Jaguar XJ SuperSport 2011 Review - International

The world's most daunting racetrack is not the first place you’d expect to road test a limousine. And yet Jaguar bravely entrusted the Carsales Network among a lucky few with the sensor key to its XJ SuperSport -- its most powerful sedan ever -- and a closed road.

We’re at the Nurburgring , a perilous 21km stretch of pavement that bumps and threads through the German forest mountain ranges north-west of Frankfurt. It’s the hero circuit on cult video games but what many people don’t know is that it was built by the German Government in 1927 as a racetrack and test centre for the car industry -- two jobs it still fulfills today.

Back then the cars were slow and the road was narrow. Today, the track is one metre wider in parts -- but the cars and motorcycles that lap the circuit are much, much faster than it was ever designed to handle. As with Bathurst’s Mount Panorama, the Nurburgring wouldn’t be approved as a racetrack if it were built from scratch today.

The Nurburgring is at least three Bathursts strung together, and then some, but with little to no run-off area. At least Bathurst has sand traps in a few critical places. Instead of wriggle room, the Nurburgring just has guard rails. Get it wrong and you’ll be popping rivets -- and sent a hefty repair bill not just for your car, but for the fence.

Which is why the Nurburgring is even more intimidating today. With a price tag of $367,800 (call it more than $400,000 in the traffic), the XJ Supersport is the most expensive model in the Jaguar line-up.

Jaguar has brought us here to demonstrate that it is not only the German and Japanese performance brands who test on this sacred site. Indeed, the company says it has been coming to the Nurburgring for the past 20 years -- and has had its own permanent facility since 2003, in the same neighbourhood as Aston Martin and the performance divisions of Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW and Porsche (among others).

It says each car does a minimum of 390 laps of testing -- about 8000km -- before being signed off. The cars are driven by race drivers who can lap within two to three seconds of their benchmark time consistently. They don’t hang around either: they need to replace brake pads every 25 to 30 laps -- or every five tankfuls.

It takes four weeks to complete the run for each car and Jaguar estimates the mileage is equivalent to 100,000km of real world driving.

Jaguar says it is permanently based in the Nurburgring for two reasons only: to improve handling and durability. Up to 400 sensors dotted around the car provide engineers with crucial data to detect faults.

To help illustrate the point, Jaguar wheeled out the about-to-be-superseded XFR mid-size sedan (the 2012 model due to be released in a few weeks gets a new XJ-like nose), and the aforementioned near-new XJ SuperSport limousine.

There are four engines in the XJ range: 3.0-litre turbodiesel, 5.0-litre V8 petrol, supercharged 5.0-litre V8 -- and then a wicked-up version of the supercharged 5.0-litre V8 that is used in the Supersport.

The regular supercharged V8 is already no slouch with 346kW of power and 575Nm of torque. But the SuperSport takes that up several notches -- to 375kW (500hp in the old money) and 625Nm. This is enough to get from rest to the speed limit in 4.9 seconds -- 0.3sec faster than the regular supercharged model.

The body is huge: 5.1 metres long. And yet it weighs just under 2 tonnes because of its all-alloy body construction. If not for the precious metal it would weigh as much as a Land Rover Discovery.

Still, even at 2 tonnes it’s an engineering challenge to make a limousine look graceful in these circumstances. Luxury sedans tend to lose their composure on racetracks. But as we soon discovered, the XJ SuperSport is no ordinary limousine.

Guided by a very lean and very German professional race driver in the car ahead, we were sent out in convoy and told to follow his lines.

“We want every car to come back in one piece, bitte,” crackles the radio as we belt down a section of track so fast that the scenery is a blur. I dared not look at the speedo but I’m guessing it was 200km/h-plus.

Half a car width to the left or right of the racing line and you won’t make the turn at these speeds, he warns. Wriggle the steering wheel at one of two points where the cars can lift off the ground, and you may have an unexpected excursion.

“We don’t want [sic] look for you in the woods. Please keep the steering wheel straight here,” comes another warning as we go over one of the famous yumps that is the backdrop for dozens of classic photos over the years.

Eventually we make it to the Carousel, arguably the most famous section of track.

“There is no fast way, let the car go in, keep the left wheel on the black and then it will guide you out.”

It’s a curve as steep and tight as a cycling velodrome, but much bumpier. It was awesome... In fact, the whole track was awesome. And then we got to do it two more times!

Three laps doesn’t sound like much, but that’s more than 60km of driving -- equivalent to about 30 laps around Wakefield Park, or more to the point close to ten laps of Bathurst. And believe me, as tempting as it was do another lap, we were grateful for the break. It was truly exhausting.

It was such an amazing experience I almost forgot to absorb the car. But I remember being impressed by the strength, precision and lack of fade from the brakes, the willingness of the six-speed auto to shift into the right gear when you tap the lever on wheel, and the taut handling and direct steering. And this from Jaguar’s full-sized limo!

A drive in the next session of the mid-sized XFR sedan highlighted just how good the SuperSport was. The XFR felt soft and lacked grip by comparison.

We put the difference down to the tyres: both ran Dunlop Sport Maxx rubber but the Supersport tyre had a couple of extra letters on the sidewall, indicating a different compound and subtle changes to the tread pattern.

Eventually, we got to experience the XJ as it was intended: as a limousine. We were driven back to the hotel in another fleet of XJ SuperSport sedans.

Dark by now we could appreciate the XJ’s cool blue ambient lighting, the clarity of the design and the quality of the soft leather on the seats -- and roof!

And then I remembered one of my bugbears about the XJ’s beautiful digital dash that can switch between different screens -- it doesn’t have a digital speed display. In speed-strict Australia, this is a must (and an easy fix for Jaguar’s electronics boffins).

Plus I noticed some wind noise from the rear driver’s-side window (at less than 60km/h), and there was a body creak coming from the boot whenever we drove over kerbs or around corners. Jaguar might still have a little homework to do...

Now looking back, I reckon the XJ SuperSport has the best combination of ride and handling among its German peers. In comparison Audi’s A8 is too juddery over expansion joins, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class too soft in corners, and the BMW 7 Series too sharp over bumps and too sensitive even on smooth roads.

If only we could all drive to the work via the Nurburgring everyday...

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