Jaguar C-X75 review (2013 prototype)

Jaguar C-X75: summary

A genuine supercar: totally unique in how it delivers exceptional performance, utterly Jaguar in how it handles, altogether stunning in how it looks. 

What: Jaguar C-X75
Date: August 2013
Where: Nurburg, Germany
Price: £900,000 (but you can’t buy one)
Available: Never

Jaguar

Jaguar C-X75: first impressions

The Jaguar C-X75 is a supercar that we’ll never be able to buy. The moment you set eyes on it, you’ll think what shame this is, for first impressions say true supercar. Not scaled-up sports car, not stylistic diversion, but a full-blooded supercar, of LaFerrari or Porsche 918 ilk. It’s stunning.

Yes, even more so than the fantastic Paris Motor Show 2010 concept. In making it production-ready, Jaguar was committed to changing that as little as possible, but the changes it has made only enhance it further.

No other car on the road has a drivetrain like the Jaguar C-X75

The front is crisper and tighter, the rear has even more pure drama, the stance and profile is better and the simple sculptural fluidity of the carbonfibre surfaces is remarkable. It was designed at the same time as the F-type: you can tell. F-type, meet FX-type.

The cabin is positioned well forward but centrally within the wheelbase, and the wide front end is both very low and very short. The sort of wheel at each corner effect you get with a MINI, only on something larger and more potent.

Despite this, it doesn’t appear an overlarge car, and it’s much more economical in profile and packaging than some other supercars, despite the extra holes, slots and ducts needed to keen its drivetrain cool.

Overall, the Jaguar C-X75, developed and built at Williams Advanced Engineering by a team equally made up of engineers from the two firms, is already destined to become a Top Trump ‘supercar that never was’. It has that look about it.

Can we find any solace in it not being the real deal on the road, then?

Err, no…

Jaguar

Jaguar C-X75: performance

No other car on the road has a drivetrain like the Jaguar C-X75. It is a hybrid and gives EV-only running via an electric motor on each axle. A massive Nissan LEAF-sized battery enables them to each produce 195hp and drive the C-X75 in pure EV mode.

Performance is sensational: 0-62mph in less than 3 seconds, 0-100mph in less than 6 seconds

Which we sampled, discovering a fast and immediate car with deceptive speed due to the lack of engine noise. A sound synthesiser adds the effects you normally hear in sci-fi films but, even though they’re dependent on accelerator position, it still feels odd. That the C-X75 can offer 400hp pace in zero emissions mode will be enough for most.

The 1.6-litre four-cylinder supercharged andturbocharged engine adds the supercar bit. And this isn’t any old 1.6 turbo swiped from a Ford Fiesta ST. It’s one that produces 502 hp. Yes, 313hp per litre. And can rev to 10,300rpm. Yes, a five-figure redline. It is a genuine firework of a powerplant that makes the C-X75 utterly unique and incredibly effective.

Performance is sensational. Hypercar fast. Stomach left back down the road fast. 0-62mph in less than 3 seconds, 0-100mph in less than 6, delivered without delay.

Acceleration is sharp, linear and abundant – yet, thanks to the all-wheel drive and incredibly complicated transitions constantly being made beneath you, ever-consistent (despite the headsnap-gulps as a new gear is paddleshift-selected). One great force with a nuclear engine at its core and innumerate systems to electrify it further.

Does it sound the part? From the outside, undoubtedly. It is like a racing car at high revs – no road car has such an exhaust note of that intensity and pitch. From inside? Frankly, it sounds like a Rover K-Series-engined Lotus Elise at tickover, but we’re sure Jaguar would have worked on that bit. Certainly it would have kept the turbine smooth howl at high revs, though. If supercars were fitted with superbike engines, this is how they would sound: clean, mechanical, sharp and, well, wonderfully different.

It all adds up to a very modern sort of supercar. It’s not bound by traditions, doesn’t have to sound a certain way, doesn’t have to use a particular engine. Which means what it has is the most effective technology needed to make it go as fast as possible in the most effective way those F1-grade engineers know. It’s duly fascinating and brilliant as a result.

Jaguar

Jaguar C-X75: ride and handling

Jaguar and Williams underplay the car’s suspension. It has double wishbones front and rear, electric power steering, adaptive dampers: all known technology used, they say, because it was simple. The hard bit was in the powertrain so time couldn’t be diverted to a 22nd century chassis.

It devours corners yet feels viceless. Exactly what you want when 850hp is delivered in an eyeblink

Well, if this is what they can do when they’re not trying… the C-X75 is a peach to drive, and feels every inch a Jaguar, from the fluid breathability of the ride to the fingertip delicacy of the steering. It’s precise, easy and confident.

For once, it’s no cliché to say it devours corners, either. So far forward are the occupants sat, and so centralised are the masses, turn-in is immediate and the ability to hold a line and feel magnetically driven through it really is striking.

Particularly as it’s enhanced by four-wheel drive, with the electrified front axle pulling you round with the intensity you’d expect of a torque-laden high-power electric-drive system. Boot the throttle and it immediately generates mid-corner g-forces you wouldn’t believe.

Most importantly, though, the C-X75 is chuckable, balanced and exceedingly confident. It feels viceless and is decidedly non-aggressive in nature. Which is exactly what you want when 850hp can be delivered in an eyeblink.

Jaguar

Jaguar C-X75: interior

If the exterior of the C-X75 is 90% production ready, the interior is less than 60% there. Compared to the clean concept, it feels like Jaguar’s taken elements of the F-type, blended them into a cockpit that is exciting in the way it’s positioned so far forward and flooded with exposed carbon fibre.

As fast as a Bugatti Veyron with the EV range of a Chevrolet Volt and the CO2 of a Toyota Prius

This is Jaguar’s first carbon fibre monocoque, the same sort of advanced design used by the McLaren 12C, but still needs work to make it the match of a Porsche.

But hey, this is a concept. And the fundamentals are right, not least the radically low seating position and panoramic windscreen that mimics the McLaren P1 for drama. The doors are very cool, too, and cutaway sills mean it’s easy to step in and out, if not to actually close the door behind you.

What’s missing are the supercar details to match the amazing way it drives. It feels a bit too much like the Jaguar parts bin has been raided (which it has) and that more bespoke bits are needed to make the cabin as jewel-like as the rest of it (which they would have been).

Oh, and don’t ask about luggage space. This car has such ferocious demands for cooling, there are no less than 14 radiators. Even the washer bottle reservoir had to fight for space…

Jaguar

Jaguar C-X75: economy

A fantastically modern way to do a supercar, all electrified intensity overlaid with organic Jaguar feel

Jaguar was insistent. It had to look like the concept and be as fast as a Bugatti Veyron – but also have the EV range of a Chevrolet Volt and emit as little CO2 as a Toyota Prius.

Oh, and be able to drive from the Jaguar engineering centre in Coventry, switch to EV mode at Heathrow, go on to Canary Wharf and back again, then switch the engine on for the return trot to Whitley – all on one tank and one charge.

All boxes have been ticked, Jaguar and Williams say: 89g/km, 75mpg and 37 miles’ electric-only running. A supercar without guilt. Which, given the ferocity of that amazing engine when on full song, many would have considered the most amazing aspect of all.

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Porsche 911 991 Turbo and Turbo S review (2013 onwards)

Porsche 911 991 Turbo and Turbo S review (2013 onwards)

Porsche

Porsche 911 991 Turbo and Turbo S: first impressions

When we drove the new Porsche 911 991 GT3 recently, we deemed it potentially the best car we’ve driven this year. There is "absolutely nothing" we don’t like, we said. Where does that leave the Porsche 911 991 Turbo, then? Has Porsche itself stolen the thunder from its range-topper?

Visually, there’s no doubt the 911 Turbo has the muscle to snatch it back. Before, we’ve had regular and wide-body 911s: with the Turbo, we’ve now an extra-wide body option. It is 72mm meatier than the standard car, with rear haunches so wide, they’re both near-level and fingerspan broad. With massive 911 Turbo-specific intercooler intakes cut deeply in, they’re literally the biggest differentiator: you’ll spot the difference from miles away.

The Turbo S does 0-62mph in 3.1 seconds. McLaren 12C speed for £50k less

But where are the wings? Where’s the 2013 equivalent of the whale tail? Tucked neatly away, as is the front spoiler (greatly improving ground clearance as a happy consequence). This is the first 911 to have Porsche Active Aerodynamics, so the wings are only pushed out when needed. It makes for a much more elegant range-topper, much less brash than older wing-laden cars. And the GT3.

Front and rear spoilers pop out in stages: the first extension, of outer front spoiler elements and 25mm on the rear wing, occurs at 75mph. The second ‘performance’ setup kicks in when you select ‘Sport Plus’: the front middle spoiler extends and the rear wing grows by 75mm AND extends forwards seven degrees. Full attack mode: at 186mph, it adds more than 140kg of downforce and makes the car two seconds faster around the Nurburgring.

The 20-inch wheels will tell you if it’s a Turbo or a Turbo S. Both are forged wheels but the Turbo S has hub wheel locks. It also has full LED headlights, with ‘four point’ daytime running lights: the standard Turbo has LED illumination in the light panel below it. Otherwise, differences are minor: the S justifies a price hike from £118,349 to £140,852 (yes, it really is that expensive) because of the extra technology it has below the surface.

To Germany’s Bilster Berg driving resort, then, and the amazing roads surrounding it, to find out if Porsche’s premium 911 earns its stripes.
 

Porsche

Porsche 911 991 Turbo and Turbo S: performance

The 911 Turbo has boasted colossal performance for years. The last Turbo S broke the four-second barrier from rest to 62mph and the 500hp mark was smashed back in 2009. This is thus certain to be staggering, both in 520hp Turbo and 560hp Turbo S guise. The ‘slowest’ reaches 62mph from rest in 3.4 seconds; the ultimate Turbo S does it in 3.1 seconds. McLaren 12C speed for £50,000 less.

With this one, it’s the delivery of the power that’s the significant development. Not only is there more of it but there’s more of it available more of the time. Turbo lag is not an issue: driving torque is available the instant you go on the throttle, linearly swelling from impressive to epic within a second. Most of the time you don’t need all it has to offer – but you do need that initial flash and the ability to dish this out so quickly gives the Turbo such un-turbo characteristics.

By the time you’ve thought about going fast in the Turbo, you’re going fast. Very fast

Direct fuel injection, VarioCam Plus and the still-Porsche-unique Variable Turbine Geometry turbo also give it surprising throttle sensitivity. This is no blunt instrument: you can modulate the accelerator just like in a non-turbo car, only with far more effect in this because the throttle itself gives out so much more for any given input.

It means this is the most pure and Porsche-like 911 Turbo ever. Porsche has even engineered the Turbo S, at great expense, just to have a 7,200rpm red line, 200rpm higher than the Turbo. Why? "Fun for the driver." No other reason. That says it all.

The clincher for those looking for a differentiator over the sublime GT3 is torque. The normally aspirated GT3 peaks at 324lb ft of pulling power, at 6,250rpm. The ultimate 911 Turbo S produces 550lb ft, spread from 2,200-4,000rpm. Wow. It is like night and day. GT3 and Turbo are completely different cars because of it: the difference in character is remarkable.

You have to think about going really fast in the GT3, matching gears and engine revs to the potential of the road ahead. By the time you’ve thought about going fast in the Turbo, you’re going fast. Very fast. Its natural speed is three figures. It’s an astounding performance machine – but, thanks to the honing of how it’s delivered, the most engaging Turbo there’s ever been, too.

You’ll notice we haven’t mentioned PDK. No need. It is as faultless here as it is everywhere else (even in the GT3). Fewer question the fact 911 Turbos are now auto-only anyway, because the seamless shift concept works so well with a turbo powerplant. There’s no turbo boost drop-off in between gearchanges meaning acceleration is absolutely linear. Just like, indeed, a rocket.
 

Porsche

Porsche 911 991 Turbo and Turbo S: ride and handling

911 Turbo buyers are people who want to go incredibly fast but not trade the luxuries that GT3 buyers are willing to. It’s thus the range-topping 911 in both performance and luxurious comfort. Not particularly complementary ideals – which is why Porsche has thrown so much technology at the latest one in order to achieve a standout balance.

Straight out the box, it feels like a (very) fast Carrera. Reasonably supple ride in town, damping that ‘breathes’ over undulating roads, nicely weighted steering (it doesn’t chatter like old 911s but old 911 Turbos didn’t really, either). This is intentional. It’s all part of the 911 Turbo’s remit as relaxed cruiser.

Despite animalistic power, it won’t bite you.

Deploying all the power is where it starts to feel different. For starters, it can cope. Porsche Traction Management four-wheel drive now has a water-cooled front axle so can handle more power transfer. This allows you to stamp the throttle with almost foolhardy aggression on the apex of a corner and feel the car barely think about it before clamping itself to the ground and firing you into the distance. The aggression of this is unbelievable.

New active rear wheel steering and the downforce-generating active aerodynamics make it come alive at speed too, in a way past Turbos have not. Steering has much more precision and response just off centre, and the fingertip sensitivity of threading it through corners is in contrast to the rather 2D point and squirt approach of heritage Turbos. That the power is also delivered with much more finesse and fine control underlines this newfound delicacy.

And going all-out on track? Best take the Turbo S, which has standard carbon ceramic brakes and more significantly, the package of anti-roll Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control and Sport Chrono Package Plus with dynamic engine mounts. The driver’s kit helps make it a manoeuvrable, wieldy, surprisingly loose and lithe thing on track. It steers around you and enhances feel by ensuring the suspension always remains as the designers intended no matter how hard you push.

Good job: it’s so fast, and rolls so little, you can easily end up understeering by going into corners way too quickly. Best get on the power and lean on that rear end to kick it round, then: despite animalistic power, it won’t bite you should you do so. What fearsome 911 Turbo reputation?
 

Porsche

Porsche 911 991 Turbo and Turbo S: interior

Just like it always has, the 991 911 Turbo interior represents the most luxurious of the 911 order. All models have full leather seats with electric adjustment (even the seat backs are finished in leather, with double stitching). The Turbo S also has a bespoke black/Carrera red colour combination for its Sports Seats Plus (this is the only differentiator between the two cars). PCM sat-nav, DAB radio, Bose surround sound stereo and Bluetooth telephone are all standard.

 The new 911 Turbo is significantly more fuel efficient, too

Either Turbo or Turbo S script adorns the door kickplates (although both, oddly, just have ‘Turbo’ on the gearlever), and another Turbo logo in the instrument pack is illuminated. Some of the menus within the dials also showcase Turbo-specific thinking: the torque output graph is a brilliantly geeky addition, while the turbo boost meter shown on another menu helps you see you’re getting your money’s worth.

The buttons that control the character-altering functions are all located on the gearlever surround. The PDCC button means you can stiffen the suspension without altering other parameters, while Sport allows a half-way-racy setup without going all-out. Sport Plus is the full firepower one: press it and all the other sporty stuff is auto-on too. One click is, literally, the difference between quiet, supple express train and loud, intense rocketship.

Those who only want to show off their wings and spoilers needn’t worry: on the other side, an ‘aero’ button allows them all to be extended without going into sport mode (or going out of the town centre). Those who prefer the more subtle approach will leave it in standard, where it’s significantly quieter inside too – the full sound symposer mechanical onslaught is reserved for Sport Plus (and effective it is too. A 911 Turbo has never sounded this good).
 

Porsche

Porsche 911 991 Turbo and Turbo S: economy and safety

All the extra power, all the extra driveability and still Porsche has ensured the new 911 Turbo is significantly more fuel efficient, too. Remarkable. Fuel consumption is down 16%: it now averages 29.1mpg and emits 227g/km CO2.

The 911 Turbo is different to the GT3, but no less impressive

Engine stop-start helps here, which can now kick in as the vehicle rolls to a halt instead of waiting for it to be fully stopped. The PDK transmission has the now-familiar ‘coasting’ mode that declutches when the car is coasting, sending revs to idle; an interesting new addition are ‘intermediate’ gears which allow the car to run at a fuel-saving 950rpm when gently cruising at speeds below 40mph.

"We have sought social acceptance," engine man Thomas Krickelberg told MSN Cars. "Even if you buy a high performance Porsche, you don’t have to have a bad conscience."
 

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Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer review (2013 onwards)

Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer review (2013 onwards)

First impressions

Vauxhall has long done a nice line in sensible, spacious estate cars for the prudent family buyer. Estate models carrying the Astra, Vectra, Signum and Insignia nameplates have graced innumerable suburban driveways over the last decade, never drawing too much attention to themselves and that’s fine. It’s just that the Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer makes those limp-wristed, yawn-mobiles look like they couldn’t pull a dingo off a vegemite sandwich.

This is the Aussie rules Vauxhall estate. The VXR8 Tourer is a (very) thinly disguised Holden Special Vehicles Clubsport R8 Tourer hailing from that land of abundant barbecued prawns and corks on your hat. It’s a muscle-bound Antipodean brute with a 6.2-litre V8, 425hp and a £50,000 price tag. That’s right, a £50,000 Vauxhall estate. The price is big but so is everything else.

Microsoft

 

Performance

It’s a dinosaur of an engine, 425hp and 405 lb/ft of torque achieved with eight cylinders and a mammoth 6.2 litres of fuel sucking cubic capacity. There are more efficient ways to fire a 1,800kg family car up the road like a scolded wallaby but none of them sound quite like this.

The VXR8’s big, lazy torque output almost makes gear changes redundant in everyday driving. It’ll haul you up a hill from 20mph in 5th if you want it to but it’s much better to engage second and listen to the VXR8 go through its full repertoire of window rattling bellows.

Full-on lung-wobbling V8 burble

At idle it throbs, then it roars and surges. At around 3,000rpm the exhaust opens up and you have the full-on lung-wobbling V8 burble that sends petrolheads into spasm. By the time you hear it, you’re really shifting and there’s still another 3,000rpm to go. Vauxhall (HSV) sensibly installed a loud beeper to prompt the next upshift – you need it to break the engine’s spell. With the aid of the standard launch control function, the 0-62mph rush is over in 4.9s and top speed is limited to 155mph.

Ride and handling

These days there are 2.0-litre hot hatches that can outsprint the VXR8 but they don’t ride as well. This is an unexpectedly comfortable car on good roads where the suspension flows over undulations and masks roughness well. Larger drain cover and pothole scale bumps can have the suspension crashing, banging and sending shudders through the car but it still has real pedigree as a motorway cruiser. 

The steering-wheel feels like it’s had the same 20" upgrade as the VXR8’s striking Pentagon alloy wheels. It’s huge, fat rimmed and a bit of a blunt implement if the truth be told. The helm’s light weight and vagueness around the straight ahead do nothing to make the massive VXR8 Tourer feel any smaller but once you’re into the turn there is some feedback and loads of lock to help keep oversteer in check.

A car of the VXR8 Tourer’s size is never going to feel all that nimble but it’s well resolved enough to be fun on a B-road as well as a deserted airfield. The powerful brakes and the punchy, mechanical feel of the manual gearshift help.  

Microsoft

 

Interior

Residual Holden Special Vehicles badges confirm the VXR8 Tourer as one of the most half-hearted car rebadging exercises we’ve encountered. They didn’t even rebadge all of it! There’s a HSV badge sitting proudly on the steering wheel hub and the ‘Clubsport R8’ legend glints back at you from the dash. Completing the identity crisis effect are accommodating VXR branded seats and a Vauxhall griffin on the infotainment screen to greet you as you fire the engine. No matter though, the Holden connection adds some useful extra exoticism for the UK customer.

A huge boot and loads of rear legroom

The materials are distinctly low grade next to the German opulence that the £50k price tag pitches this car against. The controls are solid and functional though and the big armchair seats are very comfy, if a little lacking in side support. The Enhanced Driver Interface button on the steering wheel brings up a host of racy options on the central control screen. Competing for your attention are features including a G meter, a lap timer, a yaw meter and an exhaust mode control (loud, very loud or strewth!).

The VXR8’s formidable size translates to a huge boot and loads of rear legroom. There’s 895 litres of capacity behind the rear seats and 2,000 litres if you fold them down.

Microsoft

 

Economy and safety

Unsurprisingly it uses a lot of fuel. Even after a relaxed drive of 15 minutes or so, the VXR8 kicks out so much heat at idle that it seems to warm the 5 metres adjacent to the car – great on a winter's day but possibly emblematic of a laissez-faire approach to efficiency.

Put into numbers, the VXR8 Tourer does 20.2mpg on the official combined cycle test and together with a 73-litre tank that gives you a 320-mile range. In the real world, owners will be filling up considerably more frequently than that.

Unsurprisingly it uses a lot of fuel

On the safety front, the VXR8 comes with ESC stability control that can be turned down via a Competition Mode setting or disabled completely for full-on sideways antics.
 

Verdict

Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer: summary

Vauxhall cuts loose with the VXR8 Tourer, a 6.2-litre V8 estate it’s hard not to like.

What – Vauxhall VXR8 Tourer
Where – Surrey
Date – August 2013
Price – £49,500
Available – Now
Key rivals – Audi RS4 Avant, Mercedes C63 AMG Estate, Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon

On Bing: more Vauxhall VXR8 pics
Read more Vauxhall car reviews

We like – Big V8, amazing soundtrack, comfy ride, cabin space
We don’t like – Fuel economy, interior quality, price

 

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