1989 Jaguar Xjs Convertible on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Jaguar Race Taxis will fling you around the Nurburgring

The Germans have a word, " fernweh," literally meaning "far sickness," that describes a special kind of longing. It's a strange sensation in which you feel homesick for a place that you're in tune with, a place that moves you, but it's a place you've never actually been to before. Someone who loves cars might be drawn that way to the Nurburgring. But if you're traveling to Germany this summer to fulfill that sense of fernweh, how do you experience the Green Hell firsthand? Your rental-car company might frown on you taking matters into your own hands. But Jaguar may have your answer. The Jaguar Race Taxi experience will give you a hot lap around the 13 miles and 73 corners of the Nordschleife in the 575-horsepower Jaguar F-Type SVR and the equally powerful four-door Jaguar XJR575. You'll ride with professional drivers who won't coddle you — Jaguar promises cornering forces of 1.2g. "A ride in the F-TYPE SVR and XJR575 Race Taxi is a thrilling and truly unforgettable experience for any car enthusiast — or anybody who just enjoys going very fast!" says Phil Talboys, JLR's European engineering operations manager. "Our highly experienced professional drivers are veterans of the Nurburgring 24-hour race, making them uniquely qualified to show customers the true potential of these extraordinary supercharged V8 Jaguars." The laps are available until the snow flies in November. Taxi fare is ˆ199 ($236) per lap in either car. You'll be in and out in 30 minutes, counting the safety briefing, the hot lap and a review of the video you'll walk away with. Oh, and there's a weight limit of 120 kilos (264 pounds), so you stockier souls may want to start your diets now. Reservations can be made at the track or online here. The F-Type SVR can take one passenger, and the XJR575 will haul you and two of your screaming friends. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Jaguar E-Pace has an F-Type-inspired interior

Jaguar continues to test its new small crossover, tentatively dubbed E-Pace, and that means our spy photographers continue to capture it in the wild. This time, we got some photos of the interior. From what we can see, it follows in the footsteps of the the F-Type sports car, rather than Jaguar's sedans and larger F-Pace crossover. From the air vents down, the center stack gently slopes toward the shifter. It also has a large grab handle on the passenger side like that in the F-Type. This also makes the center stack feel more driver-centric. The shifter is also F-Type-inspired. While the Jaguar sedans and the F-Pace use a motorized dial that rises from the center console for shifting, the F-Type uses a conventional lever, as does this E-Pace. These interior design choices seem to indicate that Jaguar will market this E-Pace as being a sportier Jaguar than its existing lineup. Our spy photographer also caught this E-Pace prototype with the hatch up. This clearly shows that the E-Pace will have a radically raked rear window. Matched with the voluptuous rear fenders, the E-Pace should have a very aggressive look. As a side note, the open hatch also reveals that there are at least one or two members of the Jaguar team that like Budweiser. We still expect a reasonably long wait until the E-Pace makes its full debut, likely sometime next year at the earliest. We're also expecting the crossover to have a front-wheel-drive-based all-wheel-drive system like the Range Rover Evoque, and it may even use the Evoque platform. While not a bad platform or drive system, most any car enthusiast or journalist would agree that a rear-wheel drive platform would be more naturally sporty and in keeping with this car's interior and possible marketing. Related Video:

Jaguar upgrades I-Pace with increased range for free

Jaguar launched the I-Pace eTrophy racing series in 2018, and ever since, it's been collecting data on its battery electric crossover. Using that research, Jaguar has managed small refinements that incrementally improve how the car runs and drives. In past times, these types of upgrades were implemented during a refresh or redesign, but thanks to the computerized nature of modern vehicles, tuning information can be relayed to the vehicles immediately. Installed by dealers, Jaguar is releasing a free I-Pace software update that affects the battery, aerodynamics and all-wheel-drive system.   Jaguar already offers one of the best battery-operated vehicles on the road today, but the competition pool is quickly improving and becoming more crowded. In order to keep the I-Pace fresh, Jaguar decided to share its learnings from its eTrophy racing series and "more than 50 million miles" of real-world driving.  As it stands, the I-Pace packs a 90-kWh lithium-ion battery that is EPA-rated at 234 miles on a single charge. It has 394 maximum horsepower, 512 lb-ft of torque, and Jaguar claims it can do 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds. With the new update, Jaguar says the battery can "run to a lower state of charge than previously without affecting drivability, durability, or performance." This only affects range and efficiency, though, not power. All I-Paces are all-wheel-drive, and the update directly affects the car's traction system. Jaguar has refined the torque distribution between the front and rear motors, which improves the car's efficiency in ECO mode. A third update deals with the car's aerodynamics. Jaguar has refined thermal management control by using the active radiator vane system more frequently. Finally, small tweaks also improved the regenerative braking system.   All said, these upgrades potentially equate to an 8% increase in range, which is about 12 miles, depending on usage. Jaguar did note, however, that the official EPA number would not change. Those who own I-Paces can take their cars to a local dealership, and a technician will update the software, which also includes advanced over-the-air functionality.