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Road & Track names its 2013 Performance Car of the Year

Road & Track recently staged its first annual Performance Car of the Year test, pitting 13 new and updated performance cars against each other on track, then graduating the top six to a road test before picking a winner. Additionally, the magazine staff picked the best automobiles of the year in eight categories.
But first, let's cover the PCotY segment. Here's the list of cars brought to the comparison test: Audi R8 V10 Plus; BMW 435i; BMW M6 Competition Package; Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51; Ferrari F12 Berlinetta; Ford Fiesta ST; Jaguar F-Type V8 S; Jaguar XFR-S; Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S-Model Wagon; Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black Series; Mini John Cooper Works GP; Nissan GT-R Track Edition; and Porsche Cayman S.
To find out the results of the comparison, head over to Road & Track's website or check the press release below, where you'll also find the magazine's top-rated vehicles in eight categories. Want more? Head over to the 2013 PCotY hub. But before you do that, take a stab at guessing the winner of PCotY (we'll give you one hint: it isn't a Porsche).

Jaguar planning all-electric E-Pace crossover

Jaguar hasn't quite finished rolling out the new F-Pace (pictured above), and already reports are circulating of another crossover model to join it in the near future. According to Automobile, it'll be called the E-Pace. Here's the kicker: it'll be all-electric. The E-Pace would take advantage of ultra-efficient aerodynamics in order to drop its drag coefficient to just 0.28 g, thereby increasing efficiency. It'd also be the first fully electric model from Jaguar, and would likely be even smaller than the sporty new F-Pace. Through-the-road all-wheel drive would give it poor weather traction, and the electric motors would provide plenty of low-end punch. The model would go up against the Tesla Model X and a potential production version of the Audi E-Tron Quattro concept revealed in Frankfurt. Rather than handle production in-house, the E-Pace could emerge as the mysterious upcoming model which Jaguar Land Rover is planning to have Magna Steyr build on its behalf. The factory in Graz, Austria has long built the G-Class for Mercedes-Benz, continues to assemble the Mini Countryman, and has also handled models like the Aston Martin Rapide and BMW X3. Automobile figures that Jaguar would need to make at least 20,000 units each year to make the model profitable. For comparison's sake, Tesla is projected to move about 33,000 Model S units in 2015. Even if the E-Pace falls short of this target, the project could be worthwhile for JLR purely for publicity purposes and to help cut its average fleet emissions. Related Video:

Jaguar's XF diesel isn't just fuel efficient, it's the cheapest XF available

Jaguar announced the 2017 Jaguar XF will now offer the 2.0-liter turbocharged diesel the company introduced on the XE. In addition to returning an impressive 42 miles per gallon on the highway and 31 in the city, the diesel is the cheapest XF available at $48,445. This means that picking the oil-burner will save you $3,040 over the cheapest gas V6 version, which only manages 29 mpg on the highway and 20 in the city. With 180 horsepower, the diesel is significantly down on power compared with the base V6 model. As a result, the diesel moves slower. Jaguar estimates the base V6 is good for a 5.2-second 0-60 time and the diesel should be able to do the same in 8 seconds. However, that's the only real downside. Even with the slower acceleration times, the diesel still has a very usable 317 lb-ft of torque available from 1,750-2,500 rpm. Based on our test drive of a diesel-equipped XE, the engine also breaks the old diesel stereotypes. It's both quite smooth and responsive. Unless you seriously need that straight-line performance, the Jaguar XF diesel arguably makes the most sense. It provides significant price savings and better fuel economy. The diesel XF also joins the XE and F-Pace diesels, leaving just the XJ and F-Type as the only Jaguars without compression-ignition engines. The British automaker is planning to remedy that, as a Jaguar Land Rover executive said the company plans to also add a diesel XJ variant in the US, even in the wake of the VW diesel scandal. Related Video: Related Gallery 2016 Jaguar XF: Review View 24 Photos Image Credit: Jaguar Land Rover Green Jaguar Diesel Vehicles Luxury Sedan jaguar land rover ingenium