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Jaguar XFR-S is motor-porn on a mountain road

The 2014 Jaguar XFR-S might have only been good enough to take the runner-up spot in our Editor's Choice top five debuts at the LA Auto Show, but we'd be hard-pressed to find a car with a more exhilarating exhaust note. As proof of this, Jaguar released a video showing the XFR-S tearing up a windy, European mountain road in close to a minute of hardcore driving footage.
The big blue cat has the same great exhaust note of the XKR-S, and the driver puts all of the car's 550 horsepower to work demonstrating the handling - and drifting - abilities of the new XFR-S. If there's any disappointment to be had, it's the fact that you have to jump to the 30-second mark of the video for any of the action to start.
Scroll down to watch the video, and be sure your speakers are turned all the way up.

2017 Jaguar XE First Drive

For the first time in decades, the prize for the best-driving compact luxury sport sedan is very much up for grabs. BMW's 3 Series, the segment's longstanding archetype, has grown a bit soft, distant and pricy. Its Japanese rival from Infiniti, the Q50, lost the plot thanks to its video game steering and dated powerplant. The Audi A4 is due for replacement and the fantastic Mercedes-Benz C-Class skews luxury over sport. The Cadillac ATS? With an excellent chassis hobbled by middling powertrains and the devil's own infotainment system, it isn't selling. Unlikely as it sounds, the Lexus IS is probably the segment's best driver, but you've got to learn to love those turn-to-stone looks. So, where's a segment malcontent to look? Provided he or she is patient enough to wait for this car's spring 2016 arrival, allow us to recommend the 2017 Jaguar XE. Let's be honest. Jaguar really needed to come out with guns blazing. The last time the British brand battled in the compact premium sport sedan segment, its much-maligned X-Type slinked into the underbrush, tail between its legs after just a single generation. While the X was in some ways a better car than history will begrudge it, there's no getting around that Jaguar brought a front-wheel-drive-based knife to a rear-wheel-drive gun fight. This new XE will need to be a very different kitty, and it is. Internally known as X760, Jag's latest rides atop an all-new aluminum-intensive modular architecture wearing a handsome mosaic of aluminum and steel body panels. While the XE's design has struck us as very familiar since it first bowed in September, it's an attractive shape. Its longish, 111.6-inch wheelbase and wheels-at-the-corner stance gives the design a planted look emphasized by its wide rectangular grille and prominent lower air intakes. Jaguar claims a super-slick .26 coefficient of drag, but that's the skinny-tired overseas base model that we'll never see – ours will likely ring up a few hundredths higher. The aluminum body-in-white is itself an impressive piece of work, weighing just over 550 pounds. Vehicle engineering manager Jonathan Darlington says it's 20-percent stiffer torsionally than the XF, and "the lightest in the sector by far." What's more, the chassis incorporates liberal amounts of recycled aluminum (a claimed world first) and increased use of structural adhesives.

New Audi design chief Massimo Frascella shaped cars for Jaguar Land Rover

At the Audi brand, style and design have long been a high priority; think the super sleek and sexy A7 sedan, the Bauhaus-inspired TT coupe, the single-frame grille that instantly identified the marque with its down-the-road graphics. So when the Bavarians install a new head of design, that’s also worth a look. Massimo Frascella is that person, a 52-year-old Italian designer who this summer will succeed Marc Lichte. Lichte ran Audi design since 2014 and will take up a new role within the Volkswagen Group. Frascella, a student at the Istituto d`Arte Applicata & Design in Turin, ignited his career at Stile Bertone, and his resume after that evolves impressively. He subsequently held positions at Ford Motor Company and Kia, and since 2011, Frascella has held senior positions at Jaguar Land Rover. He was responsible for the creation of several models: Discovery Vision Concept (2014), Discovery Sport (2014), Discovery (2016), Velar (2017), Evoque (2019) and Defender. In 2019 he became creative director of Land Rover and in 2020 design director. He was also instrumental in the development of the range of new electric Jaguars that are in the works. “Joining Audi is a very special moment for me,” Frascella said. “I am deeply honored to assume the role of chief creative officer and to guide such a talented team in shaping the future of the brand to new heights of innovation and distinction. I believe in the emotional power of design to inspire, connect, and drive change, and I am here to nurture and promote creativity as the beating heart of our brand.” Looking back a couple of decades, it was one of FrascellaÂ’s predecessors who helped to cement AudiÂ’s reputation in automobile design: Walter de Silva. De Silva was appointed head of Audi design in 2002. From 2007 to 2015, he supervised the design strategy for the entire Volkswagen group, including the TT, the Scirocco, the Passat and the Golf. Not a bad list of achievements, but in a interview several years ago, de Silva said that he considered the 2007 Audi A5 coupe the pinnacle of his automotive design art, citing its “sex appeal, the shape of the lights, the architecture.” Design/Style Audi Jaguar Land Rover Volkswagen Automotive History