First Drive: 2009 Jaguar XFR
What does he look for?
First, steering response: "It must be immediate, but the car should never feel nervous." Over the years, Cross has found careful attention to the rear axle -- spring and shock rates, tire selection -- helps the front end work better. The active differential in the XFR is a further tool in the arsenal: "When the diff is open [unlocked] it's good for steering response," he says.
Second, ride: "I want a relaxed rolling feel," he explains, "but you always need reserves of control." Jaguar pays close attention to controlling the roll rate of the suspension, even when the car is traveling in a straight line. The idea, says Cross, is to reduce what ride and handling engineers call "head toss," the side-to-side pitching of your head that occurs when your car rides over bumps on alternate sides.
Third, linearity: "The car should always feel entirely linear and predictable," he says. "It needs to be safe and stable, but it also must be fun to drive." Again, the new active diff is a key enabler in the XFR. "When it's locked, you get the traction you want out of corners, but when it's open on the straight, it's better for stability." Cross likes his cars to understeer mildly at the limit: "It's safer for the average driver."
Cross says his chassis engineers "looked at the obvious Germans" -- BMW M5 and AMG E-Class -- early in the XFR program. But in the latter stages of its development, the benchmark car became the 4.2L XF Supercharged. "We were quite pleased with the way that one turned out," he notes with typical understatement.
Faster, more precise, but with no loss of comfort or capability, the XFR has clearly built on the XF's fine foundation. Is Mike Cross happy with it? "This is pretty much how I'd set a car up for myself," he says. Endorsements don't come much better than that.