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Jaguar Land Rover may buy Silverstone racetrack for new HQ

Jaguar Land Rover might add another chapter to its venerable motorsports legacy by purchasing the revered UK racetrack Silverstone to use as its new company headquarters. JLR could reportedly offer 22.7 million pounds ($34.1 million at current rates) to buy the circuit, according to Automotive News Europe, which cites several British media sources. The British automaker would then invest the equivalent of $78 million to turn the historic track into a celebration of the brand, including a museum, experience center, and hotel. The company would also construct space for its marketing team and engineers, Automotive News Europe reports. Motorsports would still continue there, too, which means the course's Formula One legacy is safe. Neither JLR nor the British Racing Drivers' Club, which leases the track, have confirmed the rumors. The BRDC only suggested that it received several confidential offers to purchase the circuit. Silverstone has a motorsports history that goes back to the late 1940s and is often the home to the Formula One British Grand Prix. The track's organizers have a long-term deal to continue hosting the F1 race, too. Today, the course also features major events from MotoGP and the FIA World Endurance Championship. In November, Jaguar released a video that celebrated some of its legacy at Silverstone by bringing the modern XJR and Le Mans-winning XJ-R9 LM at the track. If the company's purchase happens, you can expect to see a lot more Jags and probably some Land Rovers lapping the course. Related Video:

2019 Jaguar I-Pace Review: The EV age is approaching

It feels like we're anxiously inching up the initial mountain of a roller coaster track – click, click, click. On the other side is a massive plunge into a widespread electric future where EV's aren't just acceptable alternatives to gas-powered cars, they're superior. There's indeed a veritable train of luxury EVs coming soon, clicking up that track, but the 2019 Jaguar I-Pace is the first from a big-name luxury brand to crest it, providing that first tinge of anticipation for the ride to come. It's wildly fun, surprisingly practical and a more polished product than the perpetually rough-around-the-edges Teslas. It also reimagines what Jaguar can be while also staying true to key elements of its past and present. Driving the silky, effortlessly torquey old Jaguar XF Supercharged was intoxicating, and so is the I-Pace, albeit it in a different and indeed superior all-electric way. Its torque flattens you into the enveloping sport seats slathered in red leather, yet it's responsive without feeling overly caffeinated or neck-snapping. Like other Jaguars, it also provides a little audible pomp to the driving experience. It's no barking F-Type R, but its Active Sound Design system pipes into the cabin a deep, purr-like noise when in Dynamic mode that, if not exactly akin to an actual exhaust system, is much closer to it than the usual high-pitched electric motor whine (you can hear it in the accompanying video). Jaguar recognizes that we expect noise and g-forces to go together. And that goes for g-forces in a straight line as well as around corners. The I-Pace resolutely sticks to even marginal pavement like – well, I've already used the roller coaster metaphor above, so what the hell? – it's on rails. It has the perfect recipe for astonishing grip: all-wheel drive; sticky summer tires on 20-inch wheels pushed to the corners; a heavy battery mounted low and in the middle of the chassis; a 50:50 front-to-rear weight balance; and an available adaptive air suspension that constantly adapts to the road. Oh, and it was engineered by Jaguar, a company widely renowned for its superior-handling cars and SUVs. Steering feel could perhaps be increased a smidge, but through the wheel and the seat of your pants, you do experience what the I-Pace is doing. That adaptive suspension also sops up bumps shockingly well (another Jaguar trait) despite those pretty 20-inch wheels adding some impact harshness (ditto).

Jaguar designs Tour de France racing bike [w/video]

Jaguar is known for designing luxury sedans, and it's known for designing GTs. But once in a while it dabbles in a new area of transportation design. It's working on its first crossover at the moment, and even did a speedboat concept a couple of years ago. Now it's turned its attention to bicycles.
While many automakers have designed bikes in the past, Jaguar's project has a bit more of a direct correlation. It's been working with Team Sky - the outfit that has won the Tour de France two years running now - since 2010, furnishing the team with support vehicles for bicycle races around the world. But now it's stepping its collaboration up a notch by redesigning the team's bike.
Working with frame manufacturer Pinarello, Jaguar took the existing Dogma 65.1 racing bike design back to the drawing board. Jaguar's designers and engineers reshaped the frame tubes, seat post, front fork, derailleur and all the components attached to the frame, each part streamlined for aerodynamic efficiency. They ran it through Jaguar's Computational Fluid Dynamics processor 300 times then verified the results in the wind tunnel.