Jaguar Xk140 Roadster With Overdrive on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Top Gear has an Extra Gear problem | Episode Review

When the BBC announced Extra Gear, I was excited. As an avid fan of show's like The Talking Dead – companion show to AMC's hit The Walking Dead – a behind-the-scenes look at my favorite motoring show sounded promising. But with the fifth episodes of each show, I'm worried that Top Gear is suffering to keep Extra Gear interesting. We'll start with Chris Evans, inarguably the most heavily criticized member of the new Top Gear team. Evans is progressively less shouty and more comfortable filming while driving in each episode – the fifth is no different. He's almost likable in the Zenos E10 video, like a ginger James May, and he delivers accurate and eloquent driving impressions. The review is entertaining, until Extra Gear shows the producers cut a huge element – an old-versus-new sprint around the Race of Champions circuit at the Olympic Stadium in London. Former Formula 1 ace David Coulthard would drive a Caterham 360, while current F1 pro Daniel Riccardo rocked the Zenos. If the entire premise of Evans review is that the Zenos E10 is the newest of the new for British super-lightweight track toys, why did the producers decide to leave a race against the segment's standard bearer for Extra Gear? It's a baffling move, cutting a segment of the film that reinforces Evans' excitement over the Zenos. Rory Reid's Jaguar F-Type SVR piece is excellent. Fifty five years to the day after Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis raced to the Geneva Motor Show in a second E-Type for display, Reid would attempt the same feat in an SVR. If he failed, Jaguar wouldn't have a car to display. Dewis made the 750-mile trip with 13 hours of notice, and Reid would need to do the same. It's a brilliant, simple premise that reminded me of Jeremy Clarkson's so-called "Race against God" in a Jaguar XJ, way back in season 16. The history of the challenge and Dewis' gravelly commentary add gravitas. But the entire film goes by so fast. It's longer than Evans' Zenos video or Harris' BMW M2 film, but at less than ten minutes, Reid and the SVR deserved more screen time. Extra Gear poured salt in that particular wound with a great segment featuring Norman Dewis that deserved to be in the main show. Reid takes the famed test driver for a spin around the Dunsfold track, then, instead of the comedian of the week, the hosts interview Dewis on Extra Gear's couch.

Jaguar Land Rover's latest tech makes roads safer for bikes [w/video]

Safety in automobiles isn't just about protecting the occupants anymore. It's about protecting pedestrians who might be struck by an automobile, and as Jaguar Land Rover is demonstrating, it's about protecting cyclists as well. The latest experimental safety system from the British automaker is called Bike Sense, and it builds upon technologies the company has demonstrated recently, taking them a step further to make the road safer for those riding on two wheels. The system uses a combination of colors, sounds and vibrations to alert the driver of a potential hazard that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. Demonstrated on an XJ sedan, the system identifies nearby two-wheeled vehicles as pedal-powered or motorized, and alerts the driver accordingly. If a cycle is passing a the vehicle's blind spot, the top of the seat will vibrate to virtually "tap" the driver on the left or right shoulder, prompting him or her to look over that shoulder for the hazard. LEDs inside the cabin will then illuminate amber to red in the direction that the bike is passing. The system will even chime a bicycle bell or motorcycle horn as the two-wheeled vehicle approaches, and vibrate or stiffen the accelerator pedal if the driver keeps moving towards the obstacle. And if an occupant of the parked vehicle starts to open the door into the path of moving vehicle, it'll flash a light, sound an alarm and even vibrate the door handle to warn the occupant of the oncoming hazard. We could imagine the alerts getting a little distracting, but JLR says the system is designed to prioritize potential hazards when their are groups of pedestrians, bicyclists and/or motorcycle riders on a busy urban street. This is, of course, just the latest in a long string of new systems JLR has under development, following such technologies as the Transparent Bonnet, the Smart Assistant, the Virtual Windscreen for track sessions and the 360 Virtual Urban Windscreen for city driving. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Jaguar J-Pace crossover spied with diesel hybrid power

The new Jaguar F-Pace is only now hitting dealerships, but the British automaker is already testing a bigger, higher-end example. Allegedly named J-Pace – tying it to the flagship XJ sedan the same way the F-Pace is to the XF (so expect an E-Pace before too long) – Jaguar's engineers stretched the wheelbase and cobbled together a big CUV from an F-Pace's body parts. The biggest giveaway is on the rear door's cutline. A normal F-Pace's shut line runs right into the middle of the rear wheel arch. But on this mule, the door closes well forward of the arch. Outside the axles, Jag has stretched the front overhang – it's far more prominent with a completely different lower intake – and the super-short rear overhang reinforces the idea that we're seeing a longer platform. While we know the wheelbase is longer than the normal F-Pace, the platform underpinning this mule could go one of three ways. First, in what would probably be the most cost-effective route, Jaguar could simply stretch the chassis underpinning the F-Pace. Second, Jag could mine the Land Rover parts bin for a fullsize platform, perhaps from the Range Rover. It's not a crazy idea, and would open the J-Pace to a more potent line of powertrains – hello 5.0-liter, supercharged V8. Finally, the J-Pace could borrow its platform from the XJ sedan. One reason this mule could be riding on a Land Rover platform is because of its powertrain. According to the vehicle lookup on the British Ministry of Transport's website – see the final slide in our gallery above – the mule's number plates belong to a vehicle with a 2.0-liter turbodiesel engine and an electric motor, a diesel hybrid. The fullsize Range Rover is available in such a configuration outside the US, but it uses a 3.0-liter V6. Clearly, the J-Pace is still very early in its development process. That means we shouldn't count on seeing a production-ready vehicle for quite some time. Our spies point to a 2019 debut as a 2020 model. We'll just have to wait and see. Related Video: Featured Gallery Jaguar J-Pace: Spy Shots View 12 Photos Image Credit: KGP Photography Green Spy Photos Jaguar Crossover Hybrid Luxury