2012 Jaguar XKR-S Convertible kick off the LA Auto Show with 542-hp drop-top fun

Jaguar was one of the few brands to kick things off for this year’s 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show by fully revealing their latest halo car. Taking the brand’s title as the most powerful and fastest open-top GT Jaguar ever built, the sheets were pulled off of their XKR-S Convertible today.

Powered by Jaguar’s third generation AJ-V8, the XKR-S convertible retains the same supercharger as its coupe sibling, but was retuned to churn out 542-hp and 502 lb-ft of torque for a 0-60 time of just 4.2 seconds.

Much like the XKR-S coupe, the convertible comes with a specially tuned exhaust while the all-aluminum V8 also employs spray-guided direct injection. The Roots-type twin-vortex supercharger sits in the valley of the engine and is accompanied by two intercoolers that make the XKR-S 20% more thermodynamically efficient than its predecessor.

Check out more news on the Jaguar XK.

A revised front and rear suspension setup keeps the XKR-S agile, despite the slight increase in weight from the obligatory add-ons of drop tops. The all-aluminum body was also reworked to make it much stiffer than the traditional XKR, allowing for the XKR-S convertible to take the title as the stiffest car in its class.

UK deliveries are expected to begin at the beginning of the 2012 year with prices starting at just £103,000. Full details for the American market will be released later on, but for now, we just know that only 25 will be sent to our shores.

– By: Chris Chin