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JaguarDrive to Debut on XKR and XF

Slowly but surely, Jaguar has been trading in tradition for a sharper, fresher lookto attract new customers. The brand already promised not to repeat the retro-styled S-Type, citing the recent C-XF Concept as proof. Other Jaguar traditions have been slowly going the way of the dodo too, such as the classic “leaper” hood ornament having been replaced with a flush-mounted cat due to pedestrian safety regulations. The next Jag trademark to head for the history books looks to be the J-gate shifter for automatic-equipped cars. It will be succeeded by a new transmission interface called JaguarDrive, which debuted on the C-XF Concept a few months ago.

Mechanically speaking, there's nothing earth shattering about the physical gearbox this new interface

The (almost) traditional Jaguar J-Gate. On the XK, it's connected to paddle-shifters, but it's still not very cool. (Photo: Jaguar)

is attached to, but does it ever look cool. Instead of a physical link (as with the current J-gate and most other automatics for that matter), JaguarDrive is purely electrical, a technology that reduces space and opens the drawing board to new ideas. Electrical linkages can be found on a growing number of cars, such as BMW's 7-Series and the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which have column-style shifters, or the new X5 and upcoming 5-Series, which areconsole mounted. Aston Martin also utilizes this system on its push-button automatic for the

When the car starts, the rings around the central knob drop down. Way cool. (Photo; Jaguar)

DB9, while Land Rover uses it for its Terrain Response system on the Range Rover, LR3 and others.

When the ignition is fired via the red starter button (which will now be moved closer to the JaguarDrive knob) the concentric rings surrounding the main knob drop down, allowing it to be rotated. The driver can then twist it to select gear. Instead of a Tiptronic-style gate, all manual mode shifting is done via steering wheel paddles. It all sounds very neat, cleans up the transmission tunnel and gives the action of something as simple as engaging a gear a sense of occasion.

Recently, the production version of this system was spied on two different vehicles, the production XF mule, as well as an XKR, which will most likely sport a minor facelift next

The CX-F is the beginning of the end of the "classic" Jaguar. (Photo: Jaguar)

year.

For starters it includes restyled bumpers with a single, large intake in place of the current car's three intakes, but as it turns out there's more in store for the XKR than we initially thought.

In addition to its little botox injection, this slick coupe is set to gain a serious jolt of horsepower. Insiders say that the car sporting the JaguarDrive interface will debut with the brand's upcoming 5.0-liter, 500+ horsepower supercharged V8 under its hood. This is the motor that's going to be featured on the range-topping XF when it comes to market next year. The current XKR produces 420 horsepower, which makes it plenty quick on its own, but it just can't match the likes of BMW's M6 or the 55- and 63-series Mercedes-Benz AMG cars. With this new engine, however, and Aston Martin mostly out of Ford's premium stable, there are no performance ceilings to hold the fast cat back. Jaguar will finally have the firepower its proud heritage deserves.

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