Jaguar C-X16 at Frankfurt
The Jaguar C-X16 sports car concept has been revealed to the press
CarAdvice has been given a sneak peak at the Jaguar C-X16 ahead of tomorrow’s Frankfurt Motor Show press day.
We have posted several news items on Jaguar’s stunning sports car concept over the past couple of weeks, but tonight was the first time that we have seen the car in the metal and what a beautiful piece of machinery it has turned out to be.
Before the event even began a fleet of the most famous Jaguar sports cars and racers of all time including C Types, D Types and E Types drove through the streets of Frankfurt and finished at the Palais Thurn und Taxis where what we hope is a close resemblance to the first proper two-seat sports car since the E Type was launched in 1961.
That’s a long time between models, but by the reaction from the press gallery tonight, it has been well worth the wait.
Jaguar is a company that has a long heritage of landmark sports cars and racers over decades and senior management including the Design Director, Ian Callum, realised some time ago that the carmaker’s future would simply not be complete without the addition of true and proper two-seat sports car in the range.
Adrian Hallmark, Global Brand Director for Jaguar Cars, said tonight that the
“C-X16 Concept takes the Jaguar sporting mantra and makes it utterly new though, thoroughly grounded in our DNA.
“It’s our vision for a compact rear-wheel drive car, a two seater or as we like to say, a 1 + 1. It’s orientated around the driver and has a true sporting character.
“It’s also our vision for sustainable sports cars of the future.”
The C-X16 is shorter and wider than the current Porsche 911 and its performance is comparable to the Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
Those facts alone should get your attention and if the car goes into series production Jaguar have said that its target price range would be between €60,000 and €80,000 dependent upon the powertrain.
The C-X16 is constructed of aluminium and has a full aluminium architecture and boasts a high-tech hybrid powertrain designed in house by the Jaguar engineering team that Adrian Hallmark says, in simple terms, “redefines performance”.
The 3.0 litre petrol V6 engine develops 280kW and 450Nm of torque, but that doesn’t include the additional 70kW and 235Nm outputs that the electric motor generates. It’s enough to propel this cat from 0-100km/h in just 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 300km/h.
Drivers can access this additional performance via the small red button (push to pass) on the steering wheel, which is essentially, performance on demand that will last for 10 seconds.
One can only imagine the unrivalled performance outcome if they ever dropped their supercharged V8 from the XKR-S into the car. I guess you’d call that – a racecar.
The good news is that you won’t have to feel like too much of a carbon polluter, as the C-X16 will emit just 165g/km of CO2 emissions off a 5.7L/100km fuel consumption.
Part of the C-X16’s green approach to sports cars of the 21st is its Stop/Start technology, which can shut down the engine in just 300 milliseconds after the car has come to complete stop.
There’s also a heap of new kit in the car too, which CarAdvice will talk more about later this week along with some interesting information about the car after speaking with Ian Callum at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
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