The way the XFR combines such monumental acceleration with quite extraordinary refinement is probably what defines its personality most clearly. As a result, it is a deceptively rapid machine to drive on the road.
Nor is it in any way vocal about its abilities, even though there is a distinct V8 howl if you explore the upper reaches of the rev range.
Within the XFR’s vast performance envelope, the most impressive aspect of all is its throttle response in the low and mid-ranges. The way the accelerator has been so perfectly matched in its weight to the immediate response from the engine makes the XFR quite amazingly effortless in its gait across country.
So how fast is the XFR ultimately? Without its 155mph speed limiter you would imagine that it could easily top 185mph, but it’s the torrential flow of torque, available almost from tickover, that provides the XFR with its biggest weapon: overtaking acceleration. To get from zero to 60mph it needs just 4.7sec, but the real killer blow is how fast it can get from 50-70mph – just 2.1sec – and how fluid it feels while doing so. Against the clock the M5 is fractionally quicker, but in real-world driving the Jag’s broader on-demand performance makes it the quicker car. The braking power of the XFR is similarly impressive, but again it’s the feel and response of the brakes that stand out.
The XFR strikes a balance between ride comfort, handling precision, body control and steering accuracy that is genuinely unique in our experience, even at this rarefied level of the market.
According to our scales, the test car weighed just 10kg short of two tonnes, yet on the road it changed direction and flowed from bend to bend as if it weighed less than half that.
Even on rough roads the ride never threatens to become intrusive, while tyre roar has been similarly well suppressed, despite the 20in wheels.
