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Jaguar turns down offers to join V8 Supercars, questions AMG, Volvo participation

Rumors have swirled in recent weeks that Jaguar may be the next manufacturer to join the V8 Supercars racing series, made popular in Australia but now well-known in other parts of the world as well. Sadly, Jag's participation is not to be. In fact, it would be "insane," according to Jaguar Land Rover Asia Pacific Managing Director David Blackhall, for it to accept either of the two offers it has received to bring Jaguar into V8 Supercars.
Not only is Jaguar not interested in entering V8 Supercars, says Blackhall, it also fails to understand the recent entries from AMG and Volvo. "I don't know what it does for AMG to get flogged by a V8 Commodore week after week, but it's their brand, their issue. And the same thing will happen to Volvo to be honest."
Judging by Blackhall's statements to motoring.com.au, after not-so-serious consideration, the automaker decided the monetary commitment it would take to compete for wins would be more than any potential exposure would be worth, despite the fact that Jaguar has a 5.0-liter V8 to go along with what would seem to be a tailor-made rear-wheel-drive chassis. For what it's worth, one offer would have had Jaguar putting its name across an engine made by someone else, an option that was flatly turned down.

Watch the Jaguar I-Pace live reveal

The day has finally come for the Jaguar I-Pace electric crossover to be revealed, and you can watch as the sheet is pulled off the company's first full EV. The reveal starts at 1:00 p.m. ET, and can be viewed in the embedded video above. The I-Pace was first revealed in concept form in Nov. 2016. Jaguar claimed it had a range of 220 miles, 400 horsepower, and 516 pound-feet of torque. Jaguar has also promised very fast charging at 100kW DC chargers. Apparently it can regain 80% of its charge in 45 minutes at such a charger. Jaguar has claimed this charging capability for the production model, but we have yet to see if the power and range numbers held up. Jaguar will also run a one-make I-Pace race series alongside Formula E. We'll see if any further announcements are made about the racing version of the car and the series. Related Video:

Jaguar XE SVR to challenge M3, C63 with supercharged V8 power

Jaguar has a healthy powertrain range lined up for its new XE, including an array of four-cylinder engines and a supercharged 3.0-liter six that will, for now, serve as the range-topping offering in the XE S. But Car and Driver claims to have it on good authority that an even more powerful eight-cylinder version is in the works, as well. According to C/D, the XE's engine bay has been designed to accommodate the company's ubiquitous 5.0-liter V8 engine, which in the larger XF is offered in several states of tune, including the XF Supercharged with 470 horsepower, the XFR with 510 hp and the flagship XFR-S with 550 hp. Just which version (or versions) would be offered in the XE remains to be seen, but even in its lowest-spec supercharged form, the 470-hp version would already be enough to challenge the 425-hp BMW M3 and the base 469-hp version of the new Mercedes-AMG C63. If Jaguar wants to take on the C63 S, however, it will need to shoehorn in one of the more powerful versions. In the end, Coventry's new Special Vehicle Operations division may opt to offer two versions, like it does with the XFR and XFR-S. Expect the top version, however much muscle it packs, to wear the British automaker's new SVR badge. It just may take a few years before it does so.