1970 Jaguar Xk-e Series 2 Convertible on 2040-cars

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Motor Trend pits Aston V12 Vantage S against Jaguar XKR-S GT in battle of the Brits

With the recent increase in higher-performance versions of already high-performance vehicles, like Mercedes-Benz and its AMG Black Series, the public is now gaining even greater access to speed and maneuverability. Two of the most recent sports cars to get their wicks turned up include the Jaguar XKR-S GT and the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S.
Both of these cars are the pinnacles of their lines, with the Jag lording over the XKR-S, XKR and XK while the Aston rules over the standard V8 Vantage S and V8 Vantage. Motor Trend has opted to pit the two rivals together for some thorough testing, and it just happened to bring along a few video cameras to capture all the action.
There's nearly 19 minutes of super hot sports car action below, so scroll down and enjoy.

Jaguar Land Rover to upgrade Castle Bromwich plant to build EVs

LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover is making a multi-million pound investment to build electric vehicles in Britain, in a major boost for the UK government and a sector hit by the slump in diesel sales and Brexit uncertainty. Britain's biggest car company, which built 30 percent of the UK's 1.5 million cars last year, will make a range of electrified vehicles at its Castle Bromwich plant in central England, beginning with its luxury saloon, the XJ. "The future of mobility is electric and, as a visionary British company, we are committed to making our next generation of zero-emission vehicles in the UK," Chief Executive Ralf Speth said on Friday. The announcement gives a boost to Britain's automotive sector hit this year by Honda and Ford's plans to close factories. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has highlighted the dangers of a no-deal Brexit and the need to maintain frictionless trade with the European Union, echoing warnings from the industry that just-in-time production could be hit by customs delays and additional bureaucracy. But it has signed a deal with workers at the Castle Bromwich factory to go from a five-day to a four-day working week with the same amount of hours which should allow the plant to operate more efficiently. Three of JLR's four European car plants are in Britain, giving it limited capacity elsewhere on the continent. The other, in Slovakia, only opened last year and is still being ramped up with other models allocated there. "We are making this investment because the ongoing Brexit uncertainty has left us with no choice, we had to act, for our employees and our business," JLR said. "We are committed to the UK as our home and will fight to stay here but we need the right deal." Both candidates to replace Prime Minister Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, have both said they are prepared to take Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 without a deal, although it is not their preferred option. Brexiteers have argued that the EUÂ’s biggest economy Germany, which exports hundreds of thousands of cars to Britain ever year, would do its utmost to protect that trade Friday's announcement comes after a turbulent few months for Jaguar which announced around 4,500 job cuts earlier in January and posted a 3.66 billion pound ($4.5 billion) loss in 2018/19.

2017 Jaguar XE 20d Quick Spin

Base models rarely get their due in the press. Big-engine, high-horsepower variants get all the headlines, but the junior version is what sells in volume. We're just as guilty here at Autoblog, with both a first and second drive of the Jaguar XE in supercharged V6 guise, and barely a mention of the entry-level, 2.0-liter diesel. So, in Perd Hapley style, the Jaguar XE diesel is the model of the Jaguar XE we're going to discuss. Yes, the volume model of the Jaguar XE is a diesel, at least for now. A turbocharged 2.0-liter gas engine, wearing the 25t badge, will arrive after the XE's early 2016 on-sale date. Oil-burners and volume are not a thing in the United States, except for heavy-duty pickup trucks. Despite that apparent contradiction, the XE 20d could find some converts. Driving Notes The biggest clue to the engine's fuel source is the tachometer, which only counts to 6,000. But you wouldn't know from the fast throttle response or the way revs climb when you mash the accelerator. All 180 peak horsepower come at 4,000 rpm, and the 317 pound-feet of torque are available from 1750 to 2500 rpm. Really, this engine is smooth. Credit the low 15.1:1 compression ratio, which also helps make the engine's aluminum construction possible. The surge of power from the turbo builds steadily instead of kicking in all at once. Jaguar's engineers focused on friction reduction with a fanatical devotion, all in the name of efficiency. One key feature is the offset crankshaft. That is, the crankshaft is located to the side of the cylinder centerline. This reduces the side load forces during the firing cycle. In the manual transmission the gears are cupped to reduce mass. A pump sprays oil directly on the cogs, which cuts back on the total amount of fluid and cuts back on friction loss due to windage. No, the manual transmission isn't coming to the US. And yes, it's really good. Not just in the cliche journalist love for the diesel-manual combo, but objectively good. That smooth responsive nature of the engine is amplified when you get to choose your own gears. So we make due with the eight-speed automatic, the 8HP45 version of the ubiquious ZF box. The coolest trick here is a pendulum-style damper in the torque converter instead of a typical spring damper. When the torque converter is locked up this cuts down on torsional vibration between the engine and transmission. And that enables low-rpm cruising and higher mpg.