KEY POINTS:
It's the most exclusive road-going Jaguar ever, a one-off variant of the supercharged XKR that comes with loudspeakers built by Bowers and Wilkins, the British company that equips the famed Abbey Road studios.
It's called the XKR Portfolio and it's available in one colour: celestial black. It gets 20-inch alloy Cremona wheels, polished aluminium power vents, special signature tread plates on the sills, upgraded brakes - and a choice of alloy or walnut interior appointments to go with the leather options.
Its exclusivity is guaranteed - only 150 models will be built for the world market. Of that, New Zealand will get three, each priced at $254,990 and available next year.
The XKR Portfolio is the first production example of Jaguar's new partnership with Bowers and Wilkins. The audio specialists designed Kevlar mid-range speakers and aluminium-dome tweeters for the Alpine and Dolby Pro Logic II sound system.
The result, says Jaguar, is superb mid-range and extended high-frequency responses.
The Portfolio shares the XKR's already powerful styling cues and its supercharged 4.2-litre V8 engine, but gets the largest, most powerful brakes ever for a production Jaguar.
Jaguar worked with Alcon to create the bigger 400mm front and 350mm rear discs.
Testing was done at Germany's Nurburgring.
The 4.2-litre unit produces 306kW (410bhp) and 560Nm of torque and a claimed zero to 100km/h sprint time of around five seconds. Top speed is governed at 250km/h.
The soft-top XKR delivers the same power numbers and $254,990 price tag. It has just arrived in New Zealand with a $20,000 premium over the $234,990 XKR coupe.
All three XKR variants - convertible, coupe and Portfolio - are powered by a supercharged V8 that drives the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission.
The convertible is 100kg lighter than the previous model; a sign of lighter Jaguars starting with the XF sedan due next year.
The company is already testing a go-fast "R" variant of the XF, presumably using the 4.2-litre supercharged engine.
It was spied on a street in Coventry the other day. Although the visual differences are subtle, tell-tale signs of a hotter than normal XF include a new quad-pipe exhaust design and large, cross-drilled rotors running upgraded brakes.
Larger 20-inch wheels and a noticeably lower ride height suggest a more aggressive suspension set-up, in keeping with Jaguar's usual formula for their R-spec cars.
There is also talk in Britain of a one-off XKR called the "Plus" powered by a 5-litre V8 putting out about 450kW, or 600bhp. If such a car appears, it will arrive well after the XFR, which is likely to be unveiled at either the Geneva or Frankfurt motor shows in 2009.
