Yeah it does, it snow enough in parts of Australia for us to have a proper ski season, which will officially begin in 3 weeks time. There are a few sking spots in the Victorian Alps, and a few in the Snowy Mountains (yes it isn't a very imaginative name).

If the weather is really cold it even snows in Canberra.

Interesting. Now back to the topic. I think the XF-R will be a serious sports sedan contender, considering how good the SV8 is already.

This is completely new for me. Wow, I sure didn't know this. I thought Australia was either a desert or a jungle....

it's not really jungle. it's more rainforests. but no not all of australia is desert and Rainforest. i'd say lot of beach aswell as desert and Rainforest

Yeap, but I don't blame them, the tourism department still want to market Australia as a land with only deserts and rain forests.

And this is my lame attempt to bring this back on topic. The new XF is quite heavy already, hope jag engineers will take some weight out of the car, unlike what Audi has done with the RS6.

After a surprise yet brief appearance at last months Goodwood Festival of Speed with a little sideways action, we were hoping the sporting Jaguar XF-R would finally take a bow at the recent British International Motor Show, but we were left hanging. Further adding doubt, these latest spy images recently taken in the American desert suggest development is still going strong, so a debut in Paris this October is most unlikely. Los Angeles perhaps?

Despite initial reports of a beefed up version of the current 420bhp 4.2-liter supercharged V8 found in the SV8 XF, it is widely believed that Land Rover together with Jaguar have been working on a new series of direct injection 5.0-liter V8 engines for future top range models, and it is this engine in supercharged form that will power the XF-R to approximately 500-plus bhp. In order to compete with the German super saloons from Audi, BMW and Mercedes, Jaguar will need at least this much power.


Jaguar XF-R Spied in the American Desert


We pretty muck know what it will look like, its the engine details I'm really waiting for.


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I'm starting to like the XF more and more... I have a feeling the R version will make me like the model for good.

Jaguar is expected to show off a concept for the XF-R at the 2009 Detroit auto show – and development work is steaming ahead on the production version. Our latest spy photos capture the four-door on test in Coventry, England.

These new spyshots are nearly completely shorn of disguise, revealing the whopping 20-inch alloy wheels, a discrete lip spoiler on the boot, quad pipes and what appear to be reprofiled sidesills.

The XF-R is powered by Jaguar-Land Rover’s new 4997cc V8, which will be launched in 2009 as a replacement for the ageing 4.2 lump that’s served a generation of Midlands models. The new 5-0-litre eight uses direct injection for cleaner emissions and, with the R’s supercharger, is said to produce around 500bhp.

Expect the new Jag XF-R to be in showrooms by early summer 2009.

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