Which Car is Faster: Jaguar or Maserati?

Thank God, summer’s here and the pandemic has backed off just enough so that big splashy backyard parties could make their long-awaited comeback.

At a Kentucky Derby party I attended a few Saturdays ago, the guests came decked out in their race day finery and a few drove up in some pretty hot cars. Many of the ladies wore fascinators on their heads that resembled UFOs more than hats. But that’s another story and I best not go there.

Naturally, the men gravitated first to the bar, then back out to their cars where the only talk of horses was about which car, a Jaguar XKR or Maserati GranTurismo, had enough horsepower present to best the other in a one-on-one test of speed. One of each car was present in the driveway that day (which is what precipitated the debate in the first place) not to mention a few other jalopies I wouldn’t mind cluttering-up my garage.

The argument grew lively, fueled as it was with plenty of classic, free-flowing Mint Juleps, and everyone had an animated point of view. Except me.

Knowing next to nothing about these two high-performance cars, except which one is the sexier of the two in my eyes, I excused myself and did a quick search on my phone to see how fast I could educate myself.

What I learned from a cursory read, followed by a deeper dive later that night, is that neither car can make a consistent claim to being king of the road. Indeed, on any given day, using equivalent engines, either car can win the race. That is, after all, why there are races. As if to prove the point, an 80-1 longshot—Rich Strike—came out of nowhere to clobber the field of three-year-olds that day, surprising everyone and making history as only the second-biggest longshot to win the Kentucky Derby in its 148 years.

Still, I was curious to find out whether one of these two cars is routinely victorious in races against the other. But nothing conclusive. No smoking gun.

Both cars are beyond amazing—with each the other’s equal in terms of raw power—and both possess features, both under the hood and inside the cabin, that will set your heart aflutter. But if I had to personally decide between the two, I would be less concerned about which excels at top speed and more focused on how well it performs on a day-to-day basis.

Is it responsive to frequent stops and starts? Does it purr when idling at a stoplight, or growl at you to get moving again? Is it easy to manage or does it want to leave home without you? And what about the cost of buying and maintaining it?

Great performance is nice, but a similar level of performance sweetened with a dollop of real-world pragmatism is the better way to go. Because, let’s face it, city streets and highways are where the car will be 99.9% of the time; and only occasionally, if ever, lined up for a one-off against another high-performance roadster. Such contests are fun to watch, even more fun to participate in (I suspect), but reveal little about a car’s everyday performance and dependability.

What I did discover in my crash course on car racing is that Jaguar engines deliver greater torque, giving the vehicle better balance, traction, and stability. Additionally, while the Maserati looks, feels, and drives more like a race car, Jaguars are engineered for everyday use, cost less to purchase and maintain, and offer many more options for authorized service.

As one of the other guests remarked, “the Jag never feels like the engine is working that hard. It never seems to break a sweat. It’s just effortless, raw British muscle and I love it for that.”

So, give me the Jaguar any day. Win or lose a race, it will always be the better ride. And in my eyes, it will always be the sexier of the two. There, I said it.