2005 Jaguar S-type 4.2 on 2040-cars

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Lister LFT-C brings 666 horsepower to the Jaguar F-Type

Lister just announced a limited run of its LFT-C Jaguar F-Type conversion cars. It made 99 of the coupes in this spec, but now there will be 10 convertibles available for purchase worldwide. The LFT-C name further confuses Lister's naming for this car, which was initially known as the Thunder, then morphed into the LFT-666, and now these new convertibles are called LFT-C. We would've just stuck with Thunder all along and called this one a Thunder convertible. It makes the same 666 horsepower as the Lister F-Types before it, but that's still substantially more than the 575 horsepower out of the F-Type SVR. Lister does a lot of its own work to the 5.0-liter supercharged V8 to eke out the extra horsepower on top of what Jag is able to do with its performance division at the factory. The nice part of this aftermarket work is that it still comes with a seven-year warranty from Lister, so it's similar to a new car powertrain warranty. This should give you some peace of mind when dashing to 62 mph in just over three seconds. Related: Lister Knobbly roadster gets green light for production There's more than just engine work done to the LFT-C, though. Lister has designed its own suspension, exhaust, braking system and wheels to bring the rest of the car up to snuff. Carbon fiber body panels replace everything from Jaguar where possible. Other Lister design touches on the exterior include a new front bumper, front splitter, rear diffuser, rear spoiler, rear wheel arches, a new grille design and lightweight alloy wheels fitted with Michelin tires. Lister is differentiating this 10-car run by adding in a unique interior, but customers can request anything they desire on the customization front. With so few cars available, it's unlikely to see one on this side of the world after being manufactured in the U.K. That said, we asked Lister, and they said you can buy one here. Base price for the LFT-C is a cool $182,995, and that's only where it starts. We're sure customization options will allow it to skyrocket from there. The price for a base F-Type SVR Convertible is $127,725, so you're looking at a hefty premium over the donor car for what Lister has to offer. The LFT-C is available to order now.

2014 Jaguar F-Type

Stepping Into The Lion's Den With A Big-Hearted Cat
If you're like me - and our demographics suggests you are - you've probably never seen a new Jaguar sportscar at your local showroom. I'm 36, and it hasn't happened in my lifetime... and not by a little bit. Oh, there have been a string of XK coupes and convertibles, and as of late, there have even been some genuine high-performance specials - namely the R, R-S and R-S GT models - but their basis has always been the 2+2 grand tourer shell, not a lighter and smaller footprint with more intrinsic sporting intent. The truth is that it's been a half-century since Jaguar introduced a proper new sportscar. Today, most people know the brand strictly as a purveyor of wood- and hide-lined luxury sedans.
In fact, if you're not an enthusiast with some appreciation for the marque's history, it's a bit odd to hear Jaguar executives proclaim that they are a sportscar company and always have been. By their reckoning, the 2014 F-Type seen here is in fact a return to form, a Rip Van Winkled brand pillar reanimated and reimagined to take center stage. It's a sentiment that must be particularly odd for car shoppers in developing markets like China, where Jaguar hasn't even been selling cars for very long. Yet because the original 1961 E-Type is perhaps the most gorgeous car ever to lay ply on the world's roads, we're prepared to cut them some slack.

2016 Jaguar XF to hit 60 mph in 5 seconds, lead with cutting-edge infotainment

Since the second-gen XF's unveiling last week in an epic publicity stunt over London's Canary Wharf, the details on the new four-door have been rather scarce. That changes now, with the Jaguar revealing just about everything we could hope to know... aside from the price and fuel economy. As we covered in our original post, Jaguar has trimmed the weight for both rear- and all-wheel-drive variants by 132 pounds and 265 lbs, respectively. That means that, regardless of engine output, the two-wheel-drive model tips the scales at just 3,770 lbs, while the AWD XF slips in at 3,880. This was mainly done by way of aluminum construction – the 13th element constitutes 75 percent of the XF's structure – although ultra-high-strength steel also plays a role. Jag claims these elements not only reduce weight – which is almost perfectly distributed, with a "near" fifty-fifty ratio – but increases torsional rigidity by 28 percent. The new XF should be just as agile as the brand's namesake, thanks not only to the reduced weight and stiffer structure, but also to a new chain-driven all-wheel-drive system that's both lighter and more efficient than a traditional version. Impressive though that may be, the brand's Intelligent Driveline Dynamics system is the standout here. IDD manages the torque split, diverting power to the rear axle until it predicts, through factors like yaw rate, steering angle and lateral acceleration, when torque should be shifted to the front wheels. Moreover, the AWD system features Adaptive Surface Response, which takes the place of the old XF's winter driving mode. It monitors road conditions, modifying the behavior of the sedan's systems as needed. The second-gen sedan comes to the US in 340-horsepower and 380-hp variants – torque remains fixed at 332 pound-feet – courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover's familiar 3.0-liter, supercharged V6. The new XF's straight-line performance should be just as entertaining as it sounds, too. The rear-drive, 340-hp XF will hit 60 in 5.2 seconds, while the rest of the range can get there in 5.0. That marks a significant reduction compared to the first-gen V6 models, which used their 340 hp to sprint to 60 in a more leisurely 5.7 to 6.1 seconds. Regardless of output, the rear-drive XF will outrun both the BMW 535i and Mercedes-Benz E350 (we're still waiting on performance figures for the 329-hp E400, so Jag's RWD dominance may not last), which take 5.5 seconds and 6.5 seconds, respectively.