Jaguar Land Rover Archives

Jaguar XE SV Project 8 finally revealed

Jaguar has finally revealed extensive details regarding its outrageously powerful version of its baby sedan, the XE. Dubbed Project 8, the car is said to be the most sought after contemporary Jag after the venerable F-Type.

Basically, its a track-focused XE that features an immensely powerful engine, which is kept in check by a thoroughly engineered suspension and chassis setup aimed at increasing agility and to a broader extent, better driving dynamics. As such, Project 8 sits 15mm lower than the base car thanks to the manually adjustable suspension.

The car is fitted with a highly tuned version of the automaker’s supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine that produces close to 600bhp, a titanium variable active exhaust and an all-wheel-drive system as well as aerodynamic body work that help it stick to the road. As such, Project 8 is said to be the fastest accelerating Jaguar ever thanks to an 8-speed Quickshift transmission, a 0-100km/h time of just 3.3 seconds and a top speed of 322km/h.

When Track Mode is selected, the car’s system alters the driveline and stability systems as well as sharpens throttle and steering responses for track use, which should allow for more hooliganism within the confines of a controlled environment.

Unlike the standard XE, Project 8 features extensive bodywork upgrades that include front and rear carbon fibre bumper, enhanced cooling ducts, vented carbon fibre bonnet, flared bodywork over the 20-inch forged alloy wheels, adjustable front splitter, flat underbody trim pieces, rear diffuser and a massive rear wing that can be adjusted to alter air flow.

Underneath the skin are mechanicals that are more performance oriented compared to the more docile setup found on the base XE. Jag blessed the car with stiffer springs for the front and rear, manually adjustable continuously variable dampers, a new carbon ceramic braking system, Formula 1-style silicon nitride ceramic wheel bearings and a rear electronic active differential (EAD) with oil cooler.

The racecar inspired theme was incorporated in the cabin is well due to the use of carbon fibre and Alcantara for various trim panels/steering wheel. There are aluminium paddle shifters behind the steering wheel for drivers to initiate quick gear changes but this can also be done through the use of the centre mounted ‘Pistolshift’ lever – a first for Jaguar.

Designed by the company’s Special Vehicles Operations (SVO) team, Project 8 will only be available as a left-hand-drive model and will come in eight body colours which are Fuji White, Narvik Black and Caldera Red, Valencia Orange, Velocity Blue, Meribel White, Verbier Silver and Corris Grey (satin matte).

There are also two packages to choose from, which are the standard four-seat pack and a two seat track pack. The former features front performance seats with magnesium frames, and a more heavily contoured rear squab to maximize support. The latter gets you lightweight front carbon fibre racing seats with four-point harnesses fixed to a harness retention hoop in place of the rear seat.

Further customization for a more personal touch include opting for tri-coat paint finish, tinted clear coat and race-inspired decal packs.

The Jaguar XE SV Project 8 will be one of the main featured vehicles at the on going Goodwood Festival of Speed after which, the car should be made available for purchase.

Land Rover belonging to Rowen Atkinson to be sold at auction

A Land Rover Defender 90 belonging to world famous actor, comedian and screenwriter, Rowen Atkinson CBE, will be put up for auction at the Silverstone Auctions, which will take place at the Silverstone Classic festival at the end of July.

The Land Rover in question, is a 2015 Heritage edition, one of 400 examples built to commemorate the end of UK production of the stalwart Defender 90. Considered an automotive icon, over the many decades that the nameplate has been around, Land Rover has consistently improved the Defender to keep it relevant to modern day buyers while retaining the classic box design that many have come to love.

Despite resembling the same vehicle that came out about 70 years ago, the 2015 Defender has all the modern creature comforts that one would come to expect in a contemporary vehicle. It has Grasmere Green metallic paintwork, Alaska White roof, heritage style grille, headlamp surrounds, silver front bumpers, heavy-duty steel wheels and HUE 166 graphics in tribute to the first ever pre-production Series I Land Rover from 1947.

On the inside, when separates the Heritage edition from the rest is the addition of the aluminium clock, aluminium door handles and perforated leather on the steering wheel, gear stick and handbrake, as well as cloth seats with vinyl sides and backs.

Then there’s also a padded cubby box and Heritage logo rubber mats, an upgraded DBS stereo, mud flaps, tow bar, and bespoke dog guard.

“Silverstone Auctions are very proud to offer this car with such a distinguished pedigree and which, in our opinion, represents the very best of a great British tradition. Never has there been a car that has so captured the imagination of the world,” said Nick Whale, managing director, Silverstone Auctions.

Judging from the manufacturing date, the famous actor hasn’t had this particular Defender very long. He received ownership of it on the 28th of November 2015 and since then, has only managed to clock 3,637km.

It is believed that the vehicle should fetch about £38,000 – £45,000, which is about RM208,519 to RM246,931. Considering that a famous movie star has owns it, that figure may only be a modest estimate.

Jaguar Land Rover team up with Gorillaz to recruit new talent

Jaguar Land Rover has teamed up with Gorillaz to recruit the next generation of electronics and software engineering talent through the introduction of a code-breaking challenge found in the Gorillaz app.

The best performers within the app will be fast-tracked through the recruitment process, allowing Jaguar Land Rover’s fill the vacant positions by employing deserving bright new talents over the course of next year.

This is a major departure from conventional way that automakers use to discover and hire talent that they require. This path will allow the company to tackle the engineering skills gap, and inspire and attract a diverse range of talent and new thinking.

Once launched, the App displays a 360-degree environment of the band’s home garage, where a several iconic vehicles from Gorillaz’s past can be seen. Applicants can interact with the app in two stages. The first, is meant to educate them on the benefits of electric vehicles, how to assemble the Jaguar I-PACE Concept 1 and have an in depth look at the first all-electric Jaguar five-seater sports car. It will even be able to inform these applicants about these vehicles’ performance, battery technology, space, charging and range.

The second part is considered more demanding of the stages. It focuses on code cracking in the Alternate Reality Game format (ARG). The challenge here is for applicants to go through a series of code breaking puzzles that will test their curiosity, persistence, lateral thinking and problem solving skills. These are the very same attributes that Jaguar Land Rover feel is essential for all new generation of software and engineering talent to possess in order to be worthy for a place at the company.

“As the automotive industry transforms over the next decade, fuelled by software innovation, we have to attract the best talent and that requires a radical rethink of how we recruit,” said Alex Heslop, Head of Electrical Engineering at Jaguar Land Rover. “Here, we’ve found an engaging way to recruit a diverse talent pool in software systems, cyber systems, app development and graphics performance. It will be the first of its kind.”

This project is said to follow the Jaguar Land Rover STEM initiative with Gorillaz in 2016 where the founding members and female guitarist, Noodle, became the Jaguar Formula E Racing Ambassador. And as such, Jaguar Land Rover hopes that this might aid the change in the perception many young minds have toward the IT profession and help close the skills gap in the field.

The Jaguar I-TYPE, which is the Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s all-electric Formula E racecar, also makes appearance in the Gorillaz app. It will be located in the garage with a poster of Noodle with the car. Users can click on this poster and it will allow them to vote for the @JaguarRacing team drivers to gain a power boost during their next race or to follow the @JaguarRacing Twitter channel.

Despite this new revolutionary method of recruiting new talent, Jaguar Land Rover is still accepting traditional application methods but it hopes that more will choose to use the app instead, break codes and solve problems. This in turn, will help them fast-track their way into a position at the company.

Jaguar reveals its M3 rival and it’s an absolute monster

Jaguar’s Special Vehicles Operations (SVO) division has announced that it is working on a special version of the XE. Named the XE SV Project 8, the vehicle is said to be a high performance and agile Jag that should give the Germans something to worry about.

Still considered a prototype, Project 8 has been sent to the Nürburgring Nordschleife to prove what it is capable of. Under the hood is a highly tuned Jaguar Land Rover 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine that produces a colossal 600bhp. According to Jaguar, once launched, Project 8 will be the most powerful road legal car it has ever made.

Sporting a menacing bodykit, Project 8 looks more suited to enter the V8 Supercar Series than a home garage. Masked with a camouflage paint scheme, the car features flared wheel arches, sportier front and side skirts as well as a massive rear wing that should keep it planted to the road at high speeds.

Like Project 7, which was a special edition F-Type, Project 8 is also considered a valuable member of the family that Jaguar hopes will become a collector’s item. Only 300 of these cars will be produced and all of them will be hand-assembled at SVO’s Technical Centre in Coventry, England. Despite the limited production run, the car will be made available to order by customers all over the world.

Speaking of the car, John Edwards, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover Special Operations said, “The time is right for SVO to produce the most extreme performance road car in the history of Jaguar. The new XE SV Project 8 takes aerodynamics and performance engineering to another level – it is conceived for enthusiasts and the most discerning collectors. The price for such an extreme performance sports car available in strictly limited numbers will reflect that.”

The British automaker hasn’t divulged much regarding other aspects of the car because it only plans to do so on its website, www.jaguar.com on 28th June 2017 ahead of the car’s offical debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed two days later.

Jaguar provides sneak peak of XF Sportsbrake

Jaguar picked a rather peculiar venue to give the general public a sneak peak at the upcoming XF Sportbrake. Images of the car were revealed at Wimbledon’s Center Court. In less than 70 days till the Wimbledon 2017 tennis championship, Jaguar used the court as the canvas to showcase its large-scale outline of its latest addition to the model line-up.

Regarding the reveal, Jaguar’s Director of Design, Ian Callum, said, “With XF Sportbrake we’ve created a silhouette which sweeps towards the rear, almost into the distance, and really gives the car a sense of speed and sportiness. It will bring new levels of practicality to the range without sacrificing the dynamic design and agile handling our customers expect.”

Besides the reveal, Jaguar is also the official car partner of Wimbledon 2017, which takes place from July 3rd to July 16th.

When launched later this year, the XF Sportbrake will join the XF sports sedan in the automaker’s line up as it diversifies the model line-up to accomodate the needs and wants of its ever growing customer base.

Kahn Design to introduce bespoke Land Rover Defender

Kahn Design is a world-renowned British vehicle designer who takes pride in building some of the most unique vehicles in recent memory. This time around, the design house will be building a one-off version of the Land Rover Defender which will be unveiled at the London Motor Show 2017 in May.

In line with Kahn’s successful track record in vehicle design, the company will pay homage to the off-roader by bringing together subtle influences to recreate a Defender with a modern feel.

Alec Mumford, Chairman of The London Motor Show, said: “It is a pleasure to have Kahn Design at The London Motor Show this year. Creating a truly outstanding tribute to one of the world’s most iconic cars, this immersive display is guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser in Battersea Park. It goes without saying the Kahn Design’s unique and bespoke builds optimise the very best of British ingenuity.”

Mr Kahn, chief designer of Kahn Design said: “For The London Motor Show 2016, I designed a vehicle that celebrates the history and unique personality of the Defender. My designs are known for their attention to detail, so I do not want this Defender to be any different.”

Kahn Design have added their touch to a number of supercars and other vehicles by combining luxury, style and performance. Kahn Design has a showroom in Chelsea, London, where potential buyers can go to order their vehicles.

Jaguar I-Pace graces the streets of London

The trend to go electric signals a shift in the mindset of most automotive manufacturers. Though building smaller more efficient engines seemed to be the rational choice a few years ago, today, manufacturers have realized the benefits of electric power and the effect it has on environmentally conscious buyers. One such automaker is Jaguar, a company that prides itself on building performance driven luxury vehicles.

It has officially begun testing its all electric performance SUV, the I-Pace, on the streets of London before the production ready I-PACE is launched in late 2017. Still considered in the concept phase, the I-PACE is powered by compact electric motors at the front and rear axles that produce close to 400bhp and an astounding 700Nm of torque.

These impressive power figures should allow this Jag to sprint to 100km/h from a standstill in just 4 seconds. Jaguar says that on a full charge, the I-Pace should be able to cover a distance of 500km based on the NEDC cycle thanks to a 90kWh lithium-ion battery. They also claim that by utilizing a 50kW DC charger, the battery pack can be charged to about 80 per cent in 90 minutes.

When it eventually hits the streets, the I-Pace is said to be a nimble yet powerful performance SUV that will offer an unrivaled blend of agility, ride comfort and refinement that will set it apart from other electrified offerings. Pitched as a true Jaguar and a drivers’ car, the I-Pace should go on sale in the second half of 2018, until then, here are the pictures of the I-Pace in concept form.

Jaguar Land Rover introduce Project Hero

JLR’s emergency response unit is set to take on the harshest conditions to save lives

Project Hero is essentially a bespoke version of the Land Rover Discovery built for use by the Austrian Red Cross. Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, it’s an advanced communication vehicle to support the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies(IFRC), which are the world’s largest humanitarian network.

This rather unique Discovery will be trialed by the Austrian Red Cross emergency response teams in the hopes of aiding the saving of lives by speeding up the response times to disasters.

Project Hero’s main party piece is the roof-mounted drone. There’s a fully integrated landing system with self-centering and magnetic retention technology that enables the drone to land on Project Hero’s roof even when the vehicle is moving.

https://youtu.be/hRdim3H98XQ

Through the use of the drone, the capacities of the emergency response unit is enhanced by allowing airborne, live footage to be transmitted to the Red Cross’s emergency response teams, helping them respond more quickly and effectively to landslides, earthquakes, floods and avalanches. Due to the changing terrain of unsettled landscapes, the aerial view provided by the drone will enable rescues to assess the situation from a safe distance and deduce an effective plan to rescue survivors.

Powered by the same 3.0-litre TD6 engine of the standard Discovery, Project Hero features a number of enhancements which include a heavy-duty sliding floor in the rear load space, segregation panel behind the rear seats providing additional equipment mounting points, LED lighting to aid night vision and innovative power supply points which accept multiple plug arrangements. It also features a multiple frequency radio equipment enabling contact to be made to other teams.

Project Hero will be stationed at the Austrian Red Cross training centre in Erzberg, in mountainous Eisenerz mining area, and in Vienna, for 12 months from June 2017. Its drone, will be used in simulations in order to develop new techniques of disaster relief. Project Hero will be dispatched when the Red Cross provides support at times of natural disasters, such as heavy snow or floods, or accidents.

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