Jaguar Remembers To Neuter And Spay Its Cats
The era of V8 hegemony is over at Jaguar; the current lineup, which offers no alternatives with fewer than 8 cylinders or 5.0L of displacement, will be getting two new engine offerings – including a 4-cylinder option.
Both the XF and XJ will get a 3.0L Supercharger V6 option, available in 340 and 380 horsepower trim levels. The V6 is sorely needed for the XF, given that 70 percent of its competitive set is sold with 6-cylinder engines.
Most surprising is the use of the Range Rover Evoque’s 2.0L 240 horsepower 4-cylinder (essentially a Ford Ecoboost engine) in the XF. Then again, the BMW 528i is proving that a 4-cylinder in a mid-size luxury car is an acceptable, if not optimal choice of motivation. An all-new 8-speed automatic will be available on both engines, no doubt helping to bump up the fuel economy numbers even further.
Rumors of downsized engines for the Chinese market (where a vehicle’s tax burden is related to engine size) have been circulating for some time, but it looks like the United States will be invited to the downsizing party as well. One would think that a Jaguar customer wouldn’t be concerned with such trifling matters as fuel bills, but the 4-cylinder XF and V6 XJ will likely bring in both first time customers and the sort of eccentric, wealthy types who value both frugality, and not driving a German marque. Luckily, the big V8s look like they’re here to stay.
More by Derek Kreindler
Comments
Join the conversation
Jaguars XF sales figures are warped to some degree by the lack of 4 cylinder engines available to them. According to a friend of mine who works for Jag they can't source enough engines from Ford to meet demand. First dibs goes to Range Rover on 4 cylinders because of their profit margins. That why JLR is racing to build its own engine plant in the UK.
Right! Bring back those cast-iron juggernauts with long strokes, SU side-draught carbs, and a serious thirst for 10w30. Still, nothing else has that I6 snarl.
Almost everyone forgets how small JLR is. As Tstag has pointed out, Jag doesn't have their own engine plant anymore. They have to source all their engines and if the manufacturers aren't making 8's or I6's or whatever, then Jag's got a problem. Ford really stepped down in 2008 with large engines. Most others have followed suit.
A turbo 4 cylinder with a powerful plug-in hybrid powertrain would be nice.