Jaguar XK Coupe road test
Written By Lee Sibbald Published On: Jul 01 2009
The XK is the Big Cat’s throw of the dice in the competitive world of the two (plus two)-seat coupes, and it is up against some very stiff competition with the likes of the Audi R8, Maserati GranTurismo, and the BMW 650 coupe. Now in its second generation the XK is available with the choice of a single engine type and either as a coupe or for those that love the wind in their hair a soft top convertible. Even with its movie star good looks and bucket loads of refinement and class, the cars in this segment live and die by their performance and handling – how does the Jaguar XK match up?
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The JaguarDrive Selector and engine aren’t the only enhancements over the old Jaguar XK, the model gains a distinguishing new front bumper design which gives the front of the car a slightly more muscular, aggressive appearance. This is further helped by the two tone grille mesh colouring, with the top given a chrome finish, while the lower has a black finish. The eagle eyed will also no doubt spot new wing mirrors, which now incorporate LED side repeaters and approach lamps. These minor tweaks have lifted the overall aesthetics of the car and it comes down personal preference whether this or the Audi R8 is the best looking car in its class, for what it is worth the Jaguar XK Coupe just beats the glorious Audi R8 by a whisker in my opinion, with its classical good looks just swatting away the modern Audi from the prize! Inside the cabin, the first thing that strikes you is the similarity to the XF and in many respects this is no bad thing; Jaguar have obvious put a lot of development time working out the ergonomics of the driver and front passenger areas; the all leather sport seating being particularly luxurious. The dash is clear, with no oddness which can afflict some manufacturers, and comes with a 7” touch screen display with copious amounts of options and functions, including sat nav, radio (DAB is an extra), and 6-disc CD. Perhaps the only complaint which could be levelled at the interior is that it is similar to the significantly cheaper (award laden) Jaguar XF and perhaps customers coughing up £60,000 on the car would expect a higher specification than a £35,000 Jaguar XF, or maybe it is just a sign of the interior quality of the XF! The general level of finish is of a suitably high standard and lifts the experience to a notch above the BMWs and Audi’s of the world. All Jags are built out of their production facility deep in the Warwickshire countryside, and there have been no excessive complaints regarding the XK’s reliability. Jaguar is obviously confident as they’ve upped the service intervals on the car from 10,000 miles to 15,000 miles.
Read the full Jaguar XK Coupe road test
RoadTestReports.co.uk provides road tests reports written by members of the Guild of Motoring Writers. These reports are complemented by car reviews submitted by the members of the public who drive the vehicles day in day out.
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