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almost exactly a year later ‘That ad’ and this shocking pink car Next, I’m sitting in the first of the new breed of rooms at JLR headquarters in Warwickshire on a cold, damp December morning. jaguarIt is one of 150 prototypes undergoing testing worldwide as the brand heads towards the unveiling of its new luxury electric GT,
Much has been written about reimagining great British brands – even America chairman They expressed their opinions – but I’m here to focus on how the new car feels and give you first impressions of an early prototype model on the road.
Many details are still a secret, like the car I’m in, with its black and white camouflage doing a reasonable job of hiding what it will actually look like. However, after my road trip I was in for a surprise: a visit to the design studio where the new Jag was ready for production, had the cover removed, any camo removed and was looking quite ready for its first customer.
But first of all I’m sitting next to Matt Baker, JLR’s director of vehicle engineering – in English that means he’s the person responsible for tuning the new car to make it feel like it jaguarHowever, this is a brand-new Jaguar, so it’s a chance for Baker and his team to re-invent what Jaguar feels like – an opportunity that rarely comes along for anyone in the car business,
So, what was the brief? For this I spoke to Rodan Glover, head of the new Jaguar brand. What was he looking for?
“There are some highlights,” Glover said. “It needs an involving, engaging drive, but it’s not a sports car. It needs a car that goes on for miles, is great for taking long journeys at speed. It needs to have a sense of reserve power so you start to feel that, yes, it’s engaging, it’s involving, but it’s not exhausting.
“This is something that is the ideal vehicle for traveling long distances on the Autobahn, where you are traveling at speed for a long time and then when you come out you feel fine and as refreshed as you came in.
“That was the brief that we gave the team, what we needed from them was how do we deliver power, how much power do we need, weight distribution, all that good stuff.”
And if anyone can, Baker can. I have a history with Baker, having sat with him over the years before joining JLR in countless Lotus and Aston Martin models for which he has been responsible. Baker has fine-tuned the dynamics of some of the finest British cars for a generation, from Lotus sports cars to Aston’s first SUV and now Land Rovers and a new Jaguar.
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So, how does this all-electric Jaguar count among his many achievements? “There it is,” Baker says with a knowing smile on his face. “It’s definitely in the top three.”
This bodes well for our trip around JLR’s long test track, but first some stats that put the car in context. The car, 5.4 meters long and weighing 2,750 kilograms, has nearly 1,000bhp under Baker’s right foot. In short, it’s a beast. And the road is wet.
I ask Baker to take us back to the beginning of the project and how he defined how this new Jaguar should feel. “We spent some time running the classics,” he said. “Everything from the E-Type – obviously – to the XJ. But it was [two-door] “The XJC impressed us the most with its comfort and heavy handling, lightness and agility.”
By this time, we’re done and, despite the wrap around the car and the heavily covered interior, there’s already a sense of luxury in the way the car feels on some typical British surfaces around JLR’s test track.
I would describe ride comfort as being closely related to comfort. You don’t feel so cushioned as to be completely isolated from what’s going on beneath the tires – this is no magic carpet ride – but nor do you feel thrown around in any way. It feels like a very British ride; A true Jaguar ride with air suspension on each wheel. Comfort is quite remarkable, as the car rides on massive 23-inch wheels wrapped around very low profile tyres.
Given the car’s size and weight, it changes direction quickly without a hint of body roll, helped by clever torque vectoring technology and rear-wheel steering. This is not the kind of car that will send Baker sliding sideways out of a corner as the tires smoke. Today it is more likely to spray.
No, this Jaguar is much more restrained and always looks great. I’d say it’s got a good mix of comfort and stability – even though Baker points to a speed read-out that shows we’re well into the triple figures.
“The fundamentals of this car were right from day one,” said Baker. “The stiffness of the body is incredible, which allows us to add flavor.
“The tuning of the brakes is different in an EV – we’re looking for a harmony between braking and accelerating. And we want it to feel like there’s always power in reserve – there’s always something to do, not with an immediate kick like some EVs.”
This is evident in the smooth, but fast progress we made across various sections and surfaces of the test track, where the new Jaguar feels solid and of excellent quality.
There were a few things missing from the prototype model we drove: the interior was covered and there were very few clues about what was underneath. There was a good view out back, despite there being no rear window – relying on cameras for the rear view like the Jaguar Polestar 4. And the doors opened by pressing a button instead of a door handle.
There was not even a sound of Jaguar. It’s a work in progress, Baker said. “Each brand will have a signature noise, including off or ‘quiet’, and we’ve learned from the Jaguar I-Pace on that.”
Jaguar’s first electric car, the I-Pace, was so well received, it was rewarded with the World Car of the Year award in 2019. The new, as yet unknown, Jaguar will be a very different car. But from my first brief experience in it, it could be primed for the kind of critical praise that will make the furor over Jaguar’s reinvention last year a distant memory.