Jaguar to unveil Porsche Boxster rival 01 | 08 | 2011
JAGUAR IS POISED to reveal its £40,000 rival to the Porsche Boxster. The all-new model, codenamed the XE and which will hit showrooms late in 2012, will be unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month and comes 36 years after Jaguar consigned the iconic E-type to history.
Though no official details have yet been released, expect the XE to have been designed "in the spirit" of the E-type; this is definitely no lame attempt simply to recreate the original. The XE will definitely be its own car.
Based around Jaguar’s next-generation all-aluminium roadster platform, the XE will carry some styling cues from the E-type. The production version of the newcomer will also be 4.3 metres long — that's 450mm shorter than its XK sister car due in 2014.
But because of the large transmission tunnel demanded by the rear-drive and the minimum crush space required to meet side impact regulations, the XE will be as wide as the larger car. Early indications are the car will also have a long-bonnet and short rear-end, again paying homage to the classic lines and shape of the E-type.
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Jaguar will build the XE at Castle Bromwich, on the same line as the XK, but the company has yet to decide whether it will build a coupe version in addition to the original XE concept, which will a roadster.
It's fair to expect the XE to be powered by V6 petrol engines in both normally aspirated and supercharged forms. There's also a strong probability Jaguar will fit a turbocharged four-cylinder petrol unit into the XE.
If the latter option goes ahead, when Jaguar combines the powerplant with an eight-speed automatic gearbox, stop-start technology and the XE's aluminium construction, the result should be remarkable economy and CO2 figures for a car in its class. A V8 model will also appear, but the ultra-performance XE will only follow shortly after the initial launch. Jaguar has yet to decide on whether to go ahead with a diesel version.
Strangely, one of the biggest problems Jaguar is facing is what to call the car. While the codename XE fits in with the current naming strategy — XF, XJ, XK — it's unlikely the car will get E-type badging, simply because it would be too close to the iconic classic of the Sixties.
Read our road test of the new Jaguar XJ
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Jim McGill