Jaguar XK Coupe and Convertible 2006 Review

What we liked
>> Chassis poise and agility
>> Coupe’s good looks and useful liftback
>> Rasping engine note above 3000rpm

Not so much
>> Minimal luggage room in Convertible
>> Timber veneer steering wheel inserts
>> Children-only rear seat accommodation

OVERVIEW
It’s big, bold and undeniably beautiful. And the good news for the curious and Jaguar faithful alike is that the new XK’s also undeniably good.

After more than 500km behind the wheel of the new XK Coupe and 200-odd fast kays in the Convertible, we’re here to tell you that they’re both as good as they look.

Jaguar says this car keeps the essence of the marque’s heritage while introducing a bias towards dynamic modernity. And, from what we’ve experienced, that’s not just PR hype.

First evidence is the fact that Jaguar’s designers have tidied up what had become the interior overkill of switches, gauges and buttons in previous models. There are now two big gauges (speedo and tachometer) right where you want them, and a touch-screen mid-dash.

The only available transmission is a six-speed automatic, shifted via a new “reverse-L” lever and augmented by a pair of steering wheel-mounted paddles. Much neater… And sportier.

The new XK’s all-aluminium monocoque and body has received much of the attention since the car appeared in concept form nearly two years ago. But its mechanicals are pretty much carried over from the outgoing XK, albeit in much refined form.

The car’s 4.2-litre V8 now delivers marginally more power and torque. But, despite the fact that the cars are better equipped than their predecessors, both the Coupe and Convertible are lighter than the old XK. And that fact alone helps the new XK in everything from its power-to-weight ratio and the way it handles on the open road to its fuel economy – for both variants, Jaguar claims a combined city/highway 11.3lt/100km.

Recommended retail prices are $199,900 for the Coupe and $221,900 for the Convertible. Why not a folding hardtop, you might ask? Because Jaguar wanted to save weight, complexity and boot space, we’re told.

Such is the demand for this car worldwide, Jaguar Australia is looking at an allocation of just 50 to 60 cars this year, and twice that number for 2007. 

FEATURES
As you’d probably expect when you’re shopping in the $200,000-odd end of the market, the new XK is well equipped. But Jaguar Australia has made it even more so by adding some significant features which are optional overseas.

While the XK comes standard with 18-inch wheels in Europe and the US, 19-inch alloys are standard fitment here, with 20-inch wheels a $3000 option. We also get as standard the terrific active bi-xenon headlights which are optional in other markets.

And they’re just part of the XK’s extensive features list.

Leather trim is standard with either dark or light wood veneer on the centre console, dashboard, doors and as inserts on the leather-trim steering wheel. Aluminium trim is a no-cost option.

Automatic climate-control air-conditioning, satellite navigation, the trip computer and phone, and the MP3-compatible, six-stacker CD audio system are all controlled via the user-friendly touch-screen system mid-dash. As are controls for the three-setting heated seats and heated steering wheel, no less.

The front seats are 10-way power-adjustable (including lumbar support) with three memory settings.

Wipers are rain-sensing, parking sensors are on the front and rear, the headlights have auto-on and auto-level functionality, the big side mirrors fold when you use the keyless entry system and, like the interior mirror, they’re electrochromatic. The car has Bluetooth compatibility and telephone on-off controls on the steering wheel.

You can program things like your ’phone and garage door using switches in the overhead console. And, well, you get the picture...

An automatic speed limiter and cruise control are standard, with adaptive cruise control a $4500 option.

Other options include 16-way adjustable seats and soft-grain leather luxury trim ($6000), heated front windscreen ($1185) and premium surround sound system with upgraded speakers, including a sub-woofer under the passenger footwell and three-channel or Dolby Pro Logic II stereo ($2500).

Controls for the Convertible’s triple-layer soft-top – which, by the way, gets a glass rear window and opens or shuts in 18sec – are also housed in the overhead console.

COMFORT
Apart from the rear seats (more about them in a moment) the cabin is roomier than you’d expect. Front legroom is exceptionally good and even okay if you’re travelling with small children in the rear (but don’t expect to fit adults there for any length of time).

The front seats themselves are good, although the rear kiddie seats get short cushions, are deeply-dished and – in the fixed-roof XK, anyway – offer minimal headroom. Like most 2+2s, the XK is really a two-plus-two-halves.

And, with 10-way seat adjustment and power-adjustable steering wheel height and reach adjustment, you’d be hard pressed to find anything other than a comfortable seating position. Unless you intend carrying any rear seat passengers, that is.

The climate control system is excellent, and the touch-screen system used to control it, together with most other functions is, thankfully, user friendly. You also use the touch-screen system to operate the seat and steering wheel heating functions.

The Convertible’s three-layer roof is well insulated, and there’s little wind noise inside the cabin when it’s up. You’re aware of some – behind your head on either side of the car – and fairly acceptable buffeting in the cabin with the top down and side windows up. 

Driver visibility is especially good in the Coupe and not bad in the Convertible. Even the view out of the Coupe’s radically-sloping liftback rear is okay, and helped by the big wing mirrors.

Ride comfort is impressive, especially since the cars we drove were on the optional 20-inch wheels. Both the Coupe and Convertible cope surprisingly well with even gnarly Aussie back roads.

SAFETY
Like its features list, the XK is big on passive and active safety equipment. Inside, there are front airbags and head and thorax protecting side ’bags. Seat belts use adaptive restraint technology and the front head restraints are designed to reduce whiplash injury.

The XK Convertible’s pop-up RPD (rollover protection device) bars are hidden under the rear passenger shelf and actuated if an onboard sensor decides the car is about to tip over. If that happens, the rollover bars deliberately break through the rear window if the soft-top is closed.

The XK also gets a world-first system designed to meet Europe’s increasingly stringent pedestrian safety regulations. If a radar sensor mounted above the grille detects that the car has hit a pedestrian at low speed, airbag-style pyrotechnic devices lift the trailing edge of the bonnet to help minimise injury.

In terms of active safety, there’s the full menu of EBA (emergency brake assist), EBD (electronic brake force distribution), Trac DSC (switchable stability control), tyre pressure monitoring system and active headlight system.

MECHANICALS
It may not sound like much, but power and torque from the 4.2-litre V8 are each up two per cent over the engine as it was in the outgoing XK. However, thanks to the new car’s aluminium monocoque and body, the car’s power-to-weight and torque-to-weight ratios are 10 per cent up in the Coupe and 13 per cent in the Convertible.

Thanks also to its aluminium construction, torsional stiffness is much improved over the old XK’s: 31 per cent better in the new Coupe and an even more impressive 48 per cent in the Convertible.

Braking power is increased, too, with front and rear discs 14 per cent larger than those in the outgoing car, and front pad area increased by five per cent.

In terms of kerb mass, the new Coupe is a considerable 90kg lighter than its predecessor, and the Convertible 140kg lighter.

Jaguar’s CATS (computer active technology system) independent suspension gives the car two-stage adaptive damping to help control pitch and roll.

And the ZF six-speed transmission has been universally-acclaimed – and widely-adapted, even by Ford, in its Falcons and Territory – although Jaguar’s paddle-shift system helps give it bragging rights for having one of the quickest-shifting autos in the business.

COMPETITORS
Jaguar sees the XK’s competitors as coming from the ranks of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Lexus. Specifically, it’s talking about sports coupes with convertible variants and similar power and torque outputs -- tick Mercedes-Benz SL500, BMW 650i, Porsche Carrera and Lexus SC430.

The 270kW/490Nm BMW is more potent and closest in price to the XK in both Coupe and Convertible body styles. The coupe-convertible Lexus is cheaper while offering less power (210kW) and almost line-ball torque (419Nm). The SL500 offers just 1kW more power than the XK’s 224kW and a meaty 40Nm more torque but slips in just under $300,000. And the flat-six Carrera and Carrera S twins are the most complicated entrants in the mix, with more power but less torque than the Jaguar.

Where the Carrera delivers 239kW and 370Nm, the Carrera S gets 261kW and 400Nm. And prices range from $195,225 for the manual hardtop Carrera to $248,800 for the Carrera S Cabriolet.

Of that lot, only the Porsche and the BMW offer manual and automatic transmission options. In BMW’s case, the six-speed automatic is a no-cost option.

Press the red starter button ahead of the auto gear lever and release the tiny parking brake catch, and the engine comes to life with a muted growl.

The steering feels light but not overly so when you pull away from the kerb, and the weighting starts to feel about right as you get further down the road, either sedately or using the plentiful available gusto.

The increments on the big speedo on your left could be more helpful: they’re in blocks of 20km/h, as in 70-90-110, and they’re fairly closely spaced.

But everything really comes together when you get a chance to feed in more revs, either via the relatively slow kickdown or by flicking the gear lever across to the “S” mode or clicking the left-side steering wheel paddle. That’s when things really start to happen. Especially above 3000rpm, when the tachometer needle zaps to the 6000rpm redline as the XK’s exhaust system butterfly valve cranks open and there’s a growling, rasping crescendo that’s sure to get your heart started.

Jaguar’s engineers have intentionally channelled the stirring sound into the cabin. From outside the car, or in the top-down Convertible, it sounds even better. It’s something you won’t forget in a hurry, and a sound you’ll want to hear more often.

It soon becomes obvious that both the Coupe and the Convertible XKs are cars in the true GT tradition but equally capable of more docile activity. At 100km/h in sixth gear, the engine is (dare we say it) purring away under 2000rpm. Yet both have got the goods when the going gets twisting and hilly, matching composure and agility when you want, and need, both. And that’s the sign of a taut and stiff chassis matched to a good, lusty powertrain.

Even the Convertible is commendably taut in the twisty bits, with little or no scuttle shake over all but the gnarliest of back country roads.

Jaguar claims 6.2sec 0-100km/h acceleration for the Coupe and 0.1sec slower for the Convertible. But their true potential shows in Jaguar’s claimed 14.4 and 14.5sec (respectively) quarter-mile times.

And, if you’re up for it, you can disable or partially-disable the DSC stability control system to further explore the XK’s sporting potential.

Jaguar says it wants its customers to feel truly involved in the new generation of cars that’s heralded by its new XK. To our way of thinking, the XK’s switchable DSC system is solid confirmation that’s no idle boast.