Currently reading: Two XFs to get superchargers

Jaguar is to make an 'ordinary' blown version of the new XF, as well as an 'R' version

Jaguar is planning two supercharged versions of the forthcoming XF saloon, in a break from a tradition in which the blown engine is usually reserved for a single, high-performance ‘R’ derivative.

At launch at September’s Frankfurt motor show, the S-type replacement will be announced with a 420bhp 4.2-litre supercharged engine, but it won’t wear an ‘R’ badge and will go without the more extreme wheel/tyre combos, body kit and tuned chassis expected of an R-badged Jag.

The first XF to get the full ‘R’ badge will appear in early 2010, when a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 is launched.

This British-designed engine, Jaguar’s biggest-ever V8, has direct injection and is all new, borrowing only basic design concepts from the venerable AJ-V8, first launched in the 1996 XK8.

The supercharged 4.2 and XF-R will be offered together in the model line-up, a decision likely to be popular in the US and UK. Some diesel-dominated European markets are likely to drop the regular 4.2-litre supercharged model.

Julian Rendell

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