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2017 Jaguar XE 20d Quick Spin

Base models rarely get their due in the press. Big-engine, high-horsepower variants get all the headlines, but the junior version is what sells in volume. We're just as guilty here at Autoblog, with both a first and second drive of the Jaguar XE in supercharged V6 guise, and barely a mention of the entry-level, 2.0-liter diesel. So, in Perd Hapley style, the Jaguar XE diesel is the model of the Jaguar XE we're going to discuss. Yes, the volume model of the Jaguar XE is a diesel, at least for now. A turbocharged 2.0-liter gas engine, wearing the 25t badge, will arrive after the XE's early 2016 on-sale date. Oil-burners and volume are not a thing in the United States, except for heavy-duty pickup trucks. Despite that apparent contradiction, the XE 20d could find some converts. Driving Notes The biggest clue to the engine's fuel source is the tachometer, which only counts to 6,000. But you wouldn't know from the fast throttle response or the way revs climb when you mash the accelerator. All 180 peak horsepower come at 4,000 rpm, and the 317 pound-feet of torque are available from 1750 to 2500 rpm. Really, this engine is smooth. Credit the low 15.1:1 compression ratio, which also helps make the engine's aluminum construction possible. The surge of power from the turbo builds steadily instead of kicking in all at once. Jaguar's engineers focused on friction reduction with a fanatical devotion, all in the name of efficiency. One key feature is the offset crankshaft. That is, the crankshaft is located to the side of the cylinder centerline. This reduces the side load forces during the firing cycle. In the manual transmission the gears are cupped to reduce mass. A pump sprays oil directly on the cogs, which cuts back on the total amount of fluid and cuts back on friction loss due to windage. No, the manual transmission isn't coming to the US. And yes, it's really good. Not just in the cliche journalist love for the diesel-manual combo, but objectively good. That smooth responsive nature of the engine is amplified when you get to choose your own gears. So we make due with the eight-speed automatic, the 8HP45 version of the ubiquious ZF box. The coolest trick here is a pendulum-style damper in the torque converter instead of a typical spring damper. When the torque converter is locked up this cuts down on torsional vibration between the engine and transmission. And that enables low-rpm cruising and higher mpg.

Strong JLR sales in China boost Tata Motors' quarterly profit

BENGALURU, India — Tata Motors Ltd on Friday posted a 67.2% surge in quarterly profit. Sales at its luxury car unit, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), improved in key market China as the country led a recovery in the global automobile industry from the pandemic. The Indian carmaker had logged losses for three straight quarters as the COVID-19 pandemic dented business in several of its key markets even as it was already dealing with uncertainties around Brexit, weak demand and rising costs. The Brexit trade deal agreed upon in December has avoided the risk of tariffs on automotive parts and finished vehicles, Tata Motors said, adding that JLR remains encouraged by the Brexit trade deal. JLR sales in China jumped 20.2% on-quarter and were 19.1% higher from the year-ago period. Retail sales at the unit, which accounts for most of the company's revenue, were up 13.1% from a quarter ago, but still 9% lower than pre-pandemic levels. The company said it had saved 400 million pounds ($548.96 million) during the December quarter at JLR under Project Charge, taking the total savings to 2.2 billion pounds so far. Tata Motors has set a full-year target of saving 2.5 billion pounds. Consolidated net profit came in at 29.06 billion rupees ($398.52 million) for the third quarter, compared with a profit of 17.38 billion rupees a year earlier. It had reported a loss of 3.14 billion rupees in the previous quarter. The festive season in mid-November, during which Indians typically make big-ticket purchases, also helped overall sales. "Due to a strong festive season and a clear preference for personal mobility, the PV business posted its highest sales in last 33 quarters," Tata Motors Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Guenter Butschek said. Total revenue from operations rose 5.5% to 756.54 billion rupees.

2018 Jaguar F-Pace: Ambient lighting is fun and frustrating

Like so many other automobiles from this decade, our long-term Jaguar F-Pace crossover has customizable interior lighting, a part of the $2,350 Luxury Interior Package. I've previously admitted to the fact that ambient lighting has me split in opinion. On the one hand I know that it's probably going to end up being dated and uncool in the future. On the other, I actually quite enjoy it, possibly because I grew up in the neon-fueled world of early '00s import tuner culture. I also like it from a color-coordination perspective. Our Jaguar's bold blue hue called Caesium can be brought inside with equally bright illumination. It's very satisfying. But that satisfaction of having everything just so is quickly sullied as the center stack and switches are only one color that can't be changed. Admittedly, that's completely normal, but unlike many of those other cars that use neutral white illumination, the Jag's light up in the same blue/teal color that made your Razr phone look cool so many years ago. And so whether you bathe your cabin in blue, red, purple or green light, the ambient lighting will clash with the main switch gear. You can pick a shade of blue for the ambient lighting that roughly matches the switches, but I don't want to compromise my color preference because Jaguar didn't put in LEDs in that would be neutral (or, even better, change to match the ambient settings). I have other complaints about color-matching in the car, too. The instrument panel, which is a flat screen, has a few different display modes, but most of the readouts use a similar (but not quite the same) blue/teal color as the switchgear. So that doesn't match, either. Then, in the sport mode, the instrument screen switches to red. That brings me to my next gripe: all the ambient lighting switches to red when choosing this mode. I get it, red means sporty and Jaguar wants everything about sport mode to feel sporty. But damn it, I paid for custom lighting, let me keep that lighting when I'm also in a sporty mood. I actually sometimes skip the sport mode because I want to be swathed in my favorite hue more than I want slightly more sporty driving dynamics. Oh, and of course the switchgear remains teal/blue even in sport mode. So yes, this is picky. But that's the beauty of evaluating a car like the F-Pace over a longer period of time.