MODEL PROFILE
The XKR-S GT was the final and arguably ultimate version of the X150 generation of XK. To show Jaguar really did leave the best till last, we drive a rare example through the challenging Cheddar Gorge in Somerset
THE BENDS arrive as quickly as they are sharp, a seemingly never ending series of left-right-left corners. Yet despite the constant changes in direction plus the terrible conditions that offer less grip than a pair of Crocs would in snow, the wide rubber plus extreme aero package help keep the car feel cool, calm and collected.
Not that I can say the same about me. Because to make it even more tricky, on either side is a rock wall that looks even less welcoming than a bank manager. One wrong move and I’d remove the nose like a piece of cheese on a grater.
A short straight section allows me to briefly bury the throttle and even though I’m using only a fraction of the engine’s massive power, the forcefulness of the acceleration still comes as a surprise especially in these tight and restrictive surroundings. A quick of dab on the brake pedal before changing down to third prepares me for the next challenge.
Regardless of what it sounds like, this isn’t a hill climb like Goodwood or Shelsley Walsh but the humble B3135 in Somerset. But with a three mile section running through the worldfamous Cheddar Gorge it is one of the most challenging yet enjoyable roads in the country.
And neither is this a racing car but the final interpretation of the Jaguar’s once sensible grand tourer, the XKR-S GT.
Coming just 18 months after the original R-S there was no one more surprised than me when the GT made its debut at the 2013 New York Motor Show. When I attended the UK launch for the XKR-S convertible in early 2012, I asked one of Jaguar’s engineers for vehicle integrity, Jeff Mitchell, whether it would be possible to make the X150 generation of XK go even faster. “As a GT car this is probably as far as you can go,” he said about the XKR-S in the March 2012 issue of Jaguar World. “I think the next step would be a pure sports car and that’s a slightly different animal.”
Whether work hadn’t yet started on the model or he just couldn’t tell me but that’s what the GT is. The supercharged 5.0-litre V8 might have been left in the same 550PS state of tune as the R-S, but by weighing 40kg less than a standard XKR coupe plus many other updates to both the car’s exterior and suspension, the XKR-S GT was harder and more driver-focused than any previous version of XK.
"The XKR-S GT is the most extreme iteration of the Jaguar R Brand's performance focus,” explained Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar’s then global brand director at the time of its debut. “Utilising race-car derived technology, all-aluminium construction and an uncompromised approach to aerodynamic efficiency, the re
