Jaguar XJR575

Quick big cat is still a luxury saloon at heart

JAGUAR’S XJR575 IS, WITHOUT question, more of a luxury car than a performance one. It may have a 567bhp 5-litre supercharged V8 and dash from 0 to 62mph in just 4.4 seconds, but the deep carpets that your feet sink into, the soft leather seats, the space and the car’s hushed, relaxed demeanour say this is more about comfort and class than all-out aggression. Inside, the slightly creaky polished plastic, the tacky chrome trim and the outdated satnav try to discredit the otherwise upmarket feel, but they don’t significantly do so.

Despite the mostly plush environment, it doesn’t take much to unearth the 575’s more athletic side; the engine just needs a little encouragement to be woken up and stirred into life. Granted, the Jag doesn’t have the punch of an AMG S-class or a BMW M760LI, but what its engine lacks in violent reactions, it makes up for in smooth progression.

That same character is shared with the chassis; there’s little in the way of high-tech gizmos that try to disguise the £93,780 car’s shape and size, with adaptive dampers and an electronically controlled limited-slip differential all that’s offered to make the 1875kg XJR manageable. As a result, it lopes along just as you’d expect of a car with a 3032mm wheelbase, feeling stable and more inclined to roll than spin around its centre.

However, the engine wants to combat that; squeezing the throttle excites the rear enough for the driver to have to react. But the 575 is never hurried or agitated and that means that, despite its age, it has a charm and appeal lacking in its rivals. Will Beaumont (@Willbeaumont) A supreme luxury car Not as advanced as its rivals evo rating