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Hot Rod Garage series premieres with 700-hp big-block Jaguar XJ

Roadkill hosts Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger have broken up - kinda - to spin off a new show, Hot Rod Garage, that mostly gives up the driveway and parking lot wrench work for the confines of a garage. We say kinda because while Finnegan is the primary host for Hot Rod Garage, Freiburger plays guest host and the new show starts off by wrenching on the Roadkill Draguar project car.
What's the Draguar? It's a 1974 Jaguar XJ12 that's about to be force-fed a 383-cubic-inch Chevrolet long-block engine with tidbits like Holley carbs, a Weiand 6-71 roots blower and a "custom WillBlow transmission," all good for about 700 horsepower. After that Finnegan gets into swapping parts on his wife's El Camino and some TIG welding lessons.
You can check out the first episode below. And in case you're worried, no, Roadkill isn't going away.

Jaguar's 600-hp XE SV Project 8 is the fastest Jaguar sedan ever

Jaguar is honing its XE SV Project 8 performance version, the car it calls its fastest four-door ever built. The manufacturer says the limited edition, 200mph sedan is almost production-ready, after countless small adjustments. The XE SV Project 8 will hit production in June. Only 300 of these 600-horsepower super sedans will be built, and they will all be handmade at Coventry's Special Vehicle Operations. Jaguar has also released this short documentary video clip about the project. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Project 8 Vehicle Dynamics Manager David Pook is enthusiastic about fettling with the car as long as it's possible. "The good thing about building only 300 cars, all handmade, is that you can keep developing the car right up to the start of production. And we've done just that." The recorded 0-60 mph time for the Project 8 is just 3.3 seconds, and it will go all the way to 200 mph. At the Nurburgring Nordschleife last year, it was able to set a four-door production car record time of 7 minutes and 21.23 seconds. There have been last-minute handling changes to make sure the car is just right, Pook says: "The springs have got stiffer and so have the engine mounts. The suspension arm bushes have changed. The brakes have been refined for the exact pedal feel and performance we want." Constant software modifications have also been made to alter the XE SV Project 8's responses. "It's certainly even faster, better handling and more responsive than it was six months ago. All that effort has been worth it." The car comes highly adjustable, as the ride height, camber, front splitter and rear wing setups can be altered. The stock tires are Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s on forged 20-inch wheels, and even the wheel bearings are ceramic! Front uprights, two-part upper wishbones, balljoints in place of rubber bushes, twin coil springs, dampers, lower suspension bushes, anti-roll bars and latest specification carbon ceramic brakes are all Project 8 specific, and the only bits lifted from the standard XE are the aluminum roof and front door skins. The vented bonnet and flared front wings and bumpers are carbon. One can also order the Project 8 with or without a rear seat, to save weight. Jaguar prices the Project 8 from GBP149,995 in the UK, or $210,000. Related Video: Featured Gallery Jaguar XE SV Project 8 Jaguar Special and Limited Editions Videos jaguar xe

Jaguar Land Rover gives Lyft $25M and a fleet of cars

Lyft recently raised $600 million in a massive funding round, and now we know that $25 million of that came from Jaguar Land Rover, via its mobility services subsidiary InMotion. The car maker's investment in Lyft goes beyond just funds, however; it's providing Lyft drivers with a fleet of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles as part of the tie-up, and it's also going to work with the ride-hailing tech company on autonomous vehicle testing. This is yet another high-profile partner for Lyft after a spate of recent new collaborators, including Waymo and, just last week, Nutonomy. Now, Jaguar Land Rover is also joining the company's Open Platform for autonomous cars: The collaboration with InMotion will see the Jaguar Land Rover-owned company "develop and test its mobility services, including autonomous vehicles" using Lyft's platform. Lyft's ability to rapidly bring on a lot of partners in the car maker space, specifically around autonomy, may have a lot to do with rival Uber's ongoing problems, which now also include mounting calls for CEO Travis Kalanick to step back, at least temporarily, from his leadership role. Lyft has also been pretty clear about seeking to partner on autonomy, rather than pursue its own tech, which is likewise different from Uber's current approach. Uber, too, has brought automakers to the table around self-driving services and making use of its ride hailing platform for mobility service offerings. Both Uber and Lyft seem interested in being the layer that connects riders and these future services, and for automakers, it means leaving a complex and challenging part of the picture to partners with experience and expertise, rather than having to spin up that part of the tech business themselves. The fleet provision in the deal is also interesting, and suggests the partnership between the two could involve more strategic cooperative service offerings ahead of the advent of commercial self-driving tech. Lyft gaining more ground among automakers beyond longtime partner GM also explains why it was reported that the ride hailing company turned down overtures regarding a potential acquisition by the Detroit-based automaker.Written by Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch.Related Video: