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Audi, Jag, Kia and Tesla top Strategic Vision 2014 Total Quality Index

A couple weeks ago, J.D. Power released its latest Initial Quality Study, which gave high marks to Porsche, Hyundai and General Motors, with the latter earning more individual IQS awards than any other manufacturer. Now, it's Strategic Vision's turn, and it's doling out its praise not to Porsche, but to Tesla, which wasn't even included in the JD Power IQS.
The Model S was named the best vehicle overall in total quality, while Porsche's corporate brother and endurance-racing rival, Audi, was named the best premium brand, alongside Jaguar. Strategic Vision cited the Q5 and the ancient Q7 for individual segment awards, as well as the A5, which was a mere point off the top of its segment. SV also handed out compliments for the Audi's interior work. The win for the German brand is a nice improvement over its IQS score, with which it landed above the industry average, but solidly mid-pack.
Jaguar was without a segment winner, although SV did say that the Indian-owned English brand had a number of vehicles very near the top of their segments. This is the second significant win for Jag in two weeks, after it finished second overall on the JD Power IQS a few weeks ago.

Jaguar design boss Callum reinterprets classic Mark 2 for himself [w/video]

As the man behind the styling of basically every Jaguar since the mid 2000s, two things should be known about Ian Callum - he's a big fan of the brand, and he can bloody well get whatever kind of Jag he wants.
His newest car, though, is not what you might expect. Rather than an F-Type or an XJ, Callum has gone old school, and commissioned a custom, resto-modded Jaguar Mark 2.
Designed by Callum and built by Classic Motor Cars in Shropshire, England, the Mark 2 was an 18-month project between the designer and the garage. The essentially new car draws its power from a 4.3-liter engine that's been pilfered and modified from an XK. It's mated to a five-speed manual transmission.

2018 Jaguar E-Pace launches with a barrel roll

After months of testing – some of which we caught in spy photos – and a little teasing, Jaguar has officially entered the compact crossover space with the launch of the 2018 E-Pace. And it was a fairly grand entry, too. Instead of the usual move of driving the car onto the stage or pulling off the sheet, Jaguar did a barrel roll in the E-Pace to hail its coming. Yes, Jaguar did a 270-degree corkscrew jump with the E-Pace, launching it 50 feet through the air to earn it a Guinness World Record for the "Furthest Barrel Roll in a Production Vehicle." It's similar to the stunt the automaker pulled for the launch of the F-Pace, which entered the world with a record-setting loop. The Jaguar E-Pace is smaller than the F-Pace, and seats five. It's available with a pair of 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four gasoline engines mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission. The base motor makes 246 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque, and puts that power to the ground via a standard all-wheel-drive system. The R-Dynamic version ups the output figures to 296 horsepower and 295 pound-feet, comes with a pair of paddle shifters, and gets the Active Driveline AWD system. Both drivelines can transfer almost all the torque to either the front or rear axles, depending on the driving situation, but the Advanced Driveline can disengage AWD, sending power to just the front axle to save fuel, and does more to keep the car stable in dynamic driving. The E-Pace also offers an optional Configurable Dynamics package that allows the driver to select Normal or Dynamic modes, which affect throttle, transmission, and steering response. The optional Adaptive Dynamics system provides variable suspension damping based on the driving mode. Drivers can select driving modes through the E-Pace's JaguarDrive control, choosing from Normal, Dynamic, Eco, as well as a Rain, Ice and Snow mode for low-grip conditions. Inside the car, the E-Pace is equipped with a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system that has a customizable home screen. Two premium Meridian audio systems and a head-up display are available. All models have a feature that allows the owner to check on the vehicle remotely. The E-Pace also offers 4G Wi-Fi, and a connected navigation system that offers real time traffic and parking information. The E-Pace starts at $39,595. The R-Dynamic version begins at $48,245. Jaguar will also offer a limited E-Pace First Edition at a price of $54,545.