After spending a number of hours flogging the new Jaguar XJ Supersport down some of the best back roads the Monterey Bay area has to offer, we’re convinced there’s some kind of trickery going on. It’s simply unnatural that a car this large can feel so small when it’s hustling down twisty two-lanes.
Don’t believe us? Secure the keys to an XJ Supersport, blindfold your passenger and seat him shotgun, then drive him (with a bit of urgency, mind you) down the nearest stretch of serpentine road.Let him listen to the V-8 growl from the quad exhaust pipes; let him feel the lateral g-loading the XJ is capable of while remaining surprisingly flat. Pin him against the seatbelts as the XJ’s massive stoppers haul the car down from triple-digit speeds again and again without fail. Then ask him what car he’s in. We guarantee you, he won’t respond with “Jaguar XJ.” He probably won’t even respond with a sedan.
We could barely believe it ourselves. Even with the steering wheel directly in front of us and the XJ’s gargantuan rear seat directly behind, it was difficult to conclude we were piloting a vehicle 206 inches long with a curb weight of 4223 pounds (201.7 inches and 4172 pounds in short-wheelbase form – the XJ Supersport is available in both lengths).
In our defense, the XJ Supersport’s supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 does churn out 510 horsepower and 461 pound-feet of torque, providing enough urge to propel the XJ from 0 to 60 mph in a claimed 4.7 seconds. That’s also just enough torque to cause the Grey Poupon bottle on the rear-seat tea tray to fly backwards into your rear passenger’s forehead.
In our defense, the XJ Supersport’s supercharged 5.0-liter V-8 does churn out 510 horsepower and 461 pound-feet of torque, providing enough urge to propel the XJ from 0 to 60 mph in a claimed 4.7 seconds. That’s also just enough torque to cause the Grey Poupon bottle on the rear-seat tea tray to fly backwards into your rear passenger’s forehead.
