TOP CAR Test Extra
"... The wide-arched body kit and retrimmed interior was a bonus... the HyperDrive did
offer grater control and flexibility... the stainless steeel exhaust produced a pleasant
exhaust note when accelerateing, yet remained almost silent when cruising... a glance at
the performance table will show the Hyper XJS was consistently quicker than a standard
machine... We were impressed by the way it refused to tramline and offered crisp turn-in...
As a road car the Hyper Mk3 might almost be described as fun, not words commonly associated
with the XJS. It's thoughtful approach delivered the goods, but avoided the ludicrous
telephone number prices often associated with Jaguars."
PERFORMANCE TUNING
"When Sir John Egan introduced the JaguarSport XJS...
he explained that Jaguar's extensive market research had established that there
was a good market for a Jaguar sports coupe with something to set it apart from the
crowd... Erstwhile Jaguar racer Hands has come to the same conclusions... and his
aspirations seem just as high as those of that better known Jaguar racer Tom
Walkinshaw, the managing director of JaguarSport... Are the (Hyper) modifications
sensible? Certainly the suspension and steering mods are all to the good - assuming
you want your XJS to be more of a sports car than the fat car cruiser it is as standard...
The Hyper seems to shrink around the driver. It's response is so much sharper that it
feels like a far smaller, more agile car... In fact the Hyper offers just about the
right compromise, with great feel yet still with sufficient comfort for a car of the
Jaguar's class..."
PERFORMANCE CAR
"...a package of modifications by Hyper Engineering could
be for you... there's Hyper's three speed 'clutchless' manual gearbox... slot down
into first and you tap straight into the V12's peak torque to power out of the corner...
if you can find an early 1980s V12 Coupe... Hyper can turn it into something that looks
agressively sporting without being OTT and for reasonable money can give you useful
performance gains... It (the Hyper Mk3) is an awful lot of car for the money."
Jeremy Clarkson column in PERFORMANCE CAR
"... it looks absolutely bloody marvelous... This litle lot
(the Hyper transformation package) turns the rather svelte, gentlemanly standard item
into a car that looks as aggressive as a gorilla forced to wear evening dress for the
first time... Nice... a truly splendid car to drive. Yes, it handles and yes, the steering
is quite superb. The interiors not bad and the gearbox is probably clever. The looks are
what you'd call horny and what I'd call angry... But the best bit is when you put your
foot down on the accelerator it goes whooooooooooooarrrrrrgh. A lot."
JAGUAR QUARTERLY
"... Where the car (Hyper Mk3) starts to shine is on
fast, bendy, open roads where the box can be left in second and the speed punched
up and down between corners with a determinded right boot... The steering response
is fast and accurate... progress was fast and fun... For those with Lister apsirations
but lesser budgets a visit to Mr Hands could prove fruitful."
"...Hyperdrive sounds like something out of Star Wars, but is an expression of
Paul Hands' philosophy of improving performance without incurreing monumental costs...
on the move you can roam freely between all three gears. Their engagement being pretty
well instanteneous.. this enables much better use to made of the V12 engine's flexiblity
and power... The Hyper sports gerbox (is) good value against a 'proper' manual conversion -
especially if your existing GM400 is in need of a rebuild anyway... (Hyper Engineering) are
small... but their stranghts are a variety of ideas and the objective of providing affordable
individuality for the man in the street. After all, not everyone can afford JaguarSport or
Lister prices."
WORLD SPORTS CARS
"Paul Hands can wave a low cost magic wand over any Jaguar
V12... we were most impressed with the end result of Hands work.. the enhanced sporting
character of the car brings to the surface the latent qualities lurking in every V12 Jaguar."
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