Jaguar XE: Jag's 911 Fighter

Jaguar is working on a new sports car that will be positioned under the XK, and aimed squarely at Porsche's 911. To be called XE, the car will likely make its debut at the 2011 Geneva Show, on the 50th anniversary of the iconic Jaguar E-Type, its spiritual successor

The XE will be based on the Jaguar range's flexible architecture, which accommodates the XK, XF and the all-new XJ which debuts this September at the Frankfurt auto show, and is designed to be a larger, more formal version of the XF, but more lowslung than the current, conservative XJ. Rumors of a smaller, more focused Jaguar sports car have been around for decades. Ford, which never truly understood Jaguar, cancelled work on one called the F-Type about 10 years ago (the illustration pictured is of the stillborn car), deciding to focus the company's resources instead on the development of diesel engines and the X-Type wagon.

But Ratan Tata, whose company now owns Jaguar, is supporting the development of the XE. "I don't believe we can afford to emerge from the recession as we are," he told British magazine Autocar recently. "We need to emerge with something shiny and new, which is why we are re-prioritizing the roadster right now." Tata has a much more personal connection with Jaguar than most of the Ford bosses previously responsible for the company's direction: his father once owned an XK120.

With the '10 XKR stickered at $102,000 including destination, there's room for the XE to tackle the Porsche 911 in the $80k-plus range. That means it'll also be up against the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, a challenge Jaguar might not have been allowed to make before Ford Motor Company sold Aston and then Jaguar/Land Rover. Design chief Ian Callum is emphasizing subtle heritage cues over out-and-out retro styling, so there'll be none of the F-Type concept from the early '00s. Besides being too old, the hoodline of that homage to the E-Type could not meet European pedestrian collision standards.

The new 5.0-liter AJ-V8 Gen III engines -- 385hp in naturally aspirated form, and 510hp with a supercharger -- will give the smaller, lighter XE plenty of punch, with a low 4.0sec 0-60mph time feasible from the XER version. European buyers may also be offered the XE with the punchy 272hp version of the new 3.0-liter V-6 diesel that will soon debut in the XF sedan. With a reported 442lb-ft of torque available (just 19lb-ft less than the supercharged V-8) this engine could still deliver sub-six second 0-60mph performance with 35mpg gas mileage.

Honda Insight Hybrid

Honda has released some information and pictures of the concept car that will become the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid. The Honda Insight hybrid concept car will debut at the 2008 Paris auto show in October. Going on sale next spring in the U.S., the production Insight hybrid will be a 5-door, 5-passenger hatchback whose design will probably not stray much from the images you see here.

Honda says that the new Insight hybrid will be smaller than a Honda Civic, which means that it should be a half-size smaller than the Toyota Prius hybrid as well. Word on the street is putting the 2010 Honda Insight hybrid fuel economy as high as 60 miles per gallon.

GM's Pontiac Solstice, Chevrolet Nomad and Saturn Curve Concepts

GM's new Kappa platform yields rear-drive production and concept cars
By Todd Lassa
Photography by the manufacturer

We've seen the future, and a lot of it is rear-drive. But who would've expected rear drive to find its way back into small cars? That trend is being encouraged by GM's chief product dude Bob Lutz and his desire to get a four-cylinder, classic two-seat sports car into the Pontiac lineup. Enter the Solstice, the 2002 concept that becomes a real 2006 model in autumn 2005. For $20,000, you'll get the base Solstice engine, a 170-horsepower, 170-pound-feet, 2.4-liter Ecotec I-4 (a 2.2-liter turbo or supercharged four will be available later for around $25K). The production Solstice's weight is significant, at "under 2900 pounds." Bob's baby uses Opel Corsa seat frames, Fiat HVAC controls, GMC Envoy backup lamps, and Grand Prix foglamps, but draws considerable inspiration from several Alfa Romeo roadsters of decades gone by. We think it looks terrific.
The Solstice employs GM's new Kappa architecture and innovative manufacturing techniques. The platform has hydroformed full-length frame rails with a boxed center tunnel enclosing the driveshaft. So it's a backbone frame like the Corvette's, which means none of the chassis flex associated with unibodies decapitated to make convertibles. This layout also allows for great design and production flexibility. Demonstrating this notion are two "aspirational" compact concepts, the Chevrolet Nomad and the Saturn Curve.
Leapfrogging the Mini, which has a three-door Clubman wagon on its way, the Nomad was penned at GM's United Kingdom studio. It recalls cues from the 1954 Motorama Nomad show car, including its 1953-1955 Corvette nose, forward-leaning B-pillar, and chrome-ribbed tailgate. The backlight rolls down into the tailgate, which folds flat, with a slide-out load floor and folding rear seatbacks. The nouveau Nomad also speaks to the Kappa's flexibility: Wheelbase is 107 inches versus 95.1 for the Solstice.
As good as the Nomad looks, some consider the Saturn Curve less successful, continuing the marque's tradition of generic styling coupled with the brand's new Seat-style nose. Designed at GM's Swedish studio, the 2+2 concept has a flattop roof over a canopy of glass. Its blown 2.2-liter Ecotec four is rated at 230 horses. GM says it doesn't need to build Kappa variants to make the Solstice economically viable. But why not spread the wealth of this new chassis architecture? As small-car engineering chief Jim Queen puts it, "it's unlikely GM wouldn't make further use" of it in the Vauxhall Lightning (MT, "News," August 2003)--or in something like the Nomad or Curve.
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Infiniti G37 Convertible

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Mazdaspeed 3

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Being the most muscular of the Mazda 3 lineup, the Mazdaspeed thankfully gets the butchest styling. A large air intake that feeds the intercooler adorns the hood, managing to take some attention away from the smirky lower grille opening. The grin is also painted gloss black in this application, which we think is a visual improvement over the gray plastic on the standard hatch and sedan. You can’t have a hot hatch without the hatch, and the Mazdaspeed 3 will once again be available only as a five-door. The tail, seen in photos of the Mazda 3 MPS (the name used by the Mazdaspeed 3 outside the U.S.) sports black trim evoking a venturi tunnel and looks significantly more business-like than the standard 3's.
Aside from the happy new styling, Mazda hasn’t made many changes to its fast-five-door formula, and that’s alright by us. The new guy will continue to use the same direct-injected, turbocharged 2.3-liter engine, which in its current state of tune sends 264 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque to the front wheels. (Sorry, all-wheel drive is still not in the cards.)

2010 Lotus Evora

It's a well-known scientific fact that there's two kinds of sexy. The playful, kittenish teasing kind, and the kind that comes up and grabs you from behind, buckles your knees, pins your face to the marble floor, covers you in 30-weight motor oil, and dares you to try and escape. For anyone who can't take that last sentence seriously, there's the 2010 Lotus Evora from the 2008 L.A. auto show. Poised sinfully on the Lotus stand at the L.A. auto show, the silver Lotus Evora exuded an indescribable sexiness that kept interrupting their busy day and forcing them to stop, look, and lust. What could be sexier than this 2,976-lb. body being propelled by a 276-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6? Nothing, not even motor oil.