2010 Jaguar Xk
(Starting at $83,000)
Slightly redesigned for the 2010 model year, the XK coupe and convertible both gain the XF's trick circular automatic shift knob as well as a number of other far less exciting interior tweaks. But what can you really do to a car that is already this gorgeous? How do you top yourself? Oh yeah, give it more power!
The base engine is now a 5 liter V8 pumping out a very competitive 385 horsepower which Jaguar thoughtfully shares with sister-company Land Rover. But if you really have petrol pumping through your veins and have a company gas card why not buy the XKR with 510 supercharged horses (although this may not be a good idea for toupee wearers who want the convertible). Fuel economy of 15 city/22 highway actually isn't bad when you consider the power on hand.
Compared in the media to the epic BMW M6, many have found the easy to access nature of the XKR's engine to be superior to that of the V-10 in the angry and deformed looking coupe from Bavaria. They saddled the M6 with so many electronic nannies and sub-systems that essentially neutered all the fun. It is sort of like having a television show where Ozzy Osbourne is sober. What fun is that?
In an XKR (available in coupe and convertible form) you can do many un-Jaguar like things such as getting sideways on freeway on ramps (not recommended but you will think about it driving this car), drag racing 18 year olds in Mustangs and driving your insurance carrier nuts thanks to all the speeding tickets (this car should come standard with a radar detector).
The power from this new V8 is addicting and comes with none of the nasally supercharger whine of previous generation Jaguar R models. It was so bad that old R-model owners used to have to stop and open the hood every few miles just to make sure they hadn't run over Fran Drescher of The Nanny fame.
If you think the sticker prices, which can rise above the magic $100K mark, are a little much then you aren't comparing the XK to the right cars. You aren't buying a Honda Accord Coupe here. Look at it this way, you are either getting an incredibly cheap Aston Martin (they look nearly identical) or you are saving yourself from buying the recently redesigned (read: ruined) Meredes SL hardtop convertible. Why does the tautly pulled up front end of the new SL make it look like it has had as many plastic surgeries as the owner?
What Jaguar didn't mess with (thankfully) was the styling. This car is lithe, curvaceous and feminine but not in a way that doesn't put off male drivers. That, and its ability to look good from all angles, is a very difficult trick to carry out. But Jaguar of late has rarely had trouble pulling this off. To put it bluntly, the Jaguar XK convertible and coupe are sex on wheels. Only now those wheels (and tires) are performing some epically smoky burnouts.
