexier and MORE foreign then yours", ETC.
K-cars, Dodge Shadows, Ford Escorts, Mazda Protégé, Hyundai Accents, Geo Metros and all these types of vehicles are not acceptable for anyone to look cool in. So compact cars are/must be pimped, tuned, and made fast. Thus a corporation executive does not want to drive in a 200 HP Jaguar while a 200 HP Civic beats him/her.
Thus there is a HUGE market for this 500 HP+ Jaguar. The "I've made it, I'm successful, my car is classier, I have more money, I am richer then you" market niche. Turning your Ford Probe into a 300 HP Porsche eater will only make high end car companies put the screws to lower end cars even more and want to be the high end "IT" brand!
How many cars have been re-designed with a smaller engine, less HP/TRQ, less performance, and a decrease in price? None! New cars are designed to replace the "old" models. Civics are bigger then old Accords and the Fit is the new Civic! While the accord is now a huge boat bigger then Impalas!
There is a VERY large market for 500 HP Jaguars. Everyone wants to be the King of the Hill, and no one wants to just respect their market position.
Reply
The Penguin 2:10PM (5/31/2007)
@ aSHIRTandTIEguy -- You are correct as each new model gets bigger and bigger the companies have to make a car even smaller and you wonder how big cars will get before they stop growing.
Toy Yoda 2:19PM (5/31/2007)
Another 500HP car. Yeeehooo... More and more "affordable" cars are getting into the realm once solely owned by exotic cars. It makes me wonder what would that mean for the exotic car makers? In 30 years, would the Ferrari's o the world all b e gone?
Reply
Don 4:58PM (5/31/2007)
Well honestly, Jaguar needed a kick in the pants...they were starting to get sluggish compared to the competition.
Reply
HotRodzNKustoms 9:34PM (5/31/2007)
I can't wait to see the finished product.
Reply
horisly 1:34AM (6/03/2007)
well, cool!~
looking forward to see it
Reply