Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Comparison: 2014 Audi S8 vs. 2014 Jaguar XJR

    Remember a little while ago when I compared the Maserati Quattroporte to the Jaguar XJR? I said the Quattroporte was better. You might disagree with me, but believe me, I still think the XJR is quite an exceptional car. But even after comparing it to the Q-P, I think it's only fair to give it a second chance. This time, the competitor will be a little less classic-Italian sports car and more no-nonsense German engineering. 

2. Audi S8

    When I saw a brand-new 2015 A8 in town the other day, I thought to myself: "wait, the haven't really changed it at all." I went home and looked up the new A8, and I found myself looking at a 2014 A8 with some new headlights and some new options. It's the same thing with the new S8: they haven't really done anything to it. Sure, it does 0-60 in 3.8 seconds and has 520 hp, but they haven't actually done anything that matters. They could have tuned the total output to 600 hp and lower the 0-60 time, but instead, they've just changed some minor bits and pieces. It's still really fast and luxurious, it just isn't any better than before. 



1. Jaguar XJR

    There's one big thing that I find really helpful with the XJR: it is available in long-wheelbase form, so if you want to drive it really fast one day and be driven around the next, you can, thanks to its extra legroom and executive rear seating package. This is something the S8 does not share with the XJR. And even if a shorter wheelbase helps performance, Jaguar doesn't need to worry, thanks to the massive 550 hp coming out of it's animal-like 5.0 liter V8. 0-60 is claimed at 4.4 seconds, which doesn't seem that fast, but when you compare it to the XKR, it seems about accurate. But the main reason the XJR won is because it has character. The XJR is full of rage and power, but the S8 is kind of plain. It doesn't share the same sense of excitement with the XJR, so it loses this comparison. 



Here's the link to both the Jaguar and Audi sites:
http://www.jaguarusa.com/index.html
http://www.audiusa.com/

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