2009 Jaguar XKR convertible is no Miss Congeniality

• By STEVE WHEELER
• Advocate Wheels editor
• Published: Apr 17, 2009

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If cars had a beauty pageant, the Jaguar XK convertible would be a finalist for sure.

It would get high scores in the talent competition, and its stunning good looks might just put the XK over the top, leaving the rest of the car world to fight it out for Miss Congeniality.

What a beautiful automobile, this XK.

But with a price tag on the north side of $93,000, the XK already knows it’s a looker.

The 2009 version of the XK comes as coupe or convertible, and I tested the high-performance version of the convertible — the XKR — in an awesome frost blue color with a caramel interior. 

With a 4.2-liter supercharged V-8 that cranks out 420 horsepower, the XKR can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour before you can count to five. Owned today by India’s Tata Motors, the first Jaguar XK was launched in 1948. More than 60 years and many generations later, the XK is still one of the premier sports cars in the world.

The XKR convertible is a taut, powerful automobile in a 2+2 configuration, which is to say that Jaguar really doesn’t mean for anyone to sit in the back “seats.” The seats are fine for tennis gear or a couple of bags of groceries, but anyone bigger than Barbie or Ken will have trouble sitting back there without moving the front seats  far forward.

Without anyone in back, however, front seat headroom and legroom is plentiful inside a cabin that is elegant and sporty. Polished wood veneers come in rich oak and dark oak finishes, and the XKR features 10-way power adjustable seats for the driver and passenger. Even the side bolsters are adjustable to hold you tightly in place during aggressive driving.

A touch-screen monitor provides access for sound, navigation and climate control, as well as Bluetooth connectivity. I sometimes had trouble with the sensitivity of the screen, and found myself accidentally hitting buttons twice.

The convertible’s triple-lined fabric roof is tight and stable, providing a sense of a hard top when it is in place. The roof lowers in 18 seconds with the push of a button, and disappears completely into a compartment behind the back seats.

The Jag’s front end has a mesh grille, hood louvers and a new rear spoiler that is finished in the body color. A revised tailpipe design helps create the turbocharged XKR’s throaty soundtrack.

On the road, the XKR is tuned to perfection. The speed sensitive steering system provides greater assistance at slower speeds and less at highway speeds.

During a little experiment on Interstate 12, I let my hands hover just off the steering wheel to see how far the XKR would go before it began to veer from its lane. In some stretches of good road, I was amazed at how far the car went without any adjustments to the steering wheel. Hard cornering was sure and tight, making me glad to have the adjustable bolsters.