Tuesday 4 March 2014

For Hotfire read Ingenium

Hotfire, JaguarLandRover’s new engine range to be made in Wolverhampton, UK, and revealed at long last, is to be called Ingenium and will power the company’s new all-aluminium Jaguar XE saloon.

Speaking at the Geneva Auto Show Dr Ralf Speth, chief executive officer, JaguarLandRover, confirmed: "We announced just a few weeks ago that our new Engine Manufacturing Centre would produce a new family of premium, lightweight, low-friction, low emission four-cylinder petrol and diesel units. The first of our Ingenium engine range will be used in our all-new mid-sized Jaguar sports sedan. That car will be called the Jaguar XE, and it will be unveiled in production form later this year."

The XE will be the first product from the new advanced aluminium architecture, showcased in the C-X17 concept car in 2013.




Global rollout will begin in 2015, and it will be the first aluminium monocoque vehicle in the segment.

“It brings our customers all the benefits of aluminium: lightness and stiffness for unbeatable handling, performance, refinement and efficiency. The new engine and aluminium chassis complement each other perfectly,” claimed Speth.




Power will be provided by engines with a wide range of capacities and output, all delivering what Speth called “inspirational performance”.  He added that the engines will offer the “latest innovations in fuel-efficient technologies” without sacrificing drivability.

Adopting what Speth called “the most flexible engine architecture ever produced by JaguarLandRover, with advanced design configured to suit in-line and transverse installations for rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive configurations” it is claimed the new engines will be both efficient and powerful.




He added that the engines would offer top speeds of over 300km/h (186 mile/h), and emissions lower than 100g/km of CO2.

Kevin Stride, Jaguar's vehicle line director for XE, claimed: "The engineering development of the XE has focused on delivering customers with the most advanced, efficient and refined sports sedan in its class. We are excited about our progress to date and are looking forward to soon being able to demonstrate what we have achieved."

Ian Callum, director of design, added to the company’s current wave of enthusiasm for the new car: "The new Jaguar XE is every bit a modern Jaguar; more compact in size but visually striking. Customers will expect a great deal from a mid-size Jaguar - it must be practical but premium.  We never forget we are designing a Jaguar and that means it must be as exciting to look at and drive as it is brilliant to run and practical to own. We believe we've done just that with the Jaguar XE."

We'll soon know how inspirational is inspirational, as far as the new gasoline and diesel I4 engines are concerned. And, more important, who was responsible for making the inspirational performance.....inspirational. One or two will be putting their hands up on that score, that's for sure.

And how was the name Ingenium derived? The prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering - the elite of Britain's engineers - has a journal Ingenia.

JLR claims name of the Jaguar XE “follows a logical progression”, positioned alongside the XF and XJ saloons in the range. Full XE technical and range details will be announced later in 2014. The global roll-out will begin from mid-2015.             

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