Jaguar XJ220

This is the world’s first road test of the £403,000 Jaguar XJ220. It is also destined to be the last. 

Tom Walkinshaw and his team at Jaguar Sport, who build this extraordinary supercar, have decided that there is only ever going to be one set of independent performance statistics taken on the XJ220 and those are the ones you will read here.

The car that we tested, registered J999 JAG, is Walkinshaw’s own and the ‘001’ on its kickplates shows it to be the very first of the 350-strong production run. The figures were taken at Millbrook and, along with 1000 miles of non-stop evaluation in England and Wales, represent the first and last clinical analysis of the performance of this, the fastest production car in the world.


The XJ220 is driven by a four-cam, 24-valve 3.5-litre V6 engine derived from the units that powered the XJR10 and 11 sports racers. In road car trim its outputs, at 40C, are 542bhp at 7200rpm and 475lb ft of torque at 4500rpm. At the 18C we had at Millbrook, Jaguar Sport’s engineers estimated the 220 to be giving about 580bhp and “in excess of 500lb ft of torque”. That deals with the first misconception: that a small-capacity V6 wouldn’t cut the mustard.

The second concerns the XJ220’s weight. At five metres long and 2.2 metres wide, the presumption is that the XJ 220 is grossly overweight. But do not mistake size for portliness, as this bonded-aluminium Jaguar carries no fat at all. It’s all muscle. The proof is that, at 1456kg, it is at least 150kg lighter than the Lamborghini Diablo, Ferrari 512TR and even the Bugatti EB110GT. It all adds up to a power-to-weight ratio of at least 372bhp per tonne.

Savage acceleration really is a given here. But what’s really incredible about the XJ220 is its ability to provide such performance in a way that it never, ever intimidates. If we’re still looking for misconceptions, it would be forgivable to assume that a race-derived engine with a small capacity for its enormous output would deliver its power with the friendly progressiveness of a kick in the teeth.

Not so. Its throttle response and, just as important, the weighting of the accelerator pedal, means you can draw on the Jaguar’s performance with absolute accuracy. Use only half the pedal’s travel and it goes like a Golf GTi, moving smartly into Porsche 968 territory with a little extra pressure. A bit more and you have Honda NSX acceleration on hand. The next stage takes you into the domain of the Ferrari 512TR, from which you will only erupt if you nail the pedal to the floor, something you could not conceivably do by accident.

The engine itself sounds awful at its 1000rpm idle, more akin to a pail of nuts and bolts being poured through a Magimix than a pukka race-bred engine.

When it comes to the numbers, though, this car is in a league of its own. It will hit 60mph from rest in 3.6sec, and in first gear. Second asks only for 4.3sec more to take you to 100mph. The Jaguar XJ220 does 130-150mph in fourth in 4.2secs, It’s easier if you say it quickly. It will do 140-160mph in 6.4sec. In top. It recorded a 150-170mph time (11.1sec) within the confines of Millbrook’s mile straight with ease, something no other car has even attempted in our hands.

We were unable to measure the top speed of the XJ220 but we know it will circulate the banked Nardo test track in the south of Italy at 213mph and that this equates to a genuine 220mph.

And yet it is also the finest handling supercar we have ever driven. Such is its damping that supercars we previously considered superlatively well-controlled over difficult roads now seem flawed and spongy after the Jaguar.

Economy is probably not of the greatest concern to those about to spend more than £400,000 on a car but, for the record, the Jaguar stretched a gallon of super unleaded an average of 13.8mpg. The interior of the XJ220 is airy and spacious for two people, the seats are excellent, well able to hold you in place during quick cornering and keep you comfortable, and the driving position is among the best offered by supercars. Sadly, the ergonomics are flawed, but beautiful design details abound: curved slats ahead of the windscreen not only look good but also help air-flow. That said, the boot, though wonderfully trimmed, is almost useless. Oddments fit well enough but any larger bags travel in the car with you. There’s no space under the bonnet, either, as this is given over to the cooling system.