This was the point when (or where?) Jaguar took its "R" label much more seriously. Instead of being focused solely on luxury-oriented performance, it became a competition trim as well. Supercharged was the new R, and R was the new "special edition" (see: XJR-1 and XKR 100). R was basically Jaguar's M Competition instead of just M. Jaguar was straight-up about following the BMW recipe instead of the Mercedes-Benz recipe this time.
The XFR-S was last decade's equivalent to this decade's M5 CS (and now, Audi RS6 GT Avant and Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing Precision Package).