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Jaguar may join the FWD, small-car parade

Was it right for Chevrolet to detune the 1975 Corvette's base engine to 165 horsepower? Was Aston Martin wrong to make the Toyota iQ-based Cygnet? Is BMW crazy to be testing the new 1 Series with three-cylinder engines and front-wheel drive? It seems now, just as in the 1970s and 1980s, that emissions regulations and social considerations are driving some automakers to adopt unbefitting practices to maintain acceptance in the eyes of governments and consumers. Jaguar has jumped on the bandwagon, and is considering development of small, frugal, front-wheel-drive cars to help lower Jaguar Land Rover's average vehicle CO2 levels in light of tightening European emissions regulations, Autocar reports.
By 2020, the European Union expects the model range of every manufacturer to average 95 grams per kilometer, which is a new law passed by the European Parliament in April. Manufacturers who make more than 300,000 vehicles per year must meet these targets, and JLR is expected to be producing up to 700,000 vehicles per year by then. CO2 regulations after 2020 will only get stricter, as EU politicians already are talking about lowering CO2 levels to between 68 g/km and 78 g/km. (To put that in perspective, Autocar posits that driving a fully charged electric vehicle in Europe produces about 75 g/km when factoring in the power-generation infrastructure.)
Jaguar has some choices here, but so far they all have drawbacks. It could develop a new, compact chassis architecture for a line of compact vehicles, but the investment required for such a project could be prohibitively expensive. Jaguar has been looking into using the Land Rover Evoque platform for a small SUV, Autocar reports, but Land Rover brand manager John Edwards raises issue with such a plan, saying it may not be financially feasible.

Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo SV ups the performance of the virtual sports car

Last year, Jaguar created its very first concept car made specifically for the Gran Turismo video game series, and this year it's following it up with an even faster racing variant. It's called the Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo SV, and it has some pretty wild specifications. This virtual racing machine no longer uses three motors, but four, with the extra motor being fitted to the front and allowing torque vectoring at all four wheels. Output has increased substantially to 1,877 horsepower and 2,478 pound-feet of torque. The regular Jaguar Vision Gran Turismo "only" made 1,005 horsepower and 885 pound-feet of torque. Jaguar claims a 0-60 mph time for the SV of 1.65 seconds and a top speed of 255 mph. That top speed might be higher if it weren't for the various aerodynamic aids adding downforce. It has a huge splitter, diffuser and long adaptive rear wing. The car can create up to 1,000 pounds of downforce at 200 mph. One other wild performance feature is the cooling system for the lithium-ion battery pack. It has a coolant circuit with liquid nitrogen that ensures the battery doesn't overheat when discharging the massive amount of electricity to run the powerful motors. Though Jaguar will likely never actually produce a functional version of this car in real life, the company did at least create a full-size model of it. It should be impressive in person given its extraordinarily low, wide and long shape. We're hoping it shows up at car shows when the pandemic subsides. The virtual car is due to be available in 2021. Jaguar didn't specifically say which version of Gran Turismo is will be featured in. The regular car can be driven in "Gran Turismo Sport." The racing version could be added to "Gran Turismo Sport," but the launch date of 2021 has us wondering if it will instead show up in "Gran Turismo 7" for PlayStation 5. Related Video:

Jaguar Land Rover remains bullish on diesels

Despite Volkswagen's recent diesel scandal, Jaguar Land Rover is pushing ahead with ambitious plans to roll out the technology across most of its lineup in the coming years. Jaguar and Land Rover will add diesel engine variants to every model in their lineups, except for the Jaguar F-Type sports car. Land Rover launched the Range Rover and Range Rover Sport with available 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 diesels, and together they have sold more than 330 units so far in September, their first month on sale in the United States. JLA officials say they've seen no fallout from VW's emissions problem and are adamant their diesels meet EPA standards. "That has been our strategy, and it is not changing," Joe Eberhardt, Jaguar Land Rover North America CEO, told the Automotive Press Association on Wednesday in Detroit. "You have to deal with the situations as they arrive. We are confident of diesel." Jaguar will get another diesel next year from its Ingenium engine family, which will initially be sold in the XE sedan and the F-Pace crossover. It's a turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder unit and makes 180 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque. A JLR spokesman said the Ingenium has not yet gone through the EPA certification process, and the diesel-powered models will arrive in the fall. Jaguar also plans to add diesel engines to the flagship XJ and XF sedans. Land Rovers, including the Discovery and Evoque, will also get diesel options, and the company estimates the technology will offer 20- to 30-percent improvements in fuel economy, depending on the vehicle. Eberhardt said it is "too soon to tell" if the diesel market will be weighed down by Volkswagen's situation. The German automaker admitted to cheating on emissions tests to make its diesel-powered cars appear to run cleaner than they actually do in real-world situations. The ensuing outrage forced longtime VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn to step down and prompted a reorganization of the company, which faces legal and regulatory action around the world. Still, Eberhardt maintains JLR is "very confident" in its diesels, which are part of its strategy to grow sales around the world. Land Rover has experienced rapid growth under the ownership of Indian conglomerate, Tata Motors, while Jaguar is set to revitalize its lineup with new entries like the XE and F-Pace to reach a broader market segment.