This Jaguar’s standard excellence extends beneath that long, elegant hood, too. But even cars that get it right on the first go have some room for improvement. So for 2010, the former base engine—a 300-hp, 4.2-liter V-8—was replaced by a direct-injection, 5.0-liter eight with variable valve timing and a variable-geometry intake manifold, generating a stonking 385 hp at 6500 rpm and 380 lb-ft at 3500. In addition to shuffling the XK about effortlessly, turning in a 5.0-second 0-to-60 flick, and bellowing through the quarter in 13.5 at 107 mph, the 5.0 sounds marvelously unrestrained, nearly out of place in a car so elegant. We say “nearly” because ensuring other people know you’re better than them is part of the Jaguar allure, no? The engine’s tremendous flexibility is reflected in its passing-acceleration times: 30 to 50 mph in 2.5 seconds, 30 to 70 mph in 3.6. This is a car for people who are going places and are bent on getting there immediately.
Behind that engine is the only transmission available, a six-speed automatic( if you’re hoping for more griping about the rotary shifter, look elsewhere) . Paddles on the back of the steering wheel are standard, of course, and each one has a single assigned task: The right upshifts, and the left downshifts. The transmission responds instantaneously, and on downshifts, it rev-matches so aggressively it’ll probably fool a lot of automatic-driving bystanders.