Is the new Jaguar XK better than a Porsche 911? AutoCar implies it is.

They're just hyping the headlines to sell magazines. It's obvious that the XK's audience is not the same as the 911 audience.

quizz, you say that but...most people who buy porsches and xks are not young and loaded, they are usually men of a certain age who want something to reinvigorate their lives (the meno-porsche being a very good example). the jag has the advantage of being more useable than the porsche and has room for golf clubs (a serious consideration for their market). the audiences cross over eachother in many places. most 911s are hardly ever used on the limit, they are cruisers and shopping cars that have a lot of style. this is proved by looking around more affluent suburbs and seeing the very high numbers of such cars (sl, 911, xk and 6-series), and seeing the people who drive them. very few under-30s can afford a 911, and instead opt for the boxster, where as the over-40s have more disposable income and can afford to splash out on their dream car. if you play golf or have children that have legs, and want a car like that, the 911 is quickly ruled out. the sl became enormously successful due to its huge style and the panache of the folding roof, the 6-series less so due to the contraversial looks BUT it has real seating for 4. the jag looks good, has more seating capability than an sl and 911 and handles better than the sl and 6-series, so suddenly it becomes a very real choice.
of course in the uk we've never seen a ford taurus so don't know what its grill looks like, the jag looks like the old e-type in our eyes.
i admit, being young, i'd pick a 911 over the jag (if i had the money), but if i were 50, the jag would win.
it is very hard to define audiences for cars, 10 years ago do you think young affluent "stars" would want a cadillac suv? but 5 years ago they all did. in the upper end of the market, people buy what they want and what fits with their lifestyle, whatever that may be, from an rs4 to an escalade, or an xk to a 7 series.

THE XK IS AN ASTON MARTIN RIP OFF. The front of this vehicle looks exactly like an Aston Martin but without the prestige.

The Front of the Jag does not look like an Aston you idiot!

001????

Would you have held out for the XK8 (I am thinking not).

? <------ That goes at the end of my previous sentance, not the (.).

Dumb headline, just to capture reader to buy the mag... nothing more, nothing less...

porche can kick jags butt every sigle day of the week and twice on sundays!!

Autocar is a British magazine, Car Magazine (also British) rates the new Jaguar XK very highly too. Over the decades there has been a trend for UK mags to initially hype British products - but rest assured a year from now both mags will be maligning the XK's bulky styling and weak performance.

No disrespect to Jaguar but not in a million years

001

weak performance? 0-62 5.9 seconds, same as an sl500 and slower (by 0.4 seconds) than a 650, but it is way cheaper than an sl and looks better than the bmw, and the xkr will out perform them both, 0-62 4.9 seconds. which is faster than a carrera 4/4S tiptronic.
unklefunkle, what aston are you thinking of? an imaginary one? astons and this jag are designed by the same person, ian callum.
don't forget the magazine are saying this about an XKR, not XK8.

Rupert... SL500 goes against the old Generation XK buddy. Theres a SL550 out, which is faster than 5.9. 650ci is much better (in every aspect) and I cannot believe you brought looks into this... the Jag must be one of the worst looking Jags made in the past half century. A Mazda mixed a retarded Aston Martin, and added Ford Taurus...

BTW, the top of the line Jaguar XKR, and you are putting it up against the slowest, heaviest 911... That just shows the type of comparisons that you guys are left with... anyways, I'm sure the Carrera 4 with Tip will go much faster, considering Jags, now being owned by ford, was tested with fumes and no spares, and most things not included, while a factory claim Porsche has a spare, along with every day driving trims, and yea, alot of fuel.

P.S The POrsche will not even consider the Jag in its class...

Aside from all this horsepower and 0- whatever talk, many people who buy an SL, XK, 911, Ferrari almost never speed. They cruise and enjoy their fine piece of European automobile. The power is a minor factor in any of their decisions.

I must say I would take a 911 over an XK anyday. The NEW one anyway. The outgoing generation was much nicer IMO.

MBFan604... its a shame they dont speed too, because they were made to be gunned... he he

MBFan604 / Jovi - It's obvious you don't own one of these cars. I do. More than one in fact. I also have many friends w/ Porsches, MBs, BMs, etc. We speed allright.

I race my brand new 997 and, when on public roads, I'm always pushing the envelope when there is no traffic. In fact, I get up extra early every morning - 4:30am - just for that! I'm not alone. Far from it. When I meet with the Porsche club for an autocross, there's always at least 30 of us pushing our gear.

All we try to do is drive moderately when mom's are on the road with their kids. The rest of the time, it's heaven on earth.

I hope that helps dispell some of these misconceptions...

ATrain... actually, My dad has a 996 C4S, and my brother a 997 S... and yes, people push the envelop from time to time, but not all the time... I only have an A4, but guess what, I try to push the car too, though it doesn't go anywhere...

I understand what you are saying, buut what I meant was in regular driving i.e 4 oclock on a highway, heading south with some traffic... I don't look for straight line speeds, I could do that with a Corvette. I look for the turns, the obstacles, and some fun. PS, I'm a safe driver, without any blemishes in my record, and I do drive the 2 Porsches in my family often enough...

btw, what cars do you have? cuz I don't have a vast array to choose from... (996 C4s, 997 S, A4 3.0 Quattro, S500 (2003), Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo)

Also, I've never seen a speeding Jag before, except for one time, I saw a speeding S-type 4.2 on the Merritt Pkwy...

Motor Trend Magazine tested the 2007 Jaguar XK and said that it drived better in some areas than the Aston Martin. Jaguar definitely hit a home run with the XK.

ALMOST all the experts who tested the XK said that it has better handling than the BMW 650i. I think everyone must see the car in person because pictures really don't do the the XK any justice.

jovi, th xkr is top of the line now, but later it wil be superceeded by the xkr-r or similar, it will have versions like porsches gt2 and 3, like xk-r gt2, which will be better. i really don't think this car is ugly, in real life it looks really good, far less chunky than a 6 series (convertible especially). but please don't forget just how much less this car costs than an sl, the sl 350 is only a few grand less than the xk8 and the sl 550 is more than an xkr, the sl 55 even more so. in the uk, the sl 550 is 18000 dollars more than an xk8, the sl55 is 54000 dollars more than the xk8. the xkr is estimated to cost a bit less than an sl550. i know the 911 is obviously dynamically the better car but the 66000 pound 911 cab tiptronic doesn't have electric seats! price does affect rather a lot of what you buy, people sometimes forget that.

jovi: "BTW, the top of the line Jaguar XKR, and you are putting it up against the slowest, heaviest 911... That just shows the type of comparisons that you guys are left with"
i know i put i against that but still people can't say it's slow, the xk does have a standard automatic so it would be unfair to compare otherwise. i wouldn't say the xk or xkr was a better drivers car, but it does have all the boring things like bootspace, a lower price and is more comprehensivley equipped than a comprable 911, and for everyday driving is a better car (powersliding may be fun but its hard to do in the suburbs)
if money was no object my preference would be
911
sl
jag
6-series
but if budget and practicality constrained me (and if it was my only car)
jag
911
6-series
sl
jovi, what do you mean by "you guys"?
and i've seen many speeding jags, one being with my mother in it having rather a lot of fun doing full-throttle take offs at traffic lights (she wasn't driving but still)
the xk is a good looking car, the 6 series (convertible mainly) isn't.

MercBasher is correct !!!
I have noticed the tendency of british Automotive journalists to give great reviews of new British cars, Astons/ Jags/ Tvrs.
Granted the styling of cars will have different people liking/disliking it but to compare the XK to the porsche is madness. They are for totally seperate market segments, they might have similarities in pricing but i doubt that a driving entusiast will pass up on his chance to buy a 997 C4S cab because some journalist says the XKR has almost the same HP or 0-62 time while carrying the bigger boot and more legroom in the back. This is a constant mistake, Jaguar CAN NEVER deliver the total driving feel/Feedback you get from the porsche (and definately not in an XK, XKR or XKRRRRRR) im not so sure about the handling being better than that of the 650i cab but i still have to roadtest the 650i cab before i make my judgement but looks wise it may be that because i have been to the states and know what a Taurus looks like, i cannot get over the fact that the XK's front end looks so much like one.
I have been over every inch of the new XK and i have to be honest I dont like it. But thats just my opinion.