Jaguar Creates Short Film Charting the XF Diesel

We could be wrong, but it looks increasingly possible that Jaguar may be testing the waters to see if there's any interest in its new diesel-powered version of the XF premium saloon in the States.

Following the completion of the 2,884-miles coast-to-coast trip in a standard, UK-registered, right-hand drive XF 2.2D, the British automaker has now released a short film recording bits and pieces from the journey made by independent testers, David and Alexander Madgwick, mixed with facts about the car.

Too bad Jaguar's marketing team didn't create a time-lapse video charting the entire trip from New York City to Los Angeles in a few minutes – now, that would have been something.

In its North American release, Jaguar also clarified that the XF 2.2D recorded an average fuel economy of 52 MPG US and a peak economy of 55.7 MPG that was achieved on the penultimate day of the trip in the southwest US.

Jaguar C-X16 Concept

The captivating Jaguar C-X16 Production Concept continues its world tour after its premiere at the Frankfurt show in September at this week's 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show where it made its North American debut.

You may have noticed that instead of the original gunmetal gray finish, the all-aluminium sports coupe shown in the City of Angels was redone in a Neutron White. But besides that, there are no other changes.

The British company has already begun work on the production version as evidenced by the test mule captured on film by our scoop photographers back in mid-September.

At the Los Angeles presentation, Jaguar's Global Brand Director, Adrian Hallmark said that the C-X16 represents the best of Jaguar and that it brought the car to the States to test the waters.

"It's fast, it's beautiful, and it also highlights our commitment to the development of sustainable powertrain technologies," said Hallmark. "As it's an indication of how a Jaguar sports car may look in the future, we're eager to gauge the reaction to the C-X16 here in the important North American market, and the Los Angeles Auto Show provides us with the perfect platform to do so," he added.

In concept form, the C-X16 features a prototype hybrid powertrain comprising a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine with 380PS (280kW) and 332lb ft (450Nm), linked to an electric motor producing an additional 70kW and 235Nm (equivalent to 95PS and 173lb ft).

Power is transferred to the rear wheels via an eight-speed transmission with the lightweight coupe accelerating from 0 to 62mph (100km/h) in 4.4 seconds before reaching a top speed of 186mph (299 km/h).

Jaguar New 550HP and 186MPH XKR-S Convertible

Billed by Jaguar as the most powerful and fastest open-top GT model in the brand's history, the new XKR-S Convertible will make its world premiere today at the 2011 LA Auto Show.

Packing 550HP and 680Nm (501 lb-ft) of torque from its supercharged 5.0-liter V8 that was borrowed from XKR-S coupe, the convertible model accelerates from standstill to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.2 seconds and can reach an electronically limited top speed of 300 km/h (186 mph).

"There is nothing as liberating as life behind the wheel of an open-topped Jaguar and the new XKR-S Convertible takes the Jaguar GT experience to new heights”, says Adrian Hallmark, Jaguar Global Brand Director.

Predictably enough, the hot convertible adopts all the styling cues from the coupe model including a redesigned nose and front bumper with twin side inlets, a vented hood, new sills and a rear wing with a carbon insert on the outside, as well as the carbon fiber trim on the inside.

Despite losing its top, Jaguar claims that the XKR-S Convertible's aluminum chassis has an extremely high torsional rigidity, which makes it the stiffest car in its class thanks in part to the reinforced rear suspension damper mounts that make up for the reduced rigidity any convertible has compared to its fixed-roof version.

Chief engineer Mike Cross explains: "Because the XK was designed as a convertible it has great structural integrity. This allowed us to apply the XKR-S coupe's sporting suspension settings to create a convertible with no compromises. Its blend of great speed, precision and dynamism is given an extra dimension with the roof down and that thrilling exhaust soundtrack."

The front suspension features a new aluminum steering knuckle that increases camber stiffness by 23%, providing greater levels of steering accuracy and feedback, while the Active Differential has been uprated to reduce steering sensitivity at very high speeds.

The High Performance Braking System, which comprises of 380 mm front and 376 mm rear discs, is fitted as standard and provides ample stopping power. Moreover, Jaguar has tweaked the DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) system to reduce intervention when the driver selects the Trac mode.