2003 Jaguar X-type Base Sedan 4-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

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Driving Jaguar's Continuation Lightweight E-Type

Something has happened to sports cars over the past 15-20 years. While reaching ever-higher levels of quantitative dominance the driving experience continues to become more sterile. Stability control, torque vectoring, variable electronic steering racks, lightning-quick dual-clutch automatic transmissions – all these make it easier to harness more power and drive faster than ever before. And yet too often it feels like something is missing. There is a growing divide between the capabilities of the modern performance car and the driver's sense of connection to the experience. In an era like the one we're in now, the Jaguar Lightweight E-Type hits you like a slap in the face. The story of the Lightweight E-Type goes back to 1963, when Jaguar set aside eighteen chassis numbers for a run of "Special GT E-Type" cars. These were factory-built racers with aluminum bodies, powered by the aluminum-block, 3.8-liter inline-six found in Jaguar's C- and D-Type LeMans racecars of the 1950s. Of the eighteen cars slated for production, only twelve were built and delivered to customers in 1964. For the next fifty years, those last six chassis numbers lay dormant, until their rediscovery a couple of years ago in a book in Jaguar's archives. In an era like the one we're in now, the Jaguar Lightweight E-Type hits you like a slap in the face. Jaguar Heritage, a section of Jaguar Land Rover's new Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) division, took on the task of researching the original Lightweight E-Types and developing the methods to create new ones. Every aspect of the continuation Lightweight E-Type, from the development of the tools and molds used to build the cars, to the hand-craftsmanship, reflects doing things the hard way. They may not build them like they used to, but with these six special E-Types, Jaguar comes awfuly close, if not better. Working alongside the design team, Jaguar Heritage made a CAD scan of one side of an original Lightweight E-Type body. That scan was flipped to create a full car's worth of measurements. That ensured greater symmetry and better fit than on the original Lightweight E-Types (which could see five to ten millimeter variance, left-to-right). The scan was also used to perfect the frame, while Jaguar looked through notes in its crash repair books to reverse-engineer the Lightweight E-Type's suspension. The team repurposed a lot of existing tooling for the continuation cars, and developed the rest from analysis of the CAD scan.

2016 Jaguar F-Type R AWD Beauty-Roll

For those of you paying attention, we've really ramped up the old Autoblog video game these days. Our new series Car Club USA joins Translogic and The List, and there are more Daily Drivers and Short Cuts than ever. But sometimes, all you care about is the car. The Autoblog Beauty-Roll video series has one goal: bring you glossy video images of cars, and nothing but. We're collecting moving pictures of all the cars we test, inside and out. Each episode comes with a hit of engine sound – start-up and with a few revs – to round out the package. Set your resolution to max, kick it into full-screen, turn up the sound, and enjoy today's subject, the 2016 Jaguar F-Type R AWD.

2022 Jaguar F-Pace SVR Road Test | Enjoy the hot-rod SUV while it lasts

BIRMINGHAM, Mich. -- Jaguar has been steering away from sedans, which makes good business sense. With the demise of the XJ and XE, the company’s lineup is as taut as itÂ’s been in recent memory. ThatÂ’s OK, the F-Pace plays a lot of roles. ItÂ’s the most practical and best-selling Jaguar, and in SVR trim, itÂ’s the embodiment of the modern muscle crossover. In fact, it's a legit hot rod. This is our first chance behind the wheel of the SVR since it was updated for the 2021 model year along with the rest of the F-Pace lineup. In short: the powertrain is slightly torquier, the brakes and suspension are bolstered, the cabin gets JaguarÂ’s Pivi Pro infotainment, and the front end is tweaked with new headlights and body work. ItÂ’s subtle. Driving the F-Pace SVR is anything but. The product of JaguarÂ’s Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), the SVR is a series of visceral experiences, some of them raw and adrenaline-inducing, some of them surprisingly calm. In Sport mode the Jaguar shifts quicker to accelerate harder and the full-throated roar of the exhaust is on display. In Eco or Comfort modes, things are chiller, but I still usually cued up the active exhaust system, which can be switched off and on with a button near the gear shifter.  The supercharged 5.0-liter V8 is old-school, fierce and one of the reasons you buy this Jaguar. With 550 horsepower and 516 pound-feet, itÂ’s firmly in the upper class among performance-oriented SUVs, and the 3.8-second sprint to 60 mph is impressive for a compact crossover thatÂ’s on the larger size for the segment. While the V8 is a quickly disappearing throwback, Jaguar hasnÂ’t used it as prolifically as American or German luxury brands throughout its 100-year history — often skipping from six to 12 cylinders — depending on the car and the time period. Driving the F-Pace SVR with its supercharged eight cylinders is to experience the apogee of JaguarÂ’s 2010s pivot to V8 muscle, before the brand transitions to electric vehicles by the end of the decade. It's best to live in the present in the F-Pace SVR. On a wide-open Saturday morning, I dial up Sport Mode, crack the windows to let in the exhaust note and set out for a day trip to visit family on the other side of town. With the snow disappearing on this warm late winter morning, I make the most of a fleeting opportunity to push the F-Pace a bit, with quick launches and enthusiastic acceleration into open gaps on the expressway.