Jeremy Taxi drivers don’t get excited about much in the car department – they’ve seen it all. So parking up at Westbury Railway Station this morning, I was surprised to be engulfed by a group of three cabbies who weren’t quite sure what the noisy blue monster was in their midst.

Not surprisingly, it was the rasp from the four exhaust pipes that caught their attention. The R-S sounds very different to the standard XKR, especially if you rev the engine about 3000rpm and feel the 5.0-litre rocking on its engine mounts. Now that has to be one of the joys of a grumbling V8…

It’s worth remembering that the standard XK pumps out a ‘modest’ 379bhp, while the R model a hefty 503bhp. The R-S is 542bhp and in full roar, you could probably hear it a mile away!

While the taxi guys weren’t that impressed with the in-yer-face blue paintjob, they thought the aerodynamic tweaks to the front and rear in black were what made the difference. Jaguar say it is these enhancements that help keep the R-S on the road at speeds approaching 186mph, which is limited by the way!

Frankly, while they were purring over the long bonnet, none of them fancied picking up a fare in the Jaguar. It’s not the tiny back seats or the lack of luggage space, just that the average of 18mpg would give their accountant a heart attack…