Jaguar XK vs Porsche Carrera S 01/07/2011
Sedans have been a popular choice for luxury enthusiasts in recent years, but the true cream of the high-end crop is still the two-door coupe. While BMW and Mercedes-Benz offers drivers plenty of prestige, nothing turns heads quite like a Porsche or Jaguar speeding down the highway.
Even in this expensive bracket, there are plenty of significant differences between vehicles. We compared the Jaguar XK Coupe with one of its chief rivals, the Porsche 911 Carrera S, to find out which was the better buy.
The Jaguar starts off cheaper, with an $83,000 price tag compared to the Carrera's $88,800 sticker. Jaguar owners also get added value from the 5 year/50,000 mile warranty, a full year more than what Porsche offers.
The XK features a V8 engine while the Carrera opts for a flat 6. This means equal horsepower between the two at 385, but the Porsche really suffers in the torque department, with just 310 lb-ft compared to the Jag's 380. The Porsche is a traditional manual, while the XK offers drivers the more-forgiving shiftable automatic.
The interior is where the Porsche needs to make up the price difference, but it fails by missing out on a number of standard features. The Jaguar comes with Bluetooth, heated seats, keyless ignition, a navigation system, parking assist and more, all of which are options or not available on the Porsche, making the Jaguar the clear winner in the end.