Jaguar XE SV Project 8 VS Mercedes-Benz S500
Jaguar XE SV Project 8 2018 VS Mercedes-Benz S500 2018
2018 Jaguar XE SV Project 8 VS 2018 Mercedes-Benz S500
2018 Jaguar XE SV Project 8:
We’ve been waiting for Jaguar to produce a truly hot version of the XE since the sedan was introduced in 2014. Now, for a few lucky buyers, it has finally arrived in the form of the limited-edition, 592-hp XE SV Project 8, set to be unveiled at this weekend’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in the United Kingdom. As the name suggests, the Project 8 is the spiritual follow-up to the hyper-limited F-type Project 7 roadster, and is produced by Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations division. With four seats and a roof, the XE–based special will be more practical; it also will be the fastest-accelerating Jaguar yet, with a claimed zero-to-60-mph time of 3.3 seconds. The stated 200-mph top speed also is impressive, but it doesn’t top that achieved by the XJ220 back in the 1990s.The engine is a reworked version of JLR’s familiar supercharged 5.0-liter V-8, welcome proof of Jaguar design boss Ian Callum’s assertion at the car’s original launch that the big engine would fit into the XE. It gets a new air-intake system and exhales through a lightweight titanium exhaust. The transmission is the ZF eight-speed automatic from the regular XE but with more aggressive software that Jaguar says is able to change gears in 0.2 second. The car also gets all-wheel drive and a torque-vectoring rear differential...
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2018-jaguar-xe-sv-project-8-photos-and-info-news
2018 Mercedes-Benz S500:
There’s no doubt the electrification of the automobile is well under way. However, the tipping point—that inflection point when more consumers choose to buy an electric vehicle over a gasoline powered one—is still a ways away. There are many reasons for this, but the most obvious one is infrastructure. There’s a gas station (or three) at every intersection. The electric car world, meanwhile, still hasn’t bothered to agree on a charging standard. 220-volt? 440-volt like Tesla Supercharger stations? 880-volt like Porsche says it’s doing with the Mission E? You tell me. We don’t yet know what the electric future will look like. For now it remains a chicken or egg scenario; which will come first—the cars or the infrastructure? I say who cares because I just drove the steak. Meet the blueprint for the immediate future of the internal combustion engine: the all-new Mercedes-Benz M256, the gasoline-powered version of the brand’s new inline-six, available (to some) in the new Mercedes-Benz S500. This engine changes everything. Yes, as a certified (certifiable?) car guy, I’m digging the fact that Mercedes has dumped the fine but unlovable V-6 in favor of the layout that served them so well for so many years. Put into Animal Farm terms, inline-six good, V-6 bad. Or maybe like this: All six-cylinders are good, but some are more good than others. However, that’s not the big picture. This is: There are no belts. The M256 employs a 48-volt electrical system, so the AC compressor and water pump are electric. The alternator is integrated into the starter motor, both of which actually compromise a part called the Integrated Starter Generator, or ISG. It’s an electric motor wrapped around the crankshaft, sandwiched between the engine block and the transmission. There’s also an electric supercharger, as well as a conventional turbocharger....
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/mercedes-benz/s-class/2018/2018-mercedes-benz-s500-european-spec-first-drive-review/
