Being my first blog,,, I have decided to take an easier way out by submiting one of the most interesting articles I've read in some time. This article comes to us from the editor of " Jaguar World " Matt Skelton as he tells us about his road tests in Jaguars newest super car the C-X75.
"If you find the thought of electric-powered cars a turn-off, consider that this one will reach 62mph in 3.4 seconds and top 205mph !!!!"
As I write these words I'm doing well over 100mph, while traveling backwards. Thankfully, it's not because Jaguar had released a car with a very high reverse gear, although a very interesting Jaguar is due to be unveiled in approximately 12-hours time.
It's Wednesday, 29 September, and though technically this issue of JWM should already be on press, we've persuaded the printers to hold their nerve for an extra day, as tomorrow Jatguar will be showing a brand new concept car at the Paris Motor Show. Which is why I'm currently hurtling backwards, Paris bound, on the Eurostar (the backwards bit being due to an annoying lack of vacant front facing seats...).
As to exactly what Jaguar will be showing, we're genuinely in the dark. Almost, Rumor has it - and inevitably there have been plenty of those doing the rounds - that the car we'll see at 9:45am tomorrow morning will be a 'sports concept', likely to be XK sized, almost certainly to feature alternative powertrain technology, and not to be destined for production any time soon.
If that iss the case it'll be the first time since the R-D6 of 2003 that Jaguar has shown a genuine concept, the ALC of 2005 being a 'backwards-engineered' show car version of the production-ready XK, and the C-XF of 2007 featuring many design cues that were already in development for both the the XF and new XJ. If find it hard to velieve, though, that the car will be completely removed from something we may see production ready in the not too distant future - Jaguar has, remember, confirmed that it's working on a 'small sports car' and it's also more than five years since the XK itself was first shown. We shall soon see.
Show Stopper!
Right, I'm no longer travelling backwards, although I am sat on the floor-there's not a lot of space in the media centre here, and there wasn't much space around Jaguar's stand at 9:45am this morning either. Enduring the crush, though, was well worth it as when the covers came off the concpt car they revealed, the C-X75, was quite stunning. It's both a celebration of jaguar's past-hence the '75' part of its title-and a nod towards an exciting future.
Though it's actually shorter and lower than the current KX by some margin, the wide and low-slung C-X75's visual impact is nevertheless high, and the technology it showcases most impressive too. If you find the thought of electric-powered cars a turn-off, consider that this one will reach 62mph in 3.4 seconds and top 205mph, and you may think again...that's before considering the fact it's also four-wheel drive.
As for last night's hypotheses-I wasn't too far wide of the mark, although the four-wheel drive system was a surprise. Is it something we'll see production ready soon? No. The C-X75 is a true 'concept". The micro-gas turbine technology is working-the car is a 'driver'-but there are plenty of issues that would need to be dealt with before something of this nature could hit the showrooms. Consider, for instance, that the gas turbines compress 35,000 litres of air per minute. Just effectively filtering that air for one presents a serious challenge in a road car environment.
My guess would be that this is just one alternative powertrain route Jaguar is considering, perhaps not for the next generation of cars but the one beyond that (interestingly, on the day of the car's unveling, Tata, Jaguar's owner, also announced it is to buy a minority stake in Bladon Jets-the British manufacturer of those micro-gas turbine). Neverthless, despite the fact the C-X75's powertrain is still very much at the prototy[e stage, that's not to say some elements of it couldn't see the light of day in production form sooner.
Ian Callum, Jaguar's design director, stated in his speech tha the front end of the car"...provides a clear confirmation of our next generation of Jaguars," which I'd take to mean both the samll sports car concept netioned earlier, and the next iteration of XK, although in which order they will appear we don't yet know.
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