JAGUAR ‘R’: 25 YEARS OF PERFORMANCE!

The ‘R’ badge adorns flagship performance models, showcasing effortlessly thrilling, state-of-the-art and dramatically designed Jaguars.

First engineered by Jaguar 25 years ago, the R-cars each have a focus on dynamic ability that heightens driver reward on the road, yet with an approach that means they are still

practical for everyday use. With a distinctive, louder soundtrack that promises higher levels

of performance from start-up, R-cars empower rather than overpower, adding excitement

and enhancing driver enjoyment.

Acceleration is dramatic and precisely delivered, while levels of control, steering precision and high-speed stability are significantly enhanced. Uprated aerodynamics, improved agility and a more responsive feel elevate the driving experience.

The Jaguar R-S models, through technical and performance upgrades, add further to the sporting specifications of the R-cars, while the limited-edition Jaguar GT models, XKR-S GT, above, are the ultimate vehicles, with inspiration taken from the race track to create focused, performance cars with an emphasis on dynamic ability and speed.

The very first Jaguar cars to bear the R-badge were the XJR racecars, campaigned in the World SportsCar Championship (WSCC) and American IMSA series from 1983. The best known was the Jaguar V12-powered XJR-9 in which Andy Wallace, Johnny Dumfries and Jan Lammers won at Le Mans in 1988. It was the first Jaguar win since the D-type success of the 1950s. The same year, Martin Brundle won the WSCC in his XJR-9 by a record margin, and he too would go on to win Le Mans in the closely related XJR-12 in 1990.

Jaguar’s racing partner TWR had successfully campaigned the XJ-S in the European Touring Car Championship, and had built small numbers of XJR-S-badged road cars. In the midst of the 1988 season, Jaguar decided to develop the R-badge officially, and established JaguarSport as a joint venture with TWR to build low-volume, high-performance, R-badged road cars. Later, the operation was taken entirely in-house.

Now, a quarter of a century later, Jaguar can look back at a long line of fast, powerful yet always graceful R-cars, and forward to future models with levels of technology and performance that those who engineered the originals couldn’t have imagined.

For more information on the latest luxury-performance vehicles from Jaguar, please visit http://www.jaguarusa.com/