Jaguar XE - why it deserves to succeed

FORGET Euro 2016. The most realistic chance of watching England going up against the Germans and giving them a comprehensive thrashing is in the car mags, sometime next spring.

It’s not often you get three hugely important automotive unveilings within a week of each other, but that’s precisely what happened when the Land Rover Discovery Sport, Mazda’s new MX-5 and Jaguar’s XE all waded into your Twitter feed at roughly the same moment. For what it’s worth, it’s the unveiling of only the fourth MX-5 in 25 years which pressed all my petrolhead buttons, but that’s a small, open top sports car enjoyed by hedonists in search of a hairpin bend in the Welsh countryside.

The XE, on the other hand, could very well be the most important new car launched this year. Largely because it offers to take the fight to the BMW 3-Series and Audi A4 and actually win. A victory which – and I know Jaguar Land Rover is owned by an Indian conglomerate – would be fantastic news for UK Plc.

It’d be a particularly hard-earned result if the Jaguar’s new saloon did pull it off because – in a well-established tradition of so-near-yet-so-far established by England’s footballers on their business trip to Italy back in 1990 -  the company got so close to pulling it off originally with the X-type 14 years ago.

It was far from a bad car, essentially being an improved and upgraded twist on the hugely accomplished Mk3 Ford Mondeo, but even being that wasn’t quite as talented as the contemporary 3-Series, and as a result few BMW salesmen lost any sleep over the British upstart. All anybody remembers about it now is it being a bit of an also-ran in terms of sales figures and (unfairly) that it’s a Mondeo-in-drag.

The XE, on the other hand, has got everything going for it. It’ll be keenly priced - £27,000 should get you into the entry-level version – and comes with the exactly the sort of small diesel engine which has helped the 3-Series storm past the Mondeo to earn the top spot as Britain’s favourite big saloon. It’ll also be rear-wheel-drive (which is important, given the X-type was also castigated for being propelled by the ‘wrong’ wheels) and it looks like a younger, fresher version of the XF, which is a bit like Dannii Minogue looking like a younger, fresher version of Kylie.

Obviously, the real proof will be out on Britain’s roads in a few months time, when we’ll discover whether England really has scored the automotive equivalent of 5-1 over BMW and Audi. If it has, expected every motorway outside lane to be packed with XEs this time next year.

Read more »

BAC Mono: The supercar with a scouse accent

THE makers of a single-seater supercar have decided to relocate to Liverpool after being swamped with orders from speed-seeking buyers.

BAC, who until now have been based in Cheshire, said that following the success of their Mono model they have decided to move to a larger factory on Merseyside, and will set up shop at a site in Speke next year. Joe Anderson, the mayor of Liverpool, said: "This is great news for Liverpool. BAC is an ambitious, visionary company, and its desire to relocate to our city speaks volumes for our business offer. The support we have provided will help create new jobs and apprenticeships and further build our reputation as a city of automotive excellence.

"The Jaguar Land Rover plant in Halewood has been a real success story for our city in creating jobs in commercial car production – I’m confident that this deal with BAC will prove to be another success, in creating opportunities at the specialist end of the market. BAC Mono is a prestigious brand, and it’s fantastic that motoring and racing enthusiasts alike will know that a car which is turning heads wherever it goes – whether on the road or track – is made in Liverpool."

The company’s Mono model is one of the fastest British cars currently in production, and recently posted the second fastest ever lap of the Top Gear track, beaten only by the Pagani Huayra.

Liverpool has a longstanding association with car manufacture, particularly with the former Ford plant at Halewood, which is now used by Jaguar Land Rover to produce the Land Rover Freelander and Range Rover Evoque.

Read more »

Fire up the... Range Rover Evoque

TO appreciate this baby off-roader you have to think not in terms of ground clearance, horsepower or litres of loadspace. It is a car callibrated best in column inches, retweets and Facebook likes.

The Range Rover Evoque is, thanks to its near-constant appearances in the likes of Heat and Hello! and the input of Victoria Beckham's style know-how in its inception, one of the coolest cars on the planet right now. It's also one of the hardest to judge with an open mind - not only am I from a family of Range Rover owners, I'm aware too that it's made right here in the north west, in a Liverpool factory and was developed with help from the British taxpayer. Not that you're interested in that. What you want to know is if it's any good.

First impressions are good - the five door 2.2 diesel I tested looks, for want of a better word, fabulous, although its three-door sibling is even more stylish. Sharply creased and with a distinctive squint at the front end, it manages to look like a Range Rover without inducing the environmentalists' irk its bigger brother manages.

In fact, the question everyone's asked me is whether that shallow rear window makes it tricky to see out of, but it doesn't. It is no harder to drive than a Ford Mondeo, which is perhaps no big surprise given the two are - via Land Rover's Freelander - distant relations under the skin. In fact, the biggest dissapointment is that you lose the commanding driving position Land Rover owners know and love, but you'll forgive that because it handles crisply and tidily on even the trickiest of roads.

The price to pay for all of that, naturally, is the price itself; you can get an entry level version for around £28,000 but the ED4 version I drove was nearer to £36,000. If you're more worried about value and practicality you definitely get more for your money by going for the Freelander, but that's missing the point. The quality of the interior, the sportier drive and the looks, to my mind, make the Evoque more than worthy of the extra outlay.

As much as I hate coming to an obvious conclusion the Evoque is just too good for the pop singers and TV stars to keep to themselves.

Read more »

Burning rubber at the Jaguar Land Rover factory

IT’S NOT every day one of Britain's biggest car companies lends you an enormous factory car park to play with.

Yet that’s exactly what Jaguar Land Rover did when they lent Aintree Circuit Club the use of part of their Halewood factory – home of the Range Rover Evoque – for an AutoSolo event earlier today, as part of the club’s calendar of motorsport events.

AutoSolo is a great form of entry-level motorsport and a bit of a petrolhead thrill in its own right, because you can enter in pretty much anything in have and blast. The inaugural event at the Jaguar Land Rover factory attracted a pretty eclectic entry list, with everything from cheap ‘n’ cheerful Micras and Corsas, hot hatch classics like the Peugeot 205 GTI and the Golf GTI, and rear wheel drive roadsters like the Caterham Seven and the Mazda MX-5.

The event, held in the factory’s 50th anniversary year, saw an expansive car park converted into a twisty course, which more than thirty cars took a crack at trying to complete.

The competitors made the best of the changeable conditions and used the damp course to get some of the more colourful entries seriously sideways – for me, the highlight of the day was watching one driver drifting his diminutive Suzuki Whizzkid!

If you’d like to find out more about AutoSolo events in the near future, visit the Aintree Circuit Club website for details of forthcoming fixtures.

Aintree Circuit Club are also organising this year's Ormskirk MotorFest, which takes place on August 26. Keep an eye on Life On Cars over the coming weeks for special coverage of the event...

Read more »

Jaguar Land Rover factory to host exciting Autosolo event

ENTHUSIASTS are being given the chance to get behind the wheel at Jaguar Land Rover's home in the north west at an event next weekend.

The new facility at the firm's factory in Halewood will play host to an Autosolo event next Saturday (August 4) - and there's still time for petrolheads to enter into the event and put their own cars through their paces.
Aintree Circuit Club, which is organising the event, said: "We are indebted to the management of the factory for allowing us the use of one of the car parks. Jaguar Land Rover are celebrating their 50th anniversary of the plant this year so we hope to see a good turnout to thank them.

"The event will follow a similar format to other AutoSOLOs, with open flowing tests on various surfaces, a handbrake will not be essential to get round the course. If you haven’t seen an AutoSOLO before then rest assured that this is not a memory contest. Although there is no passenger the tests are laid out with numbers and markers to help you find the way round.

"We are running a dual permit event, the National B event being a round of the ANWCC Autosolo Championship. The BTRDA have invited us to be a round in their Autosolo Championship as well as in the Newcomer’s Autosolo Challenge, which is open to Juniors under 25 and those who have not held a MSA competition license in the past ten years. Running in parallel will be a PCA counting towards the ANWCC Junior PCA Championship.

"Remember that the event is only open to road legal cars driven to the event. The Clubman entrants don’t need a competition licence but make sure that your club membership is up to date. You can always join Aintree Circuit Club on the day if you wish to compete. National B competitors must have a 2012 competition licence. We are hoping for a good entry so please get your entry in as soon as possible."

There's still time to enter - the deadline is 8.30am on Saturday, August 4 - with entry costing £23 or £25 depending on the exact event entered. For more information call 0151 525 5060/07821 230961 or send an email at mja@aintree.org.uk

Aintree Circuit Club is also looking for volunteers to act as marshals to help make the event a success. If you'd like to get involved, send an email to nickstafford@mail.com.

Read more »