Jaguar XJR

----------------------------EXTERIOR--------------------------

The Jaguar XJR only appears in GT2, and is known as the XJR 'Vehicle'. God only knows why...it could be yet another faulty translation on Polyphony Digital's part. Put one in your garage, and it becomes the ‘XJR XJR Vehicle’. Oookay.

To drive a Jaguar is to truely declare yourself a status-seeker. Sure AMG/Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW are also on the level so far as luxury goes in GT2, but these car-makers often put performance and snobbery on the same level, or at least they try to. After driving the XJR around for a bit, it is quickly obvious this car would suffer most if we were to put it in a rich-man's luxury sedan comparison.

When driving this car, one can't help but compare it to the XJ Sport, a cousin of the XJR that weighs 144 pounds less. The game XJR weighs 3,913 lbs, which is a conservative estimate on PD's part; real XJRs weigh upwards of 4,050 pounds--according to several websites I visited. Obviously, the first priority here is to get it to a gym, pronto. Hopefully, you'll still have some money left over for this task, though the XJR's $90,390 price tag might limit this. Once it's done, our gas hog falls to 3,481 pounds at the least, which is still heavier than we'd like, but at least it's a figure we can work with.

Needless to say, this car will always be a handful to drive (actually two handfuls, ha ha), even at tracks like Red Rock Speedway that aren't so tight. Now we know the reason why the XJR and other British sedans are constantly being portrayed as losers when we race against them. I suspect that the computer XJR we see racing at Grindelwäld MUST have weight taken off, as well as slick tires; otherwise it would be sliding all into the walls and whatnot. Isn't Jaguar even a little embarassed that one of their prized, upscale vehicles is being portrayed in a video game as a fast but sloppy mammoth?

But truthfully, we can make an XJR behave. The first step like I said is weight reductions. And no we can't buy a racing kit. But hey, I just won the Sports Car Cup at Trail Mountain in an XJR. This is no easy task...if I can do it, so can you. Well, maybe.

---------------------ENGINE / DRIVETRAIN-------------

Though the XJR is heavy, it is no slouch. The 400 hp at 7,000 rpms and 388 ft.-lbs. of torque at 4,000 the 4 liter DOHC V8 cranks out will help this 3,900 pound cat reach 60 mph from a dead stop in just 6 seconds. Zero to 100 mph is hit in just 13.5, the quarter-mile blazes by in 14.373 seconds @ 106 mph, and 1,000 meters follows in 25.2 at 137... and we're not out of 4th gear till we get to 170 mph! Figures like these are enough to make many American cars found in GT2 which are equipped with V8s look average. After all, many South City cars in GT2 have the acceleration, but lack the top-end, so they can't often get past 130 miles per hour. Not only this, but the engine / exhaust sample Polyphony took for the XJR actually SOUNDS like a rumbly V8, unlike some other sedate samples that have been taken by Gran Turismo soundbyte engineers.

The XJR hit a satisfying 174.76 mph top speed, all five gears being paced for a smooth mixture of acceleration and speed. Very nice. But let's look a bit beyond superficial numbers. One major problem here are the car's tires, which don't provide enough traction off the start, so the engine will bounce into the red-line again and again the whole time we're in 1st gear unless one is careful with the throttle. We can't use super-close gearing for most races because it is too short, so don't rule out full-racing gears if there's a desire to get serious. Modifyable gears will be needed to cure this acceleration dilemma. I think I spelled that last word wrong. Damn webtv doesn't give me a spell check!

The XJR is bought standard with a super-charger, but no boost gauge; one only sees this dial after the engine starts being modified. One drawback (sort of) is that there are only 2 Stages of supercharging available. In a way, this isn't so much of a big deal; the XJR can be modified up to 559 hp, and really that's about all it can handle. Plus, I doubt many people will ever complain about this; they're mostly all too busy racing Evos, Corvettes, and Skylines. ;) Another sucky thing is that even with a Stage 2 supercharger & engine balancing, redline area doesn't increase at all. This is sucky because the car's peak power area happens to be 500 rpms PAST redline. WTF?

Obviously, the XJR won't need much immediate help with its engine if it's entering a race that it's comfortable with (like the Luxury Sedan Series). In fact, our superstar feline is too powerful to be entered into many of Gran Turismo's events, possibly making all the money spent on this saloon seem wasteful to those who aren't in the know. Just like real-life, the Jaguar XJ-series is truely a car for the richer folks of our game. But at least in real-life you can sit in the damn thing!

So besides the traction issues and other nitpicking, there's actually little to compain about so far as power is concerned. Let's move on.

-----------------------CHASSIS / HANDLING--------------------

Okay. Let's get right to the point here: there are golf carts that handle better than this car. Almost literally. I mean, I've driven golf carts in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City that handle turns better than this monstrosity.

The XJR will powerslide and take long, sweeping turns with style like the XJ Sport, but controlling an XJR is a hell of a lot more work, despite the fact that it only weighs a hundred and forty-four pounds more. The XJR is equppied with a heavy-duty double-wishbone suspension, coil springs + anti-roll bars all around. Despite these components, the car really isn't ready for racing as some other luxury cars are when stock, and all that power up above generally gets wasted due to the poor traction the tires provide.

Unlike the XJ Sport, the XJR will oversteer AND understeer with equal abandon, which is a pretty sad sight to witness if you're not prepared. Hopefully you've still got money left over from the weight reductions you bought earlier, because now it's gonna be needed for better tires. And while you're at it, don't buy sport tires...uh-uh...no, you're gonna need the slicks. The SOFT slicks. And we still haven't modified the engine yet!

Dialing in the suspension and limited-slip can be akin to heart surgery, but the key thing to remember is that the XJR has a massive trunk, which means settings will be needed that minimize oversteer as well as back-end bounciness. What we don't want is to have the trunk sliding and flopping around too much, causing the XJR to lose precious traction thru turns. Another trick I've learned is to try jacking the front of the car about 10 mm (or more) higher than the rear. This will limit some of the fishtailing.

Buy the full-racing suspension so stabilizers and spring rates can be used to keep the XJR's heavy body under control. These parts are not fully necessary for all races, but they're definitely needed eventually. Full-custom brakes and a limited-slip are also good early buys. Yeah, all these items are costly, but if you've got the money to buy an XJR, you're making some bank, anyways, right? :?

Any way we stack it, the Jaguar XJR will still be a difficult ride no matter what is done to it. But truthfully, it never wanted to be flying around high-speed race courses, anyways!


				GRAN TURISMO CAR REVIEWS *Jaguar XJR*



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		Year: 1999 ``````````````````````````` Type: Full-Size Luxury Sedan Country: England `````````````````````````````````````````````` Host: GT2 Price: $90,390 Length: 197.8" // Width: 70.8" // 51.7" Wheelbase: 113" Overhang: @7' 1" Track: 59.1" [F] 59.0" [R] Ground Clearance: 5.5" Weight: 3,913 lbs. Layout: Front Engine / Rear Drive Tires: 225/40ZR-18 95Y F. & R. Suspension: double wishbone / coils / anti-roll bars Brakes: vented discs + ABS Engine: 4.0 liter DOHC V8 Tested HP: 400 @ 7 ,000 rpm Tstd Torque: 388 @ 4,000 rpm Lbs per HP: 9.78 HP per Liter: 100.1 Credits per HP: $225.97 Aspiration: supercharger Fuel System: EFi Valves per Cyl: 4 Compression: 9.0:1 Bore x Stroke: 3.39 x 3.39" Redline: 6,500 // Rev Limit: 7000 Transmission: 5-speed automatic 0-60 mph: 6.0 seconds 0-100mph: 13.5 seconds 400 M: 14.373 @ 106 mph 1 Kilo: 25.200 @ 137 mph Test Track: 1:39.046 Top Speed at Redline 1st: 47 mph 2nd: 76 mph 3rd: 112 mph 4th: 170 mph 5th: 174.76 mph @ 5,400 rpms ----------------------------EXTERIOR-------------------------- The Jaguar XJR only appears in GT2, and is known as the XJR 'Vehicle'. God only knows why...it could be yet another faulty translation on Polyphony Digital's part. Put one in your garage, and it becomes the ‘XJR XJR Vehicle’. Oookay. To drive a Jaguar is to truely declare yourself a status-seeker. Sure AMG/Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW are also on the level so far as luxury goes in GT2, but these car-makers often put performance and snobbery on the same level, or at least they try to. After driving the XJR around for a bit, it is quickly obvious this car would suffer most if we were to put it in a rich-man's luxury sedan comparison. When driving this car, one can't help but compare it to the XJ Sport, a cousin of the XJR that weighs 144 pounds less. The game XJR weighs 3,913 lbs, which is a conservative estimate on PD's part; real XJRs weigh upwards of 4,050 pounds--according to several websites I visited. Obviously, the first priority here is to get it to a gym, pronto. Hopefully, you'll still have some money left over for this task, though the XJR's $90,390 price tag might limit this. Once it's done, our gas hog falls to 3,481 pounds at the least, which is still heavier than we'd like, but at least it's a figure we can work with. Needless to say, this car will always be a handful to drive (actually two handfuls, ha ha), even at tracks like Red Rock Speedway that aren't so tight. Now we know the reason why the XJR and other British sedans are constantly being portrayed as losers when we race against them. I suspect that the computer XJR we see racing at Grindelwäld MUST have weight taken off, as well as slick tires; otherwise it would be sliding all into the walls and whatnot. Isn't Jaguar even a little embarassed that one of their prized, upscale vehicles is being portrayed in a video game as a fast but sloppy mammoth? But truthfully, we can make an XJR behave. The first step like I said is weight reductions. And no we can't buy a racing kit. But hey, I just won the Sports Car Cup at Trail Mountain in an XJR. This is no easy task...if I can do it, so can you. Well, maybe. ---------------------ENGINE / DRIVETRAIN------------- Though the XJR is heavy, it is no slouch. The 400 hp at 7,000 rpms and 388 ft.-lbs. of torque at 4,000 the 4 liter DOHC V8 cranks out will help this 3,900 pound cat reach 60 mph from a dead stop in just 6 seconds. Zero to 100 mph is hit in just 13.5, the quarter-mile blazes by in 14.373 seconds @ 106 mph, and 1,000 meters follows in 25.2 at 137... and we're not out of 4th gear till we get to 170 mph! Figures like these are enough to make many American cars found in GT2 which are equipped with V8s look average. After all, many South City cars in GT2 have the acceleration, but lack the top-end, so they can't often get past 130 miles per hour. Not only this, but the engine / exhaust sample Polyphony took for the XJR actually SOUNDS like a rumbly V8, unlike some other sedate samples that have been taken by Gran Turismo soundbyte engineers. The XJR hit a satisfying 174.76 mph top speed, all five gears being paced for a smooth mixture of acceleration and speed. Very nice. But let's look a bit beyond superficial numbers. One major problem here are the car's tires, which don't provide enough traction off the start, so the engine will bounce into the red-line again and again the whole time we're in 1st gear unless one is careful with the throttle. We can't use super-close gearing for most races because it is too short, so don't rule out full-racing gears if there's a desire to get serious. Modifyable gears will be needed to cure this acceleration dilemma. I think I spelled that last word wrong. Damn webtv doesn't give me a spell check! The XJR is bought standard with a super-charger, but no boost gauge; one only sees this dial after the engine starts being modified. One drawback (sort of) is that there are only 2 Stages of supercharging available. In a way, this isn't so much of a big deal; the XJR can be modified up to 559 hp, and really that's about all it can handle. Plus, I doubt many people will ever complain about this; they're mostly all too busy racing Evos, Corvettes, and Skylines. ;) Another sucky thing is that even with a Stage 2 supercharger & engine balancing, redline area doesn't increase at all. This is sucky because the car's peak power area happens to be 500 rpms PAST redline. WTF? Obviously, the XJR won't need much immediate help with its engine if it's entering a race that it's comfortable with (like the Luxury Sedan Series). In fact, our superstar feline is too powerful to be entered into many of Gran Turismo's events, possibly making all the money spent on this saloon seem wasteful to those who aren't in the know. Just like real-life, the Jaguar XJ-series is truely a car for the richer folks of our game. But at least in real-life you can sit in the damn thing! So besides the traction issues and other nitpicking, there's actually little to compain about so far as power is concerned. Let's move on. -----------------------CHASSIS / HANDLING-------------------- Okay. Let's get right to the point here: there are golf carts that handle better than this car. Almost literally. I mean, I've driven golf carts in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City that handle turns better than this monstrosity. The XJR will powerslide and take long, sweeping turns with style like the XJ Sport, but controlling an XJR is a hell of a lot more work, despite the fact that it only weighs a hundred and forty-four pounds more. The XJR is equppied with a heavy-duty double-wishbone suspension, coil springs + anti-roll bars all around. Despite these components, the car really isn't ready for racing as some other luxury cars are when stock, and all that power up above generally gets wasted due to the poor traction the tires provide. Unlike the XJ Sport, the XJR will oversteer AND understeer with equal abandon, which is a pretty sad sight to witness if you're not prepared. Hopefully you've still got money left over from the weight reductions you bought earlier, because now it's gonna be needed for better tires. And while you're at it, don't buy sport tires...uh-uh...no, you're gonna need the slicks. The SOFT slicks. And we still haven't modified the engine yet! Dialing in the suspension and limited-slip can be akin to heart surgery, but the key thing to remember is that the XJR has a massive trunk, which means settings will be needed that minimize oversteer as well as back-end bounciness. What we don't want is to have the trunk sliding and flopping around too much, causing the XJR to lose precious traction thru turns. Another trick I've learned is to try jacking the front of the car about 10 mm (or more) higher than the rear. This will limit some of the fishtailing. Buy the full-racing suspension so stabilizers and spring rates can be used to keep the XJR's heavy body under control. These parts are not fully necessary for all races, but they're definitely needed eventually. Full-custom brakes and a limited-slip are also good early buys. Yeah, all these items are costly, but if you've got the money to buy an XJR, you're making some bank, anyways, right? :? Any way we stack it, the Jaguar XJR will still be a difficult ride no matter what is done to it. But truthfully, it never wanted to be flying around high-speed race courses, anyways! --------------------------PROS-------------------------- 1). A lot of power in such a refined, dignified setting makes the XJR truly a wolf in cat's clothing. Tennis anyone? 2). Supercharger comes standard, and so does its power. 3). A good combination of speed and acceleration. A long-throw gearbox is matched up to the superb engine. 4). Excellent sounding engine/exhaust sample. 5). Lots of color options. Want your new XJR to complement the cheese-stained Brooks Brothers shirt you wore to the Grandstands? Make it happen at the Jag dealership. ---------------------------CONS----------------------- 1). High price doesn't guarantee the XJR will be able to enter in many of GT2's horsepower-limited events. Money can't buy everything. 2). HEAVY. Not Rolls Royce-heavy, but still packin' some pounds. 3). Tires provide poor lateral and starting-mark acceleration. Slicks are needed immediately. 4). Twice the amount of money that you paid for this car when it was new will be needed on suspension, limited-slip, brakes, tires, and (for some) traction controls to get it to handle moderately better. 5). Prone to spin-outs, wallowing, and understeer. 6). Redline area doesn't increase with engine upgrades. 7). No racing kit available. 8). Other heavy, expensive sedans (Mercedes, Lexus and BMW, for instance) are simply better buys for racing and need less taming than the Jag. Published: December 1st, 2004



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