The Jaguar Sport XJR-15 isn’t as bad as you’ve heard

April 29, 2022

The story of the Jaguar Sport XJR-15 is a bit complicated. Based on the Jaguar XJR-9 race car that won the Le Mans in 1988, the supercar aimed at celebrating the car was actually designed by Jaguar Sports, a subsidiary of Tom Walkinshaw Racing, which runs the racing team. I did.

To soothe the jaguar Development of XJ220 At that time, the first 17 cars were built for the one-make race series and had a reputation for being just a handful. Indeed, Jeremy Clarkson once called it the worst car in the world …

But according to Henry Catchpole, it may not deserve its reputation.For one thing, many of the bad treatments Bridgestone tires It clearly came off faster than the Pirelli F1 tires and made quite a handful of cars.

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The XJR-15 It was also equipped with a naturally aspirated V12 engine that produced 450 hp (335 kW / 456 PS) and 420 lb-ft (569 Nm) of torque. It may not sound that huge by today’s standards, but the car weighs only 1,050 kg (2,315 lbs) and was derived from the Le Mans winner. Therefore, it was a suitable supercar at that time.

The road-going version had some concessions for comfort, such as a synchromesh 5-speed manual instead of a straight-cut 6-speed, but it’s almost uncomfortable. The exposed carbon interior, on the other hand, is not a luxury height. But is it really worthy of its reputation?

“The worst handling car in the world? Certainly not, I drove much worse than this,” says Catchpole, despite the rain that falls on his day in the car. “Steering is so tactile that it’s probably the biggest asset, and it gives you a real sense of security.”

But he speculates that the experience of owning a car is like owning it. Tiger.. Due to its wild nature, no matter how long you knew it, you couldn’t really trust it.