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Jaguar F-Type Coupe spotted testing

The automotive world has been hot on fire with the Jaguar F-Type of late. We're still recovering from the excitement of driving Jaguar's new sports car for the first time, and recently we had a predictive look at a coupe version. As it turns out, those 'patent sketches' were just a warm up for the real deal F-Type Coupe, as this brand new set of spy images proves out.
Word from our shooter is that security around the F coupe was and is really tight. The photographer had to hide in the cargo area of his clandestine SUV, just to catch these few, not-perfectly-clear images (that odd color your see is window tint). Still, the photos are good enough to see that the rakish silhouette of the hardtop is going to do justice to the convertible. In fact, the new top seems to flow quite perfectly into the car's rear haunches.
Expect that the F-Type Coupe will share an engine lineup with the roadster, meaning both a naturally aspirated and a supercharged V6, as well as a V8 option. Hot R and R-S versions of the Jaguar coupe are a virtual lock, too, though how far down the product pipeline they are is unclear.

Top horsepower-per-dollar cars in 2017

Bang for the buck. That quasi-scientific statistic is bandied about by motor heads everywhere from classrooms to barrooms, though the truth of the matter is that it's exceedingly complex to measure. A fair performance-per-dollar index would include something like cross-referencing MSRP (Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price) with point-to-point times on a track or driving route, which is obviously hard to do comprehensively. But, for the sheer joy of talking about cars and playing with a big spreadsheet, there's always the horsepower-per-dollar index, which is more straightforward, albeit hilariously flawed. There are vagaries even with this simple formula, of course: MSRP for vehicles can change at a moment's notice, to say nothing of the bottom-line shifting that happens with local deals or showroom negotiation. For this list we're running with the straight MSRP wherever possible, and as recently reported as we can get it. All the vehicles on this list are 2017 models, and all trims are reported where the lowest price and differing power levels intersect. Some choices were made for personal preference and some for sanity, avoiding things like all 48 trim levels of the Ford Transit, all with the same horsepower). If this list were a simple top ten, or even a top fifty, you'd be bored to tears with all the red, white and blue that is represented. Following perfectly with conventional wisdom, American cars really do lead the world where hp/$ is concerned. So, for the sake of variety (and the sheer joy of seeing a minivan 'win' one round of this thing) I've sorted out some top five and bottom five lists for broad power categories. Let's dive in. Less Than 100 Horsepower Okay, okay, this is hardly a category we'll grant you. But we've often tried to click off all the sub-100-hp cars on sale in the US, and making this list gave us an excuse. It also illustrates that none of these smallish vehicles bring cheap horsepower to the table - for that you'll need a motorcycle. The segment-leading Chevy Spark (above) asks just over $139 for each hp, and that Smart Fortwo Electric Drive has hp on sale for about the same price as its very distant family cousin, the Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG (insert your favorite Smart joke here... we know you want to).

US-spec 2017 Jaguar XE sport sedan revealed

The Jaguar XE touched down in certain international markets earlier this year, but now the US gets its first crack at the 2017 model, already updated after just a few months on sale. Our various drives of the entry-level cat have made us purr, and the price/engine combos aren't bad either: $34,900 for the XE 25t and its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gas engine with 240 horsepower and 251 pound-feet of torque, $36,400 for the XE 20d and its 2.0-liter diesel four-cylinder with 180 hp and 311 lb-ft, and $41,700 for the XE 35t and its 3.0-liter supercharged V6 with 340 hp and 332 lb-ft. All those prices are before the $995 destination charge. That Ingenium diesel will be the first oil-powered Jaguar on our shores, and will be one of the two models available with the company's torque-on-demand all-wheel drive, along with the 340-hp supercharged V6. Both AWD models are pure rear-wheel drive until power is required up front, at which time it can be shunted forward in 165 milliseconds. All trims get a ZF eight-speed automatic, but the supercharged 35t gets the sturdier 8HP70 transmission, while the rest get the more compact 8HP45 transmission. Cabin options will include an InControl Touch infotainment system with an eight-inch screen or an InControl Touch Pro system with a 10.2-inch screen and Apple Watch connectivity. Standard audio comes from a 380-watt system with 11 speakers, the upgrade runs to 825 watts and adds six more speakers. The sheet of standard and optional driver aids lists All-Surface Progress Control, a low-speed cruise control on top of adaptive cruise control, a laser heads-up display, Traffic Sign Recognition and an adaptive speed limiter that uses traffic sign information. The even newer XE gets here next spring, you can read more about it in the meantime in the press release below. 2017 JAGUAR XE DEBUTS IN LOS ANGELES WITH AWD AND APPLE WATCH CONNECTIVITY - Award-winning Jaguar XE sports sedan to arrive in U.S.