Jaguar C-XF: The Better S-Type

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

The British car manufacturer Jaguar will be represented at the Detroit motor show with the concept study C-XF. The four-door sedan is intended to show the future design of the brand.

By Jürgen Wolff

The Jaguar S-Type is getting on in years and looks pretty old-fashioned. His successor will be all the more exciting. At the auto show in Detroit, the British show it as an exciting concept study with the abbreviation C-XF.

?? For Jaguar, the C-XF is much more than just another concept study, "said Jaguar Design Director Ian Callum:" Its importance for future design and possible future technologies is immense. The Jaguar C-XF is the most dynamic and modern four-door that Jaguar has ever put on wheels."

Complete style change

The style change is complete: the classic notchback sedan with the name S-Type becomes a four-door coupé that takes over many of the features of the XK sports car launched a year ago and something reminiscent of the recently introduced Aston Martin Rapid. With the C-XF, Jaguar is replacing the four-eye face that was previously common in sedans with one-piece, wedge-shaped headlights with a blue light strip between the individual lamps.

This should be reminiscent of the eyes of a big cat. The latticed radiator handle with the three-dimensional Jaguar head is set far back, the sideline curved like a coupé and provided with distinctive sills and gills behind the front wheel arches. The rear gets a high-set spoiler lip, diffuser and an exhaust system with four pipes. In the study, the tires are mounted on 21-inch alloy wheels.

Jaguar says it uses noble materials inside. The passengers can be seated in four individual bucket seats, separated by a center console. The steering wheel has only one spoke, two large gearshift paddles ensure manual gear changes for the six-speed automatic, which is itself controlled via a rotary knob. For information, there are round instruments with a blue background, from which the rev counter is given the central position.

Gadgets

At least in the study, the engineers did not do without technical gimmicks: when the vehicle is started, the red start button pulsates with a heartbeat. When the engine is running, a blue light ring stretches from the center of the dashboard over the entire interior and a ceiling console bathes the car in blue light.

Other future technologies that Jaguar has built into the C-XF have more chances of entering series production. According to Jaguar, the door handles are only visible after the hands have touched a sensor. In the center console there is a monitor on which the driver and front passenger can see two different images at the same time. Digital signals are distributed in the car via a carbon fiber cable harness.

The FX is propelled by the 4.2 liter V8 supercharger from the XKR, which should bring an output of 309 kW420 hp and drive the rear wheels. The maximum torque is 500 Nm. In theory at least, a top speed of around 290 km / h could be achieved. When the XF should come on the market, the people in charge at Jaguar are still silent. In any case, the series version should have its premiere at the IAA in September. However, it is unofficially said by the British that it will not change very much on the way into the series.