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Cadillac CTS-V and Suzuki e-Survivor | Autoblog Podcast #527

This week, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by General Manager Adam Morath. They discuss driving the Cadillac CTS-V and talk about the Suzuki e-Survivor concept. Other news includes possible Jaguar Land Rover acquisitions, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and the Autoblog Car Finder. Autoblog Podcast #527 Your browser does not support the audio element. Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Topics and stories we mention Rundown Jaguar Land Rover acquisitions? Suzuki e-Survivor concept Tesla Model 3 Autoblog Car Finder tool Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk Cadillac CTS-V What we've been driving: Jaguar F-Pace Ken Block's "Climbkhana" Spend my money Feedback Email – Podcast at Autoblog dot com Review the show on iTunes Green Podcasts Cadillac Jaguar Jeep Suzuki Electric Performance Videos Sedan jaguar land rover

2014 Jaguar XKR-S GT takes fiercest feline further [UPDATE]

If there were any car to overshadow the 542-horsepower Jaguar XJR that's coming to the New York Auto Show, this is it. Meet the Jaguar XKR-S GT - a street-legal, higher-performance version of the already hardcore XKR-S that will be headed to North America in very limited quantities. Only 30 will be offered on our continent, with 25 earmarked for the United States and the remaining five going to Canada. The cost of entry? $174,000 when it goes on sale this August.
What that gets you is a coupe that is, without any doubt, ready to attack any racetrack it might encounter. The XKR-S' supercharged 5.0-liter V8 has not been upgraded in terms of power - not that 550 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque is anything to sneeze at - but instead, Jaguar focused on tuning the bits of the car that help effectively put all that grunt to the ground. There's a new hood with rows of louvers to aid in engine cooling, and elsewhere on the car's body, you'll find carbon fiber on the redesigned front air splitter, dive planes, extended wheel arch spats, as well as a new rear diffuser, an aluminum front under tray and an absolutely massive wing out back to keep downforce to a maximum.
Underneath that hot body are retuned and height-adjustable adaptive dampers; spring rates have been increased by 68 percent in front and 25 percent at the rear versus a standard XKR-S. Most of the front and rear suspension geometry has been upgraded, larger carbon ceramic brakes have been fitted at all four corners, and wider 20-inch forged alloy wheels are found here, wrapped in Pirelli Corsa tires - 255/35-series rubber in front and 305/30-series stuff out back. There's also a revised active exhaust system, which should only improve the already thunderous roar coming out the back of the Jag coupe, and a faster steering rack has been added for improved agility.

Jaguar to offer high-performance SVR models like Land Rover?

At the Goodwood Festival of Speed this past weekend, Land Rover previewed its upcoming performance version of the Range Rover Sport. Only instead of wearing the R-S badge that adorns the most hardcore of Jaguar models, the performance SUV from JLR's Special Operations unit introduced the letters SVR. And now, it seems that badge is here to stay.
Following the Range Rover Sport SVR, a new report from Motor Authority now says that Jaguar Land Rover will use those letters to distinguish the top-of-the-line performance models from both marques moving forward. As such, we might expect SVR models of the upcoming Jaguar XE compact sedan and Land Rover Discovery Sport, as well as potential new performance models based on the new F-Type and next-generation XF.
If accurate, the move would seem to separate Jaguar in particular from the R-S badge that has adorned performance models like the XFR-S and XKR-S. Both Audi and Porsche use the letters RS to distinguish its most hardcore models as well (e.g. Audi RS7 Sportback and Porsche 911 GT3 RS). Whether the similarity was a factor in shifting to the SVR moniker, we don't know, but either way, we welcome the arrival of a new generation of Jaguar and Land Rover performance models - especially if they pack the 575-horsepower version of the company's ubiquitous 5.0-liter supercharged V8. Not incidentally, that delicious powerplant gained a couple of new engine bays to call home at Goodwood as well - it's not just found in the forthcoming Range Rover Sport SVR, it's found a home in the F-Type Project 7, too.