Auto Modification

It's no secret that we like the Jaguar XF at Automobile Magazine. The keys to our XF Supercharged Four-Seasons test car are rarely sitting around and we keep piling on the miles.We even named the newest Jaguar sedan a 2009 All-Star. But, like you, we've seen the spy photos and knew the English brand had something hotter coming. That hotter something is the XFR, released here at the Detroit show.

The big news for the XFR is its engine. While the top-spec 2009 XF made due with the older, 4.2-liter supercharged V-8 with 420 hp, the new 2010 XFR gets a new 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 with a BMW M5-conquering 510 hp.

Maybe even more telling is the torque. The blown Jaguar engine tops the BMW's same size (though normally-aspirated) V-10 by 78 lb-ft with 461 lb-ft at a rather low 2500 rpm. The XFR's engine even comes close to the larger, 6.2-liter V-8 in the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG in the torque department.

Through the fitment of direct-injection and other fuel-saving technologies, the new AJ-V8 Gen III matches the old XF Supercharged model in fuel economy with an EPA rating of 15 city, 23 hwy. As long as we're in the comparing mood, it's interesting that the M5 is rated at a rather poor 11 city/17 highway and the E63 at 13 city/20 highway. Not that fuel economy is a real priority for buyers in this market.

What is important to buyers in this segment is overall performance. Luckily, Jaguar didn't just drop in a new engine and call it quits. The paddle-shift ZF six-speed automatic transmission is beefed up internally to handle the extra grunt. Larger brakes and a quicker steering rack are used as well. More interestingly, the chassis receives some electronic tweaks. First, an active dampening system called Adaptive Dynamics is fitted.

This is a more advanced setup compared to simple, two-step dampers in the outgoing XF Supercharged. The second bit of chassis trickery is even more interesting. It's called Active Differential Control (ADC) and is an electronically controlled limited-slip rear end. It utilizes an electric motor with a multi-plate clutch and can actively transmit torque to the wheel with the most grip.
To read more about the 2010 Jaguar XFR, go to our 2009 Detroit auto show blogs coverage. All the latest blogs from the Editors of Automobile Magazine can be found HERE. We've got our whole staff wandering the floor at Cobo Hall bringing back live photos and more information about all the new debuts from Detroit.