I noticed while looking at various XKR for sale a different looking seat. As I look through the adds it list them as "performance seats" . What years has this option been available and how do they compare to the standard seats.

 

Since no-one else has answered: I think they came out in 2010 or 2011. There are three seat options: sport (10-way adjustment), luxury (16-way adjustment) and performance ('race' style high-back). Here's the features:

 Cushion front tilt adjustment
 Seat height adjustment
 Backrest adjustment
 Adjustable, active head restraints (sport and luxury variants only)
 Lumbar adjustment
 Fore and aft adjustment
 Extendable cushion (luxury and performance variants only)
 Adjustable side bolsters (luxury and performance variants only)
 Seat heating (sport and performance variants only)
 Seat heating and cooling (luxury variant only)

Personally, with all of the adjustments available, I've found the 16-way seats are fine, even on the track. I have the side bolsters pumped up, so the seat grips my back and I don't notice any excessive lateral movement through corners. And the cooling is very pleasant when you're getting a bit hot from chucking the beast about. I think the performance seats are mainly cosmetic.

 

It was a $4000 option for the '13 model year. I passed getting them on mine because they are not ventilated--heated only.