2007 Jaguar XKR Convertible Road Test

Call me a panty-wearing, purse-toting sissy, but I would stand in line to get

Sometimes words just don't do justice. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

told what and when to do and think for this ride. I'm talking about the Jaguar XKR, and the most difficult thing about living with this car for a week was not making too many sexual innuendos in this review. Yeah, it's a car, but if ever a car screamed “SEX!”, you're looking at it. This is one hot car, and I'm having a hell of a time just trying to keep this review PG.

Anyhow, it all came to a head one afternoon when I pulled up at a gas pump feeding the kitty premium juice, and a hip, stylish man driving an affordable family minivan stopped cold, looked over and summed it up perfectly. “Nice Whip.” Well, thanks, and when I have the opportunity I'll pass those compliments on to Ian Callum, the Jaguar design team and the Jaguar marketing and production people who put this wicked, sinful feast for the senses on the road in as lust-inducing a form as they have.

It doesn't take a connoisseur or an automotive aficionado to appreciate this beauty, and anyone within earshot can be excused for getting a little weak in the knees whenever the engine is turned over or the throttle generously

The sound of the supercharged V8 is unique, loud but above all, and addictive. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

applied, gratuitously hacking up furballs while idling at streetlights or when rolling down the ramp in neutral at the underground garage at work. If not for the body-hugging leather seats in which I was ensconced, I likely would have set a record for clumsy stumbles in a week. There's something just a little dirty to the stutter in this cat's growl, perfectly rattling the more primal hormone-producing areas of my nervous system.

Seeing as how this review could start to get ugly real quick, perhaps I should start talking about the features with which this modern cat pampers its occupants. First of all, it includes one of the most intuitive, clearly laid out and simple-to-use car-systems interfaces. From adjusting the radio stations to setting the desired temperature for occupants or connecting a Bluetooth phone to plotting a course on the navigation system via its touch screen interface, most menus were simple to understand at a glance and easily accessed, backwards and forwards. The only drawback was that the touch screen still requires visual contact, which means you have to look away from the road in order to control certain car functions, a procedure that should be,

Not to mention the acceleration. That's pretty addictive too. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

but rarely is, undertaken only after parking the car at the side of the road. Parking the Jag is a snap thanks to parking sensors that use glowing color bars around a diagram of the car to represent objects you are approaching. One frustration is that it shuts off immediately after shifting out of reverse ... it would have been helpful if it stayed on during quick see-saw adventures in parallel parking.

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