JAGUAR R PERFORMANCE ACADEMY ROLLS INTO VEGAS
15 February 2010
Taming a 510‑horsepower XKR or XFR demands skill – lots of it. That's why we’ve created Jaguar’s R Performance Academy, to help new owners safely explore their car’s staggering performance.
We kicked off the series at the Homestead‑Miami Speedway back in December where 25 of our owners took part. Last week, we wrapped up our second, five‑day academy, this time at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, when we coached more than 50 owners.
To show how the Academy works, we also invited a group of eight top automotive writers to join us in Vegas. Among the publications represented were guys and gals from Car and Driver, Road & Track, AutoWeek, Edmunds.com, About.com and Playboy.com.
In the full day of driving, owners get professional instruction from the likes of the super‑talented Davy Jones – he won the 1990 24 Hours of Daytona in a Jaguar XJR‑12 – and ex‑Formula 1 racer Roberto Guerrero.
Each session kicks off with a reception the evening before where instructors run through what owners can expect during the program. The following day, guests arrive at the track for a brief orientation and a full day of driving in one of 16 Jaguar‑supplied XKRs and XFRs. The course is free to anyone buying a 2010 XKR or XFR.
During the sessions, owners get to experience foot‑to‑the‑floor maximum acceleration using various JaguarDrive Control settings, high‑speed braking, emergency lane changes, Dynamic Mode and DSC Off mode handling and full laps at speed. It’s a pretty intense day. We got a bit of rain in Vegas last week, but it offered an opportunity for us to show off the responsiveness of the R Performance vehicles.
Both the owners and the journalists had a blast. I have to mention that Mike Monticello from Road & Track had the fastest time in the autocross. And the feedback we’ve been getting has been just tremendous. We're hearing that they’ve learned so much about the performance capability of the cars that they can put these techniques to use in daily driving.
We have other R Performance Academy events planned for the coming months. The next one is at the Monticello Motor Club in upstate New York (May 24‑28), then at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California (August 3‑7) and back at Homestead‑Miami (December 6‑10).
One thing’s for sure, going back to school has never been so much fun!
By BJ Colaric, General Manager, Sales Operations for Jaguar North America and R Academy Organizer
Here’s a picture of me (on the left) being interviewed by Sam Jemielity from Playboy.com. Photo by Wes Allison.