Autoblog: Official: Jaguar teams up with Williams F1 to build the C-X75

nsx_23

nsx_23

Forum Addict
Joined
May 9, 2009
Messages
7,709
jaguarbuildsc-x75.jpg


This morning a gigantic cat jumped out of a secret little bag when Jaguar announced it has teamed with Williams F1 to build a production version of the C-X75 supercar. The 2010 Paris Motor Show-stopper in concept form was powered by two mid-mounted turbines, but the four-wheel-drive production model will swap those for a low displacement, highly boosted four-cylinder engine mated to "two powerful electric motors," one at each axle.

Williams' contribution will be in the areas of aerodynamics - the production version will maintain the concept's an all-composite body, and the integration of the hybrid powertrain that will take from the lessons JLR is learning from its Jaguar Limo Green and Land Rover Range E. Horsepower numbers haven't been revealed, but the hybrid master blaster is targeting CO2 emissions of less than 99 grams per kilometer and all-electric running possible for 31 miles, along with a sub-three-second 0-to-60 time and a top speed beyond 200 miles per hour.

Only 250 will be built and they'll start at ?700,000 ($1.149 million U.S. based on current exchange rates) "depending on local market and taxes." However, Jaguar hasn't said when they'll be built, offering nothing more than "within the timescales of a conventional model programme." That sound like about four years to us, plenty of time to save enough to buy one of the door handles.

There's a document from ATT Williams F1 with more information after the jump, and diehards can view the morning's press conference on-demand. And to think we were worried about the future of fun cars. Now we only need to worry about the future of our bank accounts...
Click to expand...
 
:drool:

That is all. If only it would depreciate like a proper Jaaaaag, it'd be a great used-car bargain in ten years time :p. We need more turbine cars on the road.
 
I wish it could have kept the turbines, but we all knew that practicality would get the best of them. Maybe someday.
 
Erm i'm sorry four cylinders?
*Before people point out the electric motors... fuck the electric motors. Jaguar make diesels to offset co2.

I want a twin turbo V6, or preferably a V12.
 
As long as they don't change the exterior too much, it will be brilliant.
 
Aston Martin said:
Erm i'm sorry four cylinders?
*Before people point out the electric motors... fuck the electric motors. Jaguar make diesels to offset co2.

I want a twin turbo V6, or preferably a V12.
Click to expand...

Oh. This is like the XJ220 debacle all over again, except they announced it early in the process.
 
For anyone who doesn't know, Williams F1 are pretty much the world leaders in electric motor technology at the moment.

I suspect these motors will shove a V6 where the sun doesn't shine.
 
WillDAQ said:
For anyone who doesn't know, Williams F1 are pretty much the world leaders in electric motor technology at the moment.

I suspect these motors will shove a V6 where the sun doesn't shine.
Click to expand...

The article says that Williams will only be contributing aerodynamics, which is an area they've been severely lacking in for the past 15 years :p.

It'd be good if they could extend the partnership, a Jaguar branded TATA money injection into Williams would not be a bad thing I'm guessing.
 
Last edited:
If this project is anything like the actual Williams F1 then it's gonna have a very bad start and the bosses will decide to quit a couple of months into production...
 
According to Autocar 50 copies may have Bladon gas turbines. They are apparently having troubles with exhaust gas temperatures.

I'm confused as to why they can't just ask Jay Leno if they can have a look at his Chrysler Turbine to see how Chrysler dealt with it back in the 60's.
 
Mr. Nice said:
I'm confused as to why they can't just ask Jay Leno if they can have a look at his Chrysler Turbine to see how Chrysler dealt with it back in the 60's.
Click to expand...

That's what I was wondering about. Chrysler has no issue with heat. Though they did have a bulky recirculate to cool things down.
 
Mr. Nice said:
I'm confused as to why they can't just ask Jay Leno if they can have a look at his Chrysler Turbine to see how Chrysler dealt with it back in the 60's.
Click to expand...

That's what I was wondering about. Chrysler has no issue with heat. Though I think they had a bulky recirculate to cool things down.
 
Last edited:
Mr. Nice said:
According to Autocar 50 copies may have Bladon gas turbines. They are apparently having troubles with exhaust gas temperatures.
Click to expand...

High exhaust temperatures? That didn't stop Ferrari from releasing the 458 which burst into flames on a hot day :lol: Just make it! :)
 
Labcoatguy said:
Oh. This is like the XJ220 debacle all over again, except they announced it early in the process.
Click to expand...

This.

Jaguar supercars must have a V12 (if they have a piston engine) or nobody will want them - which is what happened with the XJ220 and why Tom Walkinshaw took advantage of his license to create the XJR-15 instead. NOBODY wants a four cylinder Jaguar, no matter how boosted - especially for $1.1M. It has to do with the expected sound coming from the car.

For $1.1M, they better put the turbines in and find an engineer that can actually do the numbers. The Chrysler Turbine Car had the exhaust temperatures down to 500F, as did the experimental Daimler (the one bought by Jaguar in 1960, not the German one) turbine car. Specifically, they should be able to fit something like the US military helicopters' 'Black Hole' IR suppression system.
 
Last edited:
Spectre said:
Jaguar supercars must have a V12 (if they have a piston engine) or nobody will want them - which is what happened with the XJ220
Click to expand...

But you still want one, right? :)
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
But you still want one, right? :)
Click to expand...

I'd rather have an XJR-15. But most of the road going copies of those are impossible to get your hands on and still command very high prices. I can wear earplugs so I don't have to listen to the V6 drone; but then again, I wouldn't have bought an XJ220 new (if I'd had the money and been of legal age in 1990) - $1M for a V6 Jaguar??? No, I would have been with the rest of the angry customers asking, "Where'd the V12 go?" XJ220s can occasionally be had for as little as $90K; getting one of the top ten fastest cars in the world for that price? Yes, I'll put up with a weird V6 turbo drone. Cannot, however, afford the $465K that the last street legal XJR-15 I saw went for at auction. (Plus the XJR-15 is street legal in the US and the XJ220 isn't yet.)

Oddly, it was the same excuse then, too - 'the engine we want to use gets too hot so we're going to go with this other smaller engine' - but back then we had TWR and Walkinshaw proved that you could use the V12 in a mid-ship configuration without it overheating, thus showing up the engineers (which ended the TWR/Jaguarsport collaboration). At least this time they had the decency to tell people up front so they don't have to sue to get their money back.
 
Last edited:
Spectre said:
NOBODY wants a four cylinder Jaguar, no matter how boosted - especially for $1.1M. It has to do with the expected sound coming from the car.
Click to expand...

Rubbish. They will sell every single one they intend to produce long before they even hit the showrooms.
 
Peter3hg said:
Rubbish. They will sell every single one they intend to produce long before they even hit the showrooms.
Click to expand...

They said that about the XJ220 as well - before they announced the V12 wouldn't be coming with. Check your history - the 220 was a sales debacle. They languished on dealership floors for years - some were still sitting unsold three years after they were made. In 1997 you could still get one of quite a few examples of leftover 0-mile XJ220s for ?150,000, down from the original ?403,000, despite them not having been made since 1994.

Huge, huge, huge sales debacle. They'd initially planned to make 350 of the cars. Instead they ended production early at 281 and had leftovers.

Moral of story: If you promise a Jaguar supercar with an exotic drivetrain, you better deliver it with that drivetrain intact or people are going to be very upset and sales will suck.
 
Last edited:
argatoga said:
That's what I was wondering about. Chrysler has no issue with heat. Though they did have a bulky recirculate to cool things down.
Click to expand...

And if they used today's heat pipes instead of the rotating regenerators, they'd have even better efficiency and fewer moving parts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top