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Hot Rod Garage series premieres with 700-hp big-block Jaguar XJ

Roadkill hosts Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger have broken up - kinda - to spin off a new show, Hot Rod Garage, that mostly gives up the driveway and parking lot wrench work for the confines of a garage. We say kinda because while Finnegan is the primary host for Hot Rod Garage, Freiburger plays guest host and the new show starts off by wrenching on the Roadkill Draguar project car.
What's the Draguar? It's a 1974 Jaguar XJ12 that's about to be force-fed a 383-cubic-inch Chevrolet long-block engine with tidbits like Holley carbs, a Weiand 6-71 roots blower and a "custom WillBlow transmission," all good for about 700 horsepower. After that Finnegan gets into swapping parts on his wife's El Camino and some TIG welding lessons.
You can check out the first episode below. And in case you're worried, no, Roadkill isn't going away.

2021 Jaguar F-Type arrives, and it still looks spectacular

The 2021 Jaguar F-Type is officially here, and proportionally, it looks a whole lot like the current F-Type. There’s nothing wrong with that, as the F-Type is still one of the best looking cars on sale today. Jaguar didnÂ’t want to mess with that winning formula, so it took a light brush to the British sports car. Despite the silhouette remaining largely unchanged, the finer styling points are significantly different. Jaguar gave the F-Type a larger grille, slimmer horizontal headlights, a new clamshell hood and reshaped side air intakes. Its taillights are smoothed out, but they feature JaguarÂ’s “Chicane” light graphic from the I-Pace. Thankfully, the V8Â’s menacing quad exhaust design remains for the high-performance R trim. “F-Type has always had great proportions and stance, and our latest design is all about enhancing those key Jaguar values. Our aim was to make the car more contemporary, more purposeful, and even more dramatic,” said Adam Hatton, Jaguar exterior design director. When it comes to engines, Jaguar is staying the course for the most part. The base engine is still the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 296 horsepower. Jag took the manual transmission away for the 2020 model year, and the eight-speed automatic transmission remains the only option for 2021 as well. The upgrade engine is still the supercharged V6 that makes 380 horsepower, though the 340-horsepower version is no longer available. Jaguar promises it still sounds spectacular. If you want maximum performance, the F-Type R is the way to go for the time being. Power is up to 575 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque in the R — these figures happen to be exactly the same as the SVR, but 25 horsepower and 14 pound-feet of torque more than the previous R.  Jaguar didnÂ’t reveal plans for a SVR version of this new F-Type down the road, but we assume one must be in development. Expect even more horsepower from that car if/when it arrives. As of now, Jaguar claims the R will hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds, the same time as the SVR. Top speed is electronically limited to 186 mph. Every engine configuration comes with an active exhaust system as standard or optional. The R features a new “Quiet Start” mode thatÂ’ll help you maintain a friendly relationship with your neighbors. Jaguar made some handling improvements to the new F-Type, too. New springs and anti-roll bars complement recalibrated continuously variable dampers.

2013 Jaguar XJ AWD

Even though this year's winter has gotten off to an abnormally slow start for most of North America, Jaguar has shown the world it means business by launching its all-new Instinctive All Wheel Drive system in Montreal, Canada. Designed primarily for consumers in the Northern US and Canada, Jaguar put us on the same snowy, slushy and icy roads that many of its buyers will have to deal with. Rather than making declawed versions of the XJ and XF, Jag says this system enhances the performance abilities of its sedans when desired while still making them as fun to drive as their rear-wheel-drive counterparts. We had a chance to test out both the XF AWD and XJ AWD, but we spent most of our time behind the wheel of the flagship XJ, driving it on the open roads as well as a few closed courses.
Considering the lengthy and convoluted history of the Jaguar brand - including a stint as a member of Ford's defunct Premier Automotive Group alongside Volvo and Aston Martin - it is rather surprising that the automaker is just now getting around to introducing an all-wheel-drive system intended for widespread use, but the new Instinctive AWD will finally allow the XF, XJ and other future products to better compete against the likes of Mercedes-Benz 4Matic, BMW xDrive and Audi Quattro. In the XJ, Jaguar expects the AWD models to account for around 40 percent of the product mix nationwide and a little bit more (50 percent) for the XF, but in the northern states, it expects around 80 percent of XF sales to be AWD variants.
Instinctive AWD is rear-biased and operates as full rear-wheel drive in good weather, but when the road conditions turn slick, the system can split engine power 50:50 between front and rear axles using a center transfer case.