V8 from 1996 with 1997 first Jaguars to use the 4.0 version.

Considering Jaguar's most famous engine is a 6 cylinder it is a bit odd to say that a V6 is somehow inappropriate.

 

Whilst I know you guys are great V8 lovers in the US & Canada, I should know, I spend enough time with you, its important to remember that European manufacturers don't just go for the 'more cylinders means more power', for many, many years now you'd be amazed what a small European engine can churn out, and, still give good gas mileage.

I worked with a garage 30 years ago next to a technical development centre, the motor industry being one of its clients, where a well known Japanese manufacturer was experimenting with a ceramic, turbo-charged engines fitted into run of the mill Euroboxes. We carried out regular servicing to these cars as they were on a long term test and I couldn't believe how rapid and economical the engines were at only something like 1300cc. They were quicker off intersections that anything nearing twice its size and still gave great gas mileage.

So perhaps the realisation that even though you guys are on the other side of the pond, you know you're hurting with fuel costs and its going to get much worse over the next 10 years. I'm not long back from India and on one of the national news channels there they mentioned there were 7000 cars a day being registered to first time owners and growing. China is even bigger and registering even more, so with oil being finite, what way do we go - build for the future and adapt our habits to realise big V8's and V12's are going to be a very rare breed, or heaven forbid do we have a global energy war?

(Just for the record I run a 1957 V8 Chevrolet 210 as my hobby car and I love the V8 power delivery, but a tank of gas now costs me about $140 to fill her up. Getting 15-17 mpg hurts big time now as I can use a tank of gas just to go to and back from a show. This means I'm cutting back on how many shows I go to now, I maybe even sell her because of the increasing costs.)

 

They probably won't. U.S. diesel regulations make the engines cost prohibitive. Due to the blending requirements for ULSD, the price of diesel fuel exceeds premium gasoline, negating the diminished fuel economy advantages of diesel engines.

 

Agreed. Jaguar's most legendary cars were equipped with the XK engine, a DOHC inline 6. The XK engine spanned 4 decades of Jaguar from the XK120 through Series III XJ6. The XK engine was replaced by the AJ engine which was used in the 1988-1997 XJ6's and XJ-S vehicles.

The S-type used a 3.0 unit based on the Ford Duratec engine with a Jaguar head.

As it is, 6 cylinder cars are very much in Jaguar tradition.

So was the V-12 which manufactured from 1971 in the E-type to the very last V-12 in the 1996 Jaguar XJ-12.

 

I agree that the 6 cylinder is deeply rooted in Jaguar history. The engine range for 2013 is also going to include the same 4 cylinder turbo engine as fitted to the Evoque. The XF will have that engine as an option. The AWD XJ will also only be available as a V6. The V8 will still be an option in all models. It may not be as widely offerd as it is now. The AWD XJ should arrive in November & the XF in January. Then they will be in the same playing field as Audi, BMW,Mercedes & Infiniti. This will hopefully help for sales in the snowbelt. I happen to think AWD is a great selling point & not "Silly" in the words of Jagular. The broader range of engines & AWD will give customers many more options & make the car more afforadable.

 

The V8 engine is getting pretty scarce in Europe. Diesel cost more than gasoline in Europe as well as here. The cost saving is in the incredible fuel economy of similarly powered diesel cars not fuel price. North Americans don't like diesel cars because they don't understand them. North American diesel fuel is now suitable for modern passenger car diesel engines. Regulation is not relevant.

However, if diesel were to be used for cars in any significant amount in North America the price difference between diesel and gas would rapidly escalate because we needs huge amounts of diesel fuel or our truck fleet.

 

As Jagular says, the cost differential is the same in Europe. There is a "critical mileage" level which if you are doing more than per year, diesel still makes sense despite higher price of the engine and fuel. the torque levels in the low-mid rev range is phenomenal, which makes them very suitable for stop/start city driving that is typical of the kind of US city I live in. Fuel consumption for the 3.0DS XF is less than half what it is for the XFR, while the performance is pretty close in the real world.

 

I restore vintage sprots cars from the 60´s and 70´s and the change I notice most from those times to ours is the development of engines technology. A 2.6 V6 from my Ford Capri is just as powerful as a new 1.8 4L. No doubt this trend will continue to develop and with the availability of hydrogen instead of oil as fuel probably a 1000cc engine will put out 300 or 400HP easy. Heck my 1000cc BMW S1000RR already puts out 193 untweeked! However, Ferrari and Bentley and other high end brands still make and will continue to make V8,V10,V12,W16. Its very likely you will be able to get 1000hp from a V8 that will reduce to 300HP but be highly fuel efficient. Its just a matter of time. When someone asks what engine do you have? it sounds different when you say a 4 banger or a V8! Jaguar is all about luxury and pizzas and I am glad my Jag has a big bad V8.

 

Alcohol fuels already make big horsepower in turbocharged engines. Very poor fuel economy but the octane of ethanol and methanol is very high. Propane also has high octane rating. Hydrogen is a bit of a blind alley as the energy content is very low and at the moment it is uneconomic to make hydrogen let alone store, transport and fill vehicles with it.

 

Jagular, when hydrogen is ignited it produces massive amount of energy. It is compicated to hydrolize water but now with new developments of aluminum galium alloy, hydrogen is readily available. Its just a matter or time.

 

Oh I agree that the carbon "problem" goes away if hydrogen is the fuel. However, those massive amounts of energy require massive volumes of hydrogen. Compression is the key and we just ain't there yet.

 

The decision by Jaguar to go to smaller displacement boosted engines is OK in my opinion. The engines will be smaller and lighter which allows a bit more flexibility in overall packaging. It will likely be that the newer designed cars will be lighter as well. Fuel economy is the driver behind this decision though. Look for hybrid solutions as well down the road.

 

I can see the point in a V6 SC engine.

Here in the UK, we pay new car purchase tax, which is calculated by emissions of the vehicle - g/km of c02 (gramms of carbon dioxide per kilometer). Also our anual road fund tax is based upon the same emission standard.

BMW have successfully replaced the 4.0(ish) V8 with a 3.0 turbocharged straight 6. Advantages are significantly lower emissions an better fuel mileage. As have Audi (that people have mentioned)

This is one of the reasons why diesels are popular here. Lower co2 outputs than the equivalent petrol and better mileage.

There will always be a place in the Jaguar lineup for V8's but unfortunatly we need to accept that times are changing.

Jaguar produced an XJ "limo green" prototype with a 1.2 3cylinder and electric motor. Jaguar International - GREEN MACHINE
Not very Jaguar like some may say.

 

Jaguar only made the one V8 and under Ford management. They did acquire that sweet little Daimler V8 with only 2.5 litre displacement but that was never sold as a Jaguar. The current "all new" V8 is a development of the older V8. The traditional Jaguar engine has been the straight six which just can't beat a V6 for packaging and emissions.

The advantages of supercharging for economy and performance combined, whether by mechanical or turbo supercharger, were first explored by SAAB which was way ahead of its time when it turbo'd its four instead of going V6 or V8, both of which were also tried. Now everybody is using the same technology developed first by SAAB.

 

Jaguar confirms V8 option for F-Type




"How can you not be excited to see Jaguar getting back into the sports car business with a modern-day interpretation of the classic E-Type? Well, there is that one little issue with the F-Type powertrain that Jag announced during the Beijing Motor Show. In this day and age, a 380-horsepower V6 just doesn't cut it, supercharged or not. At least not when Mustangs are packing 662 horses.

Yes, we know the horsepower wars have lately gotten out of hand, but if Jaguar wants the F-Type to be taken seriously, it just plain needs a V8. And according to Car and Driver, it's going to be getting one. At least, eventually.

C/D says the F-Type will eventually get a version of Jag's 5.0-liter V8, although it doesn't know which one. Speculation says the supercharged variants in 470- and 550-horsepower states of tune are the most likely, as the base V8 only makes five more horsepower than the planned V6. The report also surmises that the initial roadsters will be six-cylinders when they debut in 2013, with the V8 models appearing further on in the production cycle".

 

Great post Exec, we all new that was bound to happen. As I said in my posts before, Top of the line models will have the V8 5.0L DFI. I hate
fake ponies on little engines and so does Jaguar. Rock on V8's

 

Hyperactive small displacement engines with forced induction worry me because they are under a considerable amount of stress and are very complex. We all like the lazy under utilized feel (or stress free feel, if you like) of a large displacement V8. I also have issues with the added complexity of supercharged and turbocharged engines. However times have moved on and our knowledge of materials and engineering have improved immeasurably since some of my biases were formed.

I am an engineer and KISS has always been my motto (keep it simple, stupid) along with add lightness and simplicity. Modern engines are a marvel of current technology and we are now in the era of most mainstream engines being able to easily exceed 100 bhp per litre, something that was a major achievement many years ago. We are also in the era of the need to increase efficiency which makes the large displacement V8 (and bigger) an anathema. The only way to get there with the internal combustion engine is with the use of electronics, forced induction and smaller displacement engine. Forget the issues about diminishing resources (which is in of itself something to think about) think about the costs of fueling these larger inefficient engines.

The bottom line is that we have to accept that eventually these larger, beautiful, V8 and V 12 engines are going to disappear and be replaced by these smaller but very efficient engines. Love those V8's while you can, they are going the way of the steam engine.

 

Modern supercharged engines are not overly stressed. I had a SAAB 9000 turbo with over 300,000 km (185,000 miles) on the original untouched engine and oil cooled turbo. No observable engine wear whatsoever. Burned the same amount of oil for that entire mileage. Now that was modestly boosted but then so are more modern engines. My current SAAB Aero 9000 has 230,000 km and its head gasket was replaced only due to seepage not compression failure. It still uses no oil.

Also, some of us prefer supercharged engines, I know I do. It's like having extra gear ratios which you don't need to select. Like a very efficient multi speed torque converter. For mountain roads nothing tops a supercharged engine.

 

Rique, i was very happy myself when i started reading the article. I am a huge fan of Jaguar, but if they start sticking V6s in their cars (doesn't matter how much power they make) you will never catch me in one.

I guess the best way to put it is, i will agree to disagree.
While i do believe we will be seeing more and more V6s replacing big V8s, i still think good amount of cars will come equipped with V8 engines - especially the high end cars like Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes, Maserati etc.
People who purchase those cars aren't necessarily worried about gas mileage, efficiency.

If Jaguar started offering a lot of cars with small engines, BMW/Mercedes would start gaining huge portion of the market share because they do offer V8s. Mainly, because there are people like us who care about the numbers of pistons in their engines

 

According to an expose done by Autocar magazine here in the UK (released today), the new F-Type is meant to be a rival for the Porsche Boxster/Cayman, so will be priced accordingly, powered above the highest powered comparable Porsche and be a more usable everyday car than the Porsche. The idea is not to throw another XK onto the market as the XK will eventually be replaced by a new model anyway, which will take the newly released Merc SL clean out of the water.

At the Beijing motor show, Jaguar showcased a Highly spec'd XJ, running a production ready version of the 3.0V6 S/C engine producing 335hp and more torque than the 5.0V8, whilst remaining more fuel efficient.

I understand that you guys in the states are rapidly approaching $5 per gallon. Surely if someone presented you with a car that does better mileage with the same performance would be a plus point?

As for people that love the sound of a V8, don't forget that the new BMW M5 relies on the sound system to provide a synthesized sound into the cabin. Audi have developed a sound resonating chamber in the exhausts for their new V6 diesels to try and make them sound more "petrol" like. Lotus here in the UK have developed external speaker systems that play a convincing sound of pretty much any engine every sold for fitment on electric vehicles. Yes, your Prius could sound like a V12 E-Type!!!

I remember watching an interview with a very famous american car nut called Jay Leno. He pointed out something very valid, that eventually cars as we know them will become weekend hobbies. The same way that horses have become such to some people. During our normal day to day drives, we will be driving economical, low emission cars - dare i say it but hybrids etc.

I think us Europeans have a different attitude to this to other nationalities. I'm all for smaller forced induction engines, providing there isn't any lag whilst waiting for the blower to come up to boost. Using the M5 as an example again. The V8 Turbocharged engine produces more power and torque than the V10 it replaced, making the current model quicker across all tests than the previous model, despite the fact the car is heavier.