Jaguar to make a roaring lion? XKR Goodwood Special mooted

The details haven't been disbursed yet, but one of Jaguar's chief engineers has reportedly spilled the beans on a special XKR to be shown at Goodwood. Called, fittingly, the XKR Goodwood Special, it will get more power than the standard XKR's (shown above) 500 horses, and more audible snarl than the current exhaust emits.

Because Jag is said to be reconsidering the car's brightwork treatment, the Goodwood Special will wear a satin graphite detailing package that could foreshadow a future running change (we know we could do without the metal surrounds on the car's front skirt nostrils). The car is still being finished so there's a good chance it won't be seen until just before the event, but we always look forward to a cat that scratches harder and roars louder.

Jaguar upgrades European XF diesel: 443 lb-ft and 35 MPG!

by: Sam Abuelsamid

Over in Europe, the Jaguar XF has been available with diesel power since its debut last year. However, as well regarded as the old 2.7-liter V6 oil burner was, its 207 horsepower couldn't run with the big dog twin-turbo 286 hp diesel six from BMW. So for the 2010 model year, Jaguar has developed a new dual turbo 3.0-liter that's available in 240 hp or 275 hp S trim. While 275 ponies might not seem all that special these days, the engine's 443 lb-ft of torque from as little as 1,600 rpm has what it takes to push the XF Diesel S to 60 mph in just 5.9 seconds en route to a top speed of 155 miles-per-hour. That's 0.3 seconds quicker than the normally aspirated 4.2-liter gasoline V8 that serves as the base powerplant here in the US.

Even more impressive is that the diesel offers this performance while achieving a combined fuel economy rating of 35 miles-per-gallon U.S. - a 12 percent improvement on the old 2.7. All of this is achieved through a 29,000 psi common-rail fuel system and a particulate filter. The forced-induction setup is particularly interesting: Most dual turbo configurations use a small responsive unit at low revs and a bigger unit at higher speeds. In this case, however, Jag's new XF uses a larger variable nozzle turbo at low speeds to reduce pumping losses and fuel consumption.