I am 57 and own a XK8 convertible from 1997. Love it. In my age you always want more power, even my wife tells me ... that i have enough power.. ( she means the XK8) . Can someone tell me if you can feel so much more on an XKR as on the XK8 ? I am not interessted on top speed. Just cruizing fast. When i accelerate with my XK8 at around 100km/h in highest gear i always liitle disapointed when i want more w/o using P button are do a kick-down.
Who has experience with both cars ?

 

The power-to-weight ratio on the 1999 XK8 is about 128 w/kg, and the 2006 XKR about 214 w/kg. 0-60 times is around 1.5 seconds faster in the XKR - depending on coupe vs vert in both cases, and it depends whose time you take.

I have never driven an XKR, but the statistics alone tells the story. With the supercharger on the XKR, kick-down on 120km/h should be good. I have a bike to give me those type of thrills.

 

you cannot beat the XKR for excelaration in all gears.doing 90mph if you step on the gas it will push you into the seat.you got to love it. the supercharger makes all the difference

 

XKR power is felt around 2500 rpm so 0-45 you easily get a nice shove in your gut while in first gear and still at legal city street limits. I'm 45 and if I'm first at the light, I do it all the time.

I initially pursued XK8 coupes purely for the beauty and decent reputation, but lost out both times. Found a local XKR convertible but foolishly passed as I wanted light colored interior, and ended up with a higher mileage XKR coupe with all the right colors.

The torque rush never gets old, and with just yourself its enough. With another adult it could use some more. No passenger is going to begrudge a driver hitting the gas for that torque rush; however, throwing any car into a quick curve isn't so universally savored.

I came from an early Porsche Boxster, and while that car was supremely good all around, the torque delivery of the XKR satisfied my long-standing desire to enjoy modern muscle car performance from a stop light.

 

Would I sell my beloved XK8 for an XKR, No
If something happened (oh my no!) to my XK8 and I needed a replacement I would get a 2003-2006 XKR. More power = more grins.

 

Well....I am 52 and driven a fair few high performance cars in my life, I have driven the 8 & now own an R. Before my R came along, I owned a fair few turbo petrol sports cars and with these you have to be at 3000rpm to get that thump in the back or a lower RPM wait for the lag to disappear before the power comes in. Now here enters the Super Charger, always on and waiting for you to un-leash that massive chuck of air into an already powerful lump down the front.....it just doesn't stop unloading the punch in the back. To make it feel at home you need a runway the length of Heathrow "it should do nicely," hit the gas pedal hold onto the steering wheel until your knuckles go white and enjoy....!!

 

i am in my seventieth year and have had both,and the r is so much more fun you drive around with a smile on your face,and if you know a good performance mechanic he can take off the limiter to really have fun but you need eyes in the back of your head or you will make headlines and prob.lose your licence

 

You "R" guys need to stop please. I have the N/A XK8 and I barely keep within sanity distance of the posted speeds now.

You're making the XKR sound way too tempting and I am so close to getting my blue cat sorted out.

 

I drive all types of XKs on a daily basis....... If I wanted to buy another XK (god knows why I have enough) for myself it would always be an R

 

Having driven both, and having owned an XKR, I don't think I could ever own an XK8.