BUYING GUIDE
The first V8-engined XJR offered performance even eclipsing its predecessor, but with the youngest now 20 years old, you need to know your stuff when buying them.
THE HISTORY of the secondgeneration XJR begins with the development of Jaguar’s V8 engine, only the third all-new powerplant in the firm’s history.
“It really did demonstrate that we’d got to make a very significant leap forward to be competitive,” admitted thencief engineer Trevor Crisp back in 2007. “It was probably one of the catalysts, if you like, for asking how much further we could go with the current engine. Really, we felt we needed to start with a clean sheet of paper if we were going to leapfrog Lexus.”
Initially the development team headed by David Szczupak looked at a variety of engine configurations, including V10, V12, flat eight, flat six and V6. This was eventually narrowed down to a possible three-engine range of V6, V8 and V12, with the engine’s initial codename ‘AJ26’ simply the addition of the digits six, eight and 12.
A ten-cylinder design was rejected on the grounds of inherent design imbalance, while a V12 was sidelined on the grounds of complexity, cost and economy. It was also felt that by concentrating on reduced reciprocating weight and increasing the rigidity of the engine and transmission structure, it may have been possible to obtain refinement levels close to or even superior to the original V12. A veeconfiguration engine offered a compact package and refinement advantages, meaning that the eventual format chosen was a V8, with the added advantage of its appeal to the all-important US market.
There was a slight spanner in the works in the shape of Ford’s own 4.6-litre ‘Modular’ aluminium V8, a very modern design as found in the ’96 Mustang. Clearly, it made financial sense to share the engine across the Ford empire if possible, but fortunately for the Jaguar team, it was felt that the Ford design lacked the power and refinement for a Jaguar application and the Jaguar development got the green light.
The engine first appeared in the X100 generation of XK8 in 1996, but its volume application would be the V8-engined evolution of the XJ saloon, on which work had started as soon as the X300 generation was launched in 1994.
Similar at a glance to the older car, the X308 received redesigned front bumperswith new elliptical indicators and recessed fog lights, a subtly reshaped grille, restyled rear lamps and chunkier number plate surround.
Behind the scenes, some 30 per cent of the metalwork was revised, with the amount of high-strength steel in the shell doubled. The front end was stiffened, the B-posts reinforced and the XK8 front suspension adopted, its revised kingpin angle sharpening the handling. The shorter length of the V8 compared to the straight six also allowed a second bulkhea
