The launch of the new 2013 Jaguar XJR at the New York Auto Show this week heralds the end of the line for Jaguar’s other Supercharged V8 XJ – the SuperSport.
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With a much more fulsome 542bhp, some very ‘Jaguar’ go-faster bits, some proper fettling to make the steering, gearbox and suspension focus more on the drive without making a mess of the ride and altogether more dynamism in prospect than the SuperSport, we’d assumed Jaguar were making the XJR the performance pinnacle of the XJ range and leaving the SuperSport in place as the ‘luxury’ alternative.
With that thought in mind we’d expected to see Jaguar push the price of the new XJR up towards the XJ Ultimate (which costs £121,000), so count us gobsmacked when Jaguar revealed the new XJR will cost from £92,335 – just £500 more than the SuperSport.
That can only mean that Jaguar are planning to drop the ‘not quite as brilliant as we’d hoped’ SuperSport and move buyers in to the much more focused XJR, which appears to address the only moans we ever had about the SuperSport by fixing its power delivery and sharpness to make the most of the XJ’s nimbleness.
Jaguar’s official line is that the SuperSport is still available and is remaining so, but it’s not – there is no point.
Now, as it’s taken four years of banging on about a proper XJR as the perfect new XJ to get one, can we continue to dribble on about the the SuperSport returning with the 4.4 V8 diesel and a new Jaguar XJR Coupe, in the hope Jaguar will get on with things?
Please.
Dave Price says
The Supersport was never really worth the premium over the 3.0 diesel Portfolio with less than half the mpg and not THAT much quicker in the real world. But the XJR looks like it is and could be as appealing as the last proper XJRs were.
SimonSez says
The new XJR is such a sweet prospect, and I’ll second the opinion that an XJ with the 4.4 diesel would be a great idea.
SimonSez says
Ditto Percy’s comment. Makes a lot of sense as does the idea of an XJ with the 4.4 V8 diesel. That should have been on offer since Land Rover put it in the Range Rover 3 years ago. Seems a waste for Jaguar not to exploit its possibilities.
Percy says
As suspected!