Quickest cat ever poised to pounce

Published Feb 23, 2011

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Jaguar will launch its most powerful production car yet - the XKR-S - at the Geneva motor show.

Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar's new global brand director, said: "With the XKR-S we expect to attract both loyal and new Jaguar driving enthusiasts who the comfort and class for which Jaguar is renowned, coupled with inspirational performance."

Inspirational is right: Under the aerodynamically-driven styling there's an uprated, supercharged, five-litre V8 rated at 405kW and 680Nm and revised suspension, delivering 0-100 in a 4.2sec and a claimed 300km/h flat out.

This, Hallmark says, isn't only the quickest Jaguar yet but also the most agile, responsive and driver-focused, using the base XK's strong, lightweight aluminium body architecture to maximise both handling and economy - it's the only car in its class that emits less than 300g/km CO2.

A reprogrammed adaptive dynamics system allows the enthusiastic driver to explore the edges of the handling envelope.

Alongside the new XKR-S, Jaguar will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the E-Type, once described by no less a connoisseur than Enzo Ferrari as "the most beautiful car in the world," which was launched at Geneva's Parc des Eaux Vives by the marque's founder, Sir William Lyons, half a century ago.

The appeal of E-Type transcended the automotive world - its proportions and purity of line are so inherently right that there's one on permanent exhibit in New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Jaguar design director Ian Callum said: "It's impossible to overstate the impact of the E-Type. It encapsulated the spirit of the revolutionary era it came to symbolise and its influence is still apparent in Jaguar's modern range."

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