The last time we did this the American vanquished the mighty Bavarian with a brutal 1-2 combo of power and balance. Like the new challenger from Britain, the 2010 Jaguar XFR. Both were mentored by some of the best corner men in the business, Jaguar chief engineer Mike Cross and former GM Performance Division director and test ace, John Heinricy. Can Coventry’s battle cat take the belt away from our American hero? Badging aside, XFR upgrades amount to a front bumper with larger inlets, more deeply drawn rocker panels, quad exhaust pipes and the slightest of rear spoilers.

The piano black trim, which shows up only close up on metallic black or British Racing Green paint, stands out like a piece of protective-trim covering on virtually any other paint color silver, for example. The XJ is a bigger car than it looks. Jaguar worked hard on the sedan’s aerodynamics, for high-speed stability and low wind noise and fuel efficiency.

With just under 12,000 miles on the XF, the Jag’s rear Pirellis indicated they’d had their fair share of aggressive launches and cornering. So we decided to try a set of Falken’s ultra-high-performance FK452 tires, which promise precise handling and low noise. So far, they’re performing as advertised, delivering no perceptible drop-off from the OE PZeros.

Jaguar is in intensive care. Continuing weak sales, high new-model development costs and a falling dollar produced a hefty $1.1 billion loss in 2003. Sources expect similar deficits to be reported for ‘04 and ‘05.
The Jaguar S-Type sedan was a great car when it was introduced and it’s a much better car now. When it [...]