Jaguar XKR Goodwood Special with 530HP V8: New Photo Gallery

If you made it to this weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed (July 3-5), there's no way you could have not noticed Jaguar's special edition XKR. The one-off performance model that was purposely built for the event was painted in an extremely distinct lime-green color while the coupe also featured special exterior graphics in gray and orange.

Other styling tweaks that differentiate this model over the standard 2010 XKR facelift include the 21-inch alloys and the satin graphite detailing to the front grilles, door mirrors, rear signature blade, side window surrounds, headlights and bonnet louvres.

What's more is that Jaguar's engineers fiddled around with the XKR's supercharged 5.0-liter V8 that in standard form makes 510HP and 625Nm or 461 lb-ft of torque launching the sports coupe from standstill to 60mph (96km/h) in 4.6 seconds. In the XKR Goodwood Special, output is lifted to 530 horsepower and torque to 700Nm or 516.2 lb-ft.

The special edition XKR also features a lowered suspension and a tweaked exhaust system for a louder and more intimidating sound. Jaguar said that that the XKR Goodwood Special is a one-off model but we gather that if there's enough interest, the British automaker may launch a limited run series in the near future.

Jaguar Goodwood Special XKR: First Official Photos of Performance Model

The lime green Jaguar you see going slideways above is the 'Goodwood Special XKR', a one-off model that it will make its world debut at this weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed. It is based on the facelifted 2010 XKR that exits the factory with a supercharged 5.0-liter V8 producing 510HP and 625Nm of torque that propels the coupe to 60mph (96km/h) from standstill in 4.6 seconds. Jaguar said that the one-off model features an array of performance enhancements and a louder exhaust, but did not disclose any specific details.

The 'Goodwood Special XKR' also features 21-inch alloy wheels and a lowered ride-height while the coupe's exterior stands out with the unique Lime Green paint scheme and XKR exterior graphics along with satin graphite detailing to the front grilles, headlights, door mirrors, side window surrounds, rear signature blade and bonnet louvres.

Jaguar Reportedly Looking into the SUV Segment

According to UK magazine Autocar, Jaguar is considering the development of a crossover / SUV model, presumably to boost sales in Europe and the North America. While creating internal competition for Land Rover models, such as the Evoque, doesn’t sound like a good idea, the project has the backing of Jaguar boss Adrian Hallmark.

“We need a crossover and we need to stop being a saloon-based company”, he told Autocar. This gives the news some credibility, otherwise we might have been tempted to dismiss it as an empty rumor.

But what could determine Jaguar to make such a move? The first thing that comes to mind is economy of scale. Creating an entry-level crossover – if that’s what Jaguar aims for – wouldn’t cost the British automaker an arm and a leg. The Evoque can provide the base, at minimal expense.

With this out of the way, the problem of positioning the new model remains. The alleged Jaguar crossover would cost more and we're not sure if customers will be willing to fork out the extra cash. On the other hand, pricing it as a comparable Land Rover model would create unwanted internal competition.

However, there are success stories of once niche-manufactures embracing the crossover/SUV hype, most notably Porsche with the Cayenne. When it hit the market, much to the dismay of Porsche purists, no one predicted just how important the SUV would become for the German maker.

Today, the bulk of Porsche sales are made up by the Cayenne and, who knows, that could also be the case with Jaguar.