Review Of Jaguar C-X75 - It is the C-X75, and its story is already the stuff of legend. It was an adored concept car to mark the company's 75th anniversary that became one of the most ambitious supercar concepts the industry has ever known. Six months ago, that project was put on ice and we thought that was where the story would end, until a few days ago when we got invited to come here, to Gaydon, and to drive it. From a technological standpoint, the C-X75 is more than just a supercar. It's a plug-in hybrid with 390 horsepower of electric drive, 40 miles of electric range, and EU Standard emissions to match a Toyota Prius, believe it or not. It's also got an incredible 500-horsepower twin-charged 4-cylinder engine enabling it, in hybrid mode, to hit 60mph in less than 3 seconds, 100mph in less than 6 seconds, and to go on to a top speed of 220. Its construction is almost all carbonfibre to offset some of the added weight of that power train. It's styling is intended to reference what design director Ian Callum describes as Malcolm Sayer's most beautiful ever, the stillborn 1965 XJ13. Jaguar gave us a passenger ride in the car in electric mode on the inner handling circuit of its Gaydon proving ground, and then a short drive in hybrid mode on the outer high-speed circuit.
In electric mode, performance feels massively torque-y and responsive and about equal to a full house hot hatchback in outright terms. Through the corners and over the bumps of the handling circuit, the C-X75 seemed grippy, but also supremely balanced and forgiving, albeit only from the passenger seat. There's compliance in its ride and balance control ability at the limit that you just wouldn't expect of an 850 horsepower supercar, but that a Jaguar wouldn't be a Jaguar without. From the driver's seat, you discover that the steering is quite light and manageable, the accelerator pedal's progressive, and that visibility is also good. For all its usability and sophistication, there's old-fashioned supercar theatricality about the C-X75, too. That 4-cylinder engine howls like a mutant superbike as the revs pass 7000 RPM. From there on out, it feels very fast indeed; possibly not quite as fast a Bugatti Veyron, but close up to a point. I've just got out of the driver seat of the C-X75. It is fantastic, obviously. It's fast.
How fast?. We've just been out on the runway. It's done 170mph without even trying. To think that it would go on, I should think, easily to 200 before it really starts to slow down. The remarkable thing about the performance is the way it accelerates from 7000 RPM. When you think that's coming from a 4-cylinder engine, it really is mind-blowing. The real hallmark of it as a Jaguar is how easy it is to drive. There's so much technology on board, there was the potential for this car to be really overwhelming. In fact, you just get in, squeeze the throttle, turn the wheel, away you go. Fabulous. Such a shame that nobody will ever really get the chance to own one because it could have been one of the best British supercars that will ever be made. Thanks for visit Review Of Jaguar C-X75.
