Jaguar Xjs Classic, 1991 V12 Convertible, British Racing Green on 2040-cars

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We're spending six months with a Jaguar XE diesel

It's hard to discuss the Jaguar XE sedan without at least mentioning the BMW 3 Series. So here we are doing it. The XE was built to compete with the 3 and the likes of the Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. It's the smallest Jag sedan in a long time, and it's poised to be one of the brand's best-selling vehicles. We're putting one in our fleet for half a year to see how it is to live with. What we got For the detail-oriented, this is a 2017 Jaguar XE 20d AWD Prestige painted Ammonite Grey with a Jet and Latte interior. Translation: a midlevel trim with a diesel engine, all-wheel drive, dark gray paint, and a cabin with light tan leather seats and a black dashboard. It's a handsome combo. Base price for the model is $46,395. This one has plenty of options, which raise the price to $55,485. For $2,400, the Vision Package includes things to help you see and some more that help the car see for you: xenon headlights with washers, auto high beams, front and rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitor, and cross-traffic detection. The $2,100 Comfort and Convenience Package adds heated and cooled front seats, heat for the rears, a power trunk lid, and an electric rear sunshade. A 10.2-inch wide-format touchscreen, navigation, WiFi, and an 825-watt sound system are included in the $2,700 Technology Package. And then there's the little stuff: metallic paint for $550, a head-up display for $990, and $350 to get the SiriusXM working. Other details include an eight-speed automatic transmission, engine stop-start, and some nice 18-inch wheels. What we skipped This XE most notably lacks a place to put gasoline – we didn't get the base 2.0-liter four-cylinder or any of the tunes of supercharged V6 in the pricier models. We also skipped the upper trim levels, which for 2017 included R-Sport and Portfolio (an S model is new for 2018). The only other big item you can put on a Prestige is the $360 Black Design Package; it swaps out the shiny grille, vent trim, and window surrounds for – you guessed it – black parts. Why we got it It's a completely new model in a popular segment. Sport sedans are fun. And Jaguars are pretty. There are likely to be some mini comparisons between the Jag and our succession of long-term A4s. What's next On the other end of the new-Jaguar spectrum is the F-Pace, a crossover that has a lot in common with the XE. So we're going to spend some time with one once the XE leaves.

Jaguar XE SV Project 8 slices record Nuburgring lap down to 7:18.361

No production four-door vehicle has ever come close to breaking a seven-minute lap on Germany's Nuburgring (we see you WRX STI Type RA NBR), but manufacturers are slowly inching toward the achievement a few seconds at a time. Jaguar announced that it returned to the famed racetrack with its XE SV Project 8 and clocked a 7:18.361 lap, a new sedan record that's 2.9 seconds faster than the Project 8's previous record.  When Jaguar debuted the Project 8 in 2017, it had the makings of a specialty car that would slither into the shadows as quickly as it blasted onto the scene. But it's been quite the opposite. Jaguar has continued development of the vehicle and offers three different versions, including a touring variant. Production has lasted into the 2019 model year, and we recently tested one to get a handle of just how monstrous the thing truly is.  Much can change and be learned in two years, though, and Jaguar wanted to follow up its first trip to the Nurburgring, where it posted a record-setting time of 7:21.23. Under the guidance of Project 8 development driver Vincent Radermecker, the Jag ran the circuit in 7:18.361 on July 8, 2019. It did so in two-seat track pack spec and on Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires. Jaguar made sure to clarify a detail about the run and the time. The 2017 time was done on the then-used 20.6-kilometer (12.8 miles) setup, and so was this time. But starting in 2019, the Nurburgring began officially recording times on the full 20.832-kilometer (12.94 miles) lap. Using the 20.832 lap, the Project 8 recorded a time of 7:23.164. With that run, the 592-horsepower supercharged Project 8 is the first vehicle to set an official whole lap record in the mid-range production car class. Watch the 7:18 run in 360-degree video below.   This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2019 Jaguar I-Pace gets official 234-mile range rating

The 2019 Jaguar I-Pace is officially rated to travel as far as 234 miles on a single charge of its battery pack. That's down slightly from the 240 miles initially promised when the slinky electric crossover was first unveiled here in the States. And, while it's roughly equal to the base version of the Tesla Model X, that's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. Quoting maximum electric range without considering the capacity of a car's battery pack is the same as quoting the maximum driving range of a gasoline-fueled vehicle without considering how many gallons of gas the tank holds. The I-Pace's battery pack is rated at 90kWh. The Model X's smallest pack is 75kWh. So the Tesla can go about the same total distance as the Jaguar using significantly less energy. It's not just Tesla that boasts greater efficiency figures than the Jaguar. Chevy manages to eke 238 miles out of the Bolt EV's 60kWh battery pack, and Hyundai gets 258 miles from the Kona Electric's 64kWh pack. These vehicles certainly don't all play in the same market segments, and there are a lot of variables to consider. For instance, the Jaguar's 4.5-second 0-60 rating is quicker than the Model X's 4.9-second rating, and its advertised power output of 394 horsepower and 512 pound-feet of torque is higher than Tesla's for the 75D (though Tesla's actual power numbers aren't really advertised in traditional hp and lb-ft figures). But even if cars like the Model X, Chevy Bolt, and Hyundai Kona EV aren't directly comparable across the board, their range and battery capacity figures do help us understand the relative efficiency of each specific vehicle. The efficiency of electric vehicles rated by the EPA is expressed as a MPGe (miles per gallon equivalent) figure. The 2019 Jaguar I-Pace's figures of 80 city, 72 highway, and 76 combined MPGe don't compare favorably with the Tesla Model X's 91 MPGe city, 95 MPGe highway and 93 MPGe combined ratings. It'll be interesting to see how much EV buyers care about the Jaguar's comparatively poor MPGe ratings, but they will definitely have an impact in the real world. In practical terms, what all of this means is that the Jaguar I-Pace is going to use more electricity per mile than the Tesla Model X. And that means it's going to cost more to drive the same distance in the Jag when compared to the Tesla, or just about any other modern long-range EV that's currently on the market. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party.