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2014 Jaguar XKR-S GT claws at the driving enthusiast in us

If you still find yourself coming up a few seconds short per lap in your Jaguar XKR-S, the British automaker has introduced the XKR-S GT - a cat specifically tuned for the racing circuit - at the New York Auto Show.
While Jaguar has left the supercharged 5.0-liter V8 unchanged (550 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque), it has tuned and tweaked all the items that really make cars go quicker on the track (e.g. suspension, aerodynamics, contact patches, brakes). A once-over reveals upgraded go-fast goodies including a new ventilated hood, extended wheel arch spats, reworked front end with a bespoke front splitter and canards, a massive rear wing, height-adjustable adaptive dampers, active exhaust, carbon-ceramic brakes and sticky Pirelli Corsa tires. Try as we might, the driver in us can't find anything we not to like about this enthusiast-tuned coupe.
Of course all of the upgraded XK goodness doesn't come easy, or cheap. Jaguar will limit North American sales to just 30 units and price each at $174,000. Learn all the juicy details in the official press release below.

Chris Harris finds the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe rather drifty

Our own Matt Davis may have called the new Jaguar F-Type R Coupe "one heady rascal," but our review was disappointingly short on drifting, tire smoke and general, English shenanigans. You know, the sort of things that Chris Harris from Drive excels at.
Actually, relative to Harris' other reviews, this one is rather serious. There's a good recap of the F-Type on the road, with Harris referencing the car's "great bottom" and "amazing ass," quite frequently. Surprisingly, Harris says the more powerful F-Type R is just "incrementally" faster than the 495-horsepower F-Type V8 S Convertible. Following the on-road portion, it's off to the track. You can probably predict what goes on there. Overall, aside from some quibbles, Harris has nothing but praise for the newest cat.
We've got the entire video available below. Scroll down, have a look and let us know what you think in Comments.

2016 Jaguar F-Type debuts available manual transmission, AWD

If you're like us, you fell in the deepest, darkest sort of love with Jaguar's F-Type the moment its voluptuous form first surfaced. The car's full-bodied engine specs only furthered our ardor, and the droptop Jag sealed the deal before we even turned a wheel - all it took was hearing its engine bark to life.
And yet, even after driving the original convertible and the subsequent coupe, we've never quite shaken the notion that Jaguar erred a bit too heavily on the Grand Touring side of the equation for a proper sports car. That's partially because even the base model comes with a boatload of weight-adding luxury features. But perhaps more importantly, it's because the F-Type has only been available with an automatic transmission. Admittedly, the gearbox in question is a damned good paddle-shifted eight-speed ZF unit, but it's always chafed a bit that Jaguar wasn't committed to offering purists a manual - even if such a model would never be a high-volume proposition.
Apparently we weren't the only ones bothered by three-pedal omission. According to Russ Varney, F-Type Vehicle Program Director,