1954 Jaguar Xk 120 Convertible Replica on 2040-cars

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Jaguar may join the FWD, small-car parade

Was it right for Chevrolet to detune the 1975 Corvette's base engine to 165 horsepower? Was Aston Martin wrong to make the Toyota iQ-based Cygnet? Is BMW crazy to be testing the new 1 Series with three-cylinder engines and front-wheel drive? It seems now, just as in the 1970s and 1980s, that emissions regulations and social considerations are driving some automakers to adopt unbefitting practices to maintain acceptance in the eyes of governments and consumers. Jaguar has jumped on the bandwagon, and is considering development of small, frugal, front-wheel-drive cars to help lower Jaguar Land Rover's average vehicle CO2 levels in light of tightening European emissions regulations, Autocar reports.
By 2020, the European Union expects the model range of every manufacturer to average 95 grams per kilometer, which is a new law passed by the European Parliament in April. Manufacturers who make more than 300,000 vehicles per year must meet these targets, and JLR is expected to be producing up to 700,000 vehicles per year by then. CO2 regulations after 2020 will only get stricter, as EU politicians already are talking about lowering CO2 levels to between 68 g/km and 78 g/km. (To put that in perspective, Autocar posits that driving a fully charged electric vehicle in Europe produces about 75 g/km when factoring in the power-generation infrastructure.)
Jaguar has some choices here, but so far they all have drawbacks. It could develop a new, compact chassis architecture for a line of compact vehicles, but the investment required for such a project could be prohibitively expensive. Jaguar has been looking into using the Land Rover Evoque platform for a small SUV, Autocar reports, but Land Rover brand manager John Edwards raises issue with such a plan, saying it may not be financially feasible.

Jaguar's electric speedboat smashes decade-old record

We knew Jaguars prowl on dry land, but apparently they dabble with water, too. Jaguar teamed up with powerboat racing specialist Vector and Williams Advanced Engineering to beat the existing British and world records for fastest battery-powered boat with some expertise from Jaguar's Formula E team. The team had to top 76.8 mph, a record set in 2008 by Helen Loney in her Firefly electric hydroplane with Agni motors. The attempt was made in the same location, Coniston Water in the English Lake District, where speedboat record runs have been made since the days of Sir Malcolm Campbell as early as the 1930s, and son Sir Donald Campbell into the 1950s and 1960s – including the fateful record attempt that cost the younger Campbell his life in 1967. The company's documented the attempt in the video shown above. It reveals that the 2008 record wasn't easy to beat. At first, pilot and Jaguar Vector co-founder Peter Dredge managed to get the boat to 76.6 mph – annoyingly close to, and just under, the record. But a later run rewarded the team's efforts, with a clear improvement of nearly 12 mph, making the new record 88.61 miles per hour. This achievement is also impressive considering that Jaguar and Vector only announced their partnership in October 2017, so progress has been swift. The tech in the boat is reportedly derived from Formula E technology, though Jaguar Vector and Williams Advanced Engineering have not disclosed the boat's exact specifications nor what parts are based on Jaguar Formula E car parts. Related Video: Green Jaguar Electric Racing Vehicles Videos williams advanced engineering

2016 Jaguar F-Type S Coupe Quick Spin [w/video]

The Jaguar F-Type – as either a coupe or a convertible – has proved easy to fall in love with. It's one of the best looking cars in the world, period. And it has been endowed since launch with lovely engine options on either end of the range, athletic rear-drive handling, and a tuneful exhaust that sets one's heart to thumping. So how does Jaguar improve on such a winning formula? The answer that enthusiasts have hoped for is that Jag offer its sports machine with a traditional manual gearbox. And for the 2016 model year, those hopes have been fulfilled. Always wiling to take one for the team, I flew out to New York state to drive the 2016 F-Type S Coupe, fitted with the new manual transmission. (The trip included time in the F-Type R AWD that you'll hear more about later, and a long stint in the Range Rover Sport SVR, so I wasn't exactly shy about requesting the gig.) The short version is that the F and the 6MT get along like special sauce, lettuce, and cheese. But for the detailed blow-by-blow follow along. Driving Notes So, how is the manual? That's the primary force animating this review, after all. The short answers are: great, fine, just dandy. The middleweight clutch (not too light, not too firm) is easy to operate at speed or in heavy traffic. The gearlever offers positive, smooth action, not particularly mechanical, with throws that are of average length. The closest analogous experience I've had is with BMW manuals, though the Jag's clutch is slicker. But the biggest win for the stick shift in the F-Type is spiritual (if you'll excuse my being a bit romantic). This is after all the heir to the E-Type legend, a stirring rear-drive coupe (or convertible) that looks like wet sex and goes like heaving hell. The eight-speed automatic will continue to offer a more modern driving experience, but the manual just feels right with the car. You're going to have to prefer that kind of purity over outright speed to get the manual, too. Jag with sell you a hand-shaker with the base, 340-horsepower F-Type or the 380-horse F-Type S, but not with the V8 or new-for-'16 AWD variants. The supercharged V6 in the S is far from disappointing. Keep the sport exhaust active and you're likely to be the best sounding thing on the road that day, unless you run up on a coffee klatch of Ferraris.