Jaguar XFR vs. BMW M5
Why the comparison?
There aren't many saloons out there offering over 500bhp, but those that do are very special indeed. The BMW M5 has been at the top of the pile for a long time now, but there are other contenders constantly trying to knock the M5 from its number one position. Audi offers the RS6 and Mercedes the E 63 AMG, but for this head-to-head power struggle we've pitted the German machine against a car from home soil - the Jaguar XFR. Both deliver in excess of 500bhp, both are rear-wheel drive and either will leave a huge grin on your face. So which one is the best?
How are they similar?
Five hundred ponies feature under the bonnet of each of these supersaloons, giving them fearsome accelerative ability. Push the accelerator to the floor in either and you'll catapult towards 62mph in less than five seconds. The BMW pips the Jaguar slightly with its 4.7-second time - against 4.9 seconds for the XFR - but you'd really struggle to notice from behind the wheel. Keep your foot floored and you'll get either up to their electronic 155mph limiters with scarcely believable ease.
That's supercar performance from cars that offer seating for four adults and room for all the golf clubs you could ever need down at the course. Both drive their rear wheels only and feature two pedals, the Jaguar coming with a conventional automatic and the BMW fitted with an automated manual transmission. Swapping ratios in either can be left completely down the car itself or driven by you via paddle-shifters.
Given their sporting focus both ride rather well, the Jaguar soaking up the bumps a bit more ably than the stiff BMW, though the M5 isn't as uncomfortable as you might anticipate.
How do they differ?
Although conceptually similar the M5 and XFR are very different machines to drive. The BMW is a technical marvel, with more driver options than you'll typically find on a console racing game. Fiddle about with the settings and you can alter the suspension, throttle response, gearshift speed, differential and the thresholds of the electronic safety nets. There's even a 'power' button, allowing you to switch between 'just' 400bhp and the full-on 503bhp. The Jaguar does without such fussiness; it offers some adjustment - chiefly a dynamic mode setting and Sport for the gearbox - but that's about it, and all you really need.
The differences between the two demonstrate perhaps the slightly different focus. While the Jaguar is a supremely comfortable big grand touring car that just happens to have massive power, the BMW is more a saloon that's been honed for track work. The engines their respective manufacturers have developed further underline this, the BMW's 5.0-litre V10 a screaming exotic that delivers only in the upper echelons of its rev range, the Jaguar's 5.0-litre supercharged V8 more flexible, its muscularity available over more of the sweep of the rev counter's needle.
The Jaguar is effortlessly fast, where you have to work with - and occasionally fight with - the M5. The BMW's robotised manual gearbox defines the M5; it's sometimes clunky operation and reluctance in traffic is completely at odds with the Jaguar's slick-shifting automatic. The M5's engine needs to be worked hard too, the thirst for high revs great if you're on a racing circuit, but not so clever when any turbodiesel pulls away from you when you find yourself in the wrong gear.
Both will carry quite mesmerising pace, the BMW the more focussed, more intense driving experience on the right road, but the Jaguar coping far better with the wrong ones - along with motorway cruising, and stop-start traffic. Against the Jaguar the M5 feels a bit one dimensional, the XFR a far more rounded machine.
So which one would we have?
We'd be delighted with either, but as an everyday proposition the M5 falls short due to its focus. Where it's busy and involving the Jaguar is effortless, yet without detachment. There's more space in the back of the BMW but the small sacrifice in headroom is worth it for the Jaguar's more complete feel. Really, it's a matter of taste. Do you like your performance saloons raw and focussed, or fast and more rounded? We'd have the latter, and also save a significant chunk of cash, as the Jaguar undercuts the BMW, too.
