In 1997, Jaguar decided that it had enough inline-six engines for its high-class vehicles, so it decided to introduce a new engine generation, the AJ-V8 units. As the name suggested, they were V8, and the company engineers thought there was room for improvement, so they added a supercharger on it!
From the outside, there were just a few clues that could tell someone that that was an XJR. Sure, there was a silver mesh-grille instead of the body-colored one. There was a specific set of light-alloy wheels on the fast, four-door British car. Also, there was a dual exhaust with each pipe on one side of the vehicle in the back. Moreover, the new generation of the XJ, introduced at the 1997 Frankfurt Motor Show, was sleeker and made many tall people crying due to its low-roof greenhouse. But the others didn’t care.
Inside, it was the same British luxury atmosphere as it was before garnished with leather, wood, and fine materials. The buttons were installed where they were supposed to be and not hidden behind the steering wheel. The J-shaped gear-selector was typical for Jaguar only. The room in the back was adequate for average-sized passengers. The tall ones, on the other hand, were not happy at all.
Under the hood, the XJR featured a newly developed 4.0-liter V8 supercharged engine that produced more power than the XJS V12 sports car. The gearbox was the 5G-Tronic carried-over from Mercedes-Benz. The result was a surprisingly fast luxury sedan.
| BODYWORK | ||
| BODY TYPE | 4/5 seater sedan/saloon | |
| NUMBER OF DOORS | 4 | |
| DESIGNER | ||
| DIMENSIONS & WEIGHTS | ||
| WHEELBASE | 2870 mm | 113 inches |
| TRACK/TREAD (FRONT) | 1500 mm | 59.1 inches |
| TRACK/TREAD (REAR) | 1498 mm | 59 inches |
| LENGTH | 5024 mm | 197.8 inches |
| WIDTH | 1798 mm | 70.8 inches |
| HEIGHT | 1339 mm | 52.7 inches |
| GROUND CLEARANCE | 129 mm | 5.1 inches |
| LENGTH:WHEELBASE RATIO | 1.75 | |
| KERB WEIGHT | 1837 kg | 4050 lb |
| WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION | ||
| FUEL TANK CAPACITY | 87.4 litres | 19.2 [23.1] UK [US] gal. |
| AERODYNAMICS | ||
| DRAG COEFFICIENT | ||
| FRONTAL AREA | ||
| CDA | ||
| POWERTRAIN | ||
| ENGINE TYPE | supercharged petrol | |
| ENGINE MANUFACTURER | Jaguar | |
| ENGINE CODE | AJ-V8 AJ28 | |
| CYLINDERS | V 8 | |
| CAPACITY | 4 litre 3996 cc (243.851 cu in) | |
| BORE × STROKE | 86 × 86 mm 3.39 × 3.39 in | |
| BORE/STROKE RATIO | 1 | |
| VALVE GEAR | double overhead camshaft (DOHC) 4 valves per cylinder 32 valves in total | |
| MAXIMUM POWER OUTPUT | 375 PS (370 bhp) (276 kW) at 6150 rpm | |
| MAXIMUM TORQUE | 525 Nm (387 ft·lb) (53.5 kgm) at 3600 rpm | |
| SPECIFIC OUTPUT | 69 kW/litre 93.9 ps/litre 92.6 bhp/litre 1.52 bhp/cu in | |
| SPECIFIC TORQUE | 131.38 Nm/litre 1.59 ft·lb/cu3 | |
| ENGINE CONSTRUCTION | ||
| SUMP | ||
| COMPRESSION RATIO | 9:1 | |
| FUEL SYSTEM | EFi | |
| BMEP (BRAKE MEAN EFFECTIVE PRESSURE) | 1651 kPa (239.5 psi) | |
| MAXIMUM RPM | ||
| CRANKSHAFT BEARINGS | ||
| ENGINE COOLANT | Water | |
| UNITARY CAPACITY | 499.5 cc | |
| ASPIRATION | S/Charged | |
| COMPRESSOR | ||
| INTERCOOLER | Y | |
| CATALYTIC CONVERTER | Y | |
| PERFORMANCE | ||
| ACCELERATION 0-80KM/H (50MPH) | ||
| ACCELERATION 0-60MPH | 5.5 s | |
| ACCELERATION 0-100KM/H | 5.6 s | |
| ACCELERATION 0-160KM/H (100MPH) | 13.5 s | |
| STANDING QUARTER-MILE | 14.1 s @ 102 mph | |
| STANDING KILOMETRE | 25.3 s @ 206 km/h | |
| MAXIMUM SPEED | 250 km/h (155 mph) | |
| POWER-TO-WEIGHT RATIO | Higher is better 204.22 PS/tonne (1000 kg) 0.2 PS/kg 150.2 kW/tonne (1000 kg) 0.15 kW/kg 201.42 bhp/tonne (1000 kg) 0.2 bhp/kg 0.09 bhp/lb | |
| WEIGHT-TO-POWER RATIO | Lower is better 6.66 kg/kW 11.12 lb/bhp | |
| FUEL CONSUMPTION | ||
| FUEL CONSUMPTION | ||
| UNIVERSAL FUEL CONSUMPTION (CALCULATED FROM THE ABOVE) | ||
| LITRES/100KM | ||
| KM/LITRE | ||
| UK MPG | ||
| US MPG | ||
| CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS | ||
| CARFOLIO CALCULATED CO2? | ||
| VED BAND (UK) | ||
| CO2 EFFIZIENZ (DE) | ||
| CHASSIS | ||
| ENGINE POSITION | front | |
| ENGINE LAYOUT | longitudinal | |
| DRIVE WHEELS | rear wheel drive | |
| TORQUE SPLIT | N/A | |
| STEERING | ||
| TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK | 2.800 | |
| TURNING CIRCLE | ||
| FRONT SUSPENSION | I.DW.CS.ARB. | |
| REAR SUSPENSION | I.LW.CS.ARB. | |
| WHEEL SIZE FRONT | ||
| WHEEL SIZE REAR | ||
| TYRES FRONT | ||
| TYRES REAR | ||
| BRAKES F/R | VeDi/VeDi-S-ABS | |
| FRONT BRAKE DIAMETER | ||
| REAR BRAKE DIAMETER | ||
| BRAKED AREA | ||
| GEARBOX | 5 speed automatic | |
| TOP GEAR RATIO | 0.83 | |
| FINAL DRIVE RATIO | 3.06 | |
