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Jaguar opens new engine plant in the UK

The heads of Jaguar Land Rover are having a busy couple of weeks opening factories. Just days after inaugurating the company's first overseas plant in China, the automaker's new Engine Manufacturing Center in the UK is being inaugurated, as well. The plant near Wolverhampton, England, marks the first time in decades that JLR is building its own powerplants in-house. Further signaling the importance of this launch for the business, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were on hand and even tweeted about it.
The factory's first major project is to build JLR's latest Ingenium four-cylinders, starting with the 2.0-liter diesel version. "Our new Engine Manufacturing Centre is an important step in advancing the competitiveness and capability of the UK automotive sector. The production of in-house engines will support the expansion of the UK supply chain providing critical mass for inward investment," said Trevor Leeks, plant operations director in the automaker's announcement.
Opening the doors to the Engine Manufacturing Center has been years in the making for JLR. The plant was first announced in September 2011 and broke ground in June 2012. Building it cost the company 500 million pounds ($800 million) and created 1,400 new jobs. Of course, being a state-of-the-art factory, considerations were made to make the place as energy efficient as possible. That meant installing the UK's largest solar array with 21,000 panels to produce about 30 percent of the site's electricity needs.

Hot Rod Garage series premieres with 700-hp big-block Jaguar XJ

Roadkill hosts Mike Finnegan and David Freiburger have broken up - kinda - to spin off a new show, Hot Rod Garage, that mostly gives up the driveway and parking lot wrench work for the confines of a garage. We say kinda because while Finnegan is the primary host for Hot Rod Garage, Freiburger plays guest host and the new show starts off by wrenching on the Roadkill Draguar project car.
What's the Draguar? It's a 1974 Jaguar XJ12 that's about to be force-fed a 383-cubic-inch Chevrolet long-block engine with tidbits like Holley carbs, a Weiand 6-71 roots blower and a "custom WillBlow transmission," all good for about 700 horsepower. After that Finnegan gets into swapping parts on his wife's El Camino and some TIG welding lessons.
You can check out the first episode below. And in case you're worried, no, Roadkill isn't going away.

Jaguar considering lightweight F-Type Club Sport?

In the market for a Jaguar F-Type? Then let us commend you, first of all, on your good taste. But you've got a difficult decision ahead of you: Do you go for the power of the V8 or the lighter weight of the V6? It's a tough call, even if the ~$30k range in price from the entry model to the flagship doesn't phase you.
Well, to make the decision easier (or potentially more difficult), Jaguar is said to be looking into yet another tempting option: that of a lightweight Club Sport model. Tipped to be based on the coupe (and not the heavier roadster), the F-Type Club Sport would allegedly shed a good 400 pounds or so off the curb weight, not so much through the removal of one component or another but through a "holistic" approach that would call on all aspects of the car to play their part in ditching excess weight. That could mean everything from carbon-fiber body panels to a stripped-out interior denuded of sound-deadening materials and creature comforts, says Auto Express.
In developing the rumored F-Type Club Sport, Jaguar is apparently facing a similar dilemma to what buyers are pondering: will it base the track-focused model on the top-of-the-line F-Type R, with its 5.0-liter supercharged V8 driving 542 horsepower to the rear set of lighweight alloys but weighing down the schnoz? Or should it try to get more power out of the lighter 3.0-liter supercharged V6, which currently nets 340 hp in base form and 380 in S spec? Let Jag know what you'd do by leaving your thoughts in Comments.