Vans, Cars and Leasing

The Jaguar XF is the latest sports sedan or mid-size luxury car from Jaguar Cars. First seen in 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, the Jaguar XF was formally launched in 2008 with its first unit delivered to their customer in March 2008. The new XF took over the place of its predecessor—the S-Type. The development of the XF is done in Coventry, UK and its production line is in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, UK. The Jaguar XF was named the Car of the Year by the prestigious “What Car?” magazine in January 2008. Another award, the Car of the Year 2008 award was given to the Jaguar XF by the “What Diesel?” magazine. XF was also named The Best Executive Car 2008.

Before the actual launching of the Jaguar XF, Jaguar Cars has already come up with the Concept-XF or the Jaguar C-XF. This concept car was first exhibited in the North American International Auto Show held at Detroit, Michigan. The C-XF served as the preview of the now released Jaguar XF model. The C-XF design that was unveiled in January 3, 2007 had the newest design strategy that departed from the retro designs of the classic cars and other predecessors of the Jaguar C-XF. The design of the final Jaguar XF just had a little variation from the C-XF design that is notable in the nose and its front lights. The mesh grille carrying the Jaguar badge is still present serving as the distinctive feature of all the Jaguar cars. The exterior is somewhat amazing almost resembling the concept car. The XF wheels are also designed to fit the car’s visual exteriors. Several mags and wheel designs are available for future exterior modifications. The XF wheels are available in 18” and 19” alloy construction. The Supercharged car is the only car of this type that can be fitted with its standard 20” alloy wheels.

The interior of the XF gives a relaxing and luxurious mood to its riders. The driver-friendly 7” touch-screen control makes driving easier and more comfortable. The blue phospor halo illumination that emphasizes the XF instruments and meters make it more relaxing to the eyes at night. The XF has an automatic climate control system that includes the rotating vents that slowly and quietly roll and almost disappear when not in use. Taking the place of a manual or automatic transmission selector is the drive selector or rotary dial that pops out when pressing the engine start or stop button. This is the latest shift-by-wire technology that gives precise shifting and at the same time adding to the picturesque view of the interior. Most of the interiors are made with exquisite wooden materials with modern aluminum linings and leather seats showing the finest craftsmanship used by the XF. The interior lightings are activated and controlled by touching the lights’ plastic covers.

The Jaguar XF cars are available in different engines ranging from 2.7-liter and 3.0 V6 Diesel and Petrol to the 4.2-liter V8 Petrol Natural and Supercharged. The 4.2-liter V8’s compact and lightweight construction is the most used engine because of the big performance that it offers in its small all-aluminum construction. The V8 uses four valves per cylinder and four overhead camshafts in its variable camshaft phasing. The natural V8 can give 310 lb-ft torque and 300 bhp in an effortless performance. The supercharged can give 413 lb-ft torque and 420 bhp with its rotor-type supercharger. The XF’s transmission uses a six-speed automatic transmission system with superb character. The automated system responds to the way the car is driven and according to the road conditions in giving the smoothest gearshift. The drive selector in the driver’s panel is another latest innovation in transmission that is used by the XF.

If you want to combine luxury and comfort in your sports car then you better be ready with the leap of the Jaguar XF. Check your local dealers for their latest Jaguar XF.

Written on behlf of Total Fleet Services Ltd
Jaguar Leasing - Jaguar XF Contract Hire

The very latest edition of the 911 family is here! These are the first official pictures of the 911 Targa, and as you can see, it’s got a touch of glass.

The Targa sports a distinctive glass sliding roof, which gives occupants the open-air experience come rain or shine. The two-piece roof features specially-treated glass to cope with harsh UV rays, but when the sun’s not so glaring, the roof slides back in just seven seconds for the full wind-in-the-hair experience.

Under the skin it’s much the same as the new generation of 911s, with the new PDK double clutch drivetrain and direct fuel injection flat six engines in 345bhp 3.6 and 385bhp 3.8-litre guise.

The Targa 4 and Targa 4S will benefit from Porsche’s Traction Management (PTM) system which delivers power to all four wheels via a mechanical limited slip diff.

Expect to see the new Targa in UK showrooms from October 25, priced from £72,980.

Written on behalf of Total Fleet Services Ltd
Porsche Leasing - Porsche 911 Leasing

Meet the car that makes a Bugatti Veyron seem slow! It’s called the GT9 – and can claim to be one of the fastest roadgoing models ever made.

German tuner 9ff has been developing the Porsche-based machine for a number of years. But this is the first time pricing and details have been released.

The front end is borrowed from a 911 GT3, although the rest of the chassis is unique, and has been constructed using strong yet lightweight carbon and kevlar fibre. With its low roof, the car is only 1.18 metres tall, while an extreme bodykit practically scrapes the road surface. Both features are crucial to help achieve the 254mph top speed – 1mph higher than a Veyron!

Under the bonnet, the GT9’s engine is sourced from the 996-generation Porsche 911 Turbo. Reworked turbos, dry sump lubrication and a gold-finished induction plate boost power to 973bhp and torque to 964Nm. And as the car weighs only 1,326kg, it should cover 0-60mph in 3.4 seconds.

Potential buyers need to be just as quick to get their hands on a GT9, though – only 20 examples will be made, each with a price tag of £394,000.

The lid has been lifted on Honda’s green future! The Japanese firm wowed crowds at the British Motor Show with its stunning OSM (Open Study Model) concept.

Making its world debut here in London, the rakish two-seater points the way toward an eco-friendly successor to the company’s S2000 roadster.

Penned by staff at the manufacturer’s design studio in Frankfurt, Germany, the newcomer claims to offer class-leading fuel economy and CO2 emissions, thanks to slippery aerodynamics and a lightweight construction. Bosses at the company also hinted that the model could get a powerful hybrid powerplant.

Take a look at the OSM, and it’s clear that style is as important as its environmental credentials. The shark-like nose features a gaping grille and slim wraparound headlamps, while the gently rising waistline sweeps up to a high-set tail. Here you’ll find distinctive LED rear lights that run the full width of the car.

Climb aboard, and the sporty theme continues to the cabin. The two heavily bolstered seats are low set and trimmed in blue leather. In front of the driver is a cowled binnacle packed with dials that are illuminated with a cool blue light.

No official announcements have been made about what’s under the bonnet, although a hybrid powerplant is likely. This would be connected to a semi-auto gearbox operated via a normal lever or paddles behind the steering wheel.

Bosses at Honda claim that this concept won’t make production. But with the hybrid CR-Z coupe getting the green light and the hydrogen-powered FCX now on sale, a showroom ready OSM could appear within the next five years.

Take a look at the eagerly anticipated V10-powered replacement for Honda’s NSX.

The grand tourer – which wears the badge of the firm’s Acura luxury arm in our pictures – is due in 2010. It’s expected to cost £100,000, and will challenge the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Maserati GranTurismo and Jaguar XKR.

Its 5.5-litre V10 generates upwards of 600bhp and around 600Nm of torque, which is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed twin-clutch gearbox. When cruising, five of the 10 cylinders are deactivated to save fuel and cut emissions. Our insider revealed Honda has taken ideas from its Formula One programme to generate maximum downforce and straight-line stability. That enabled the coupé to set a record time of seven minutes and 37 seconds for a lap of the Nürburgring track in Germany on its first attempt.

Honda achieved this by focusing on aerodynamics – and the biggest secret to the performance is hidden under the car. According to our spies, the rear section of the coupé resembles one big wing.

The newcomer will tip the scales at around 1,500kg – that’s over 250kg less than the recently launched Nissan GT-R.

There’ll be an all-new Mexican flavour at the British Motor Show! Sports car manufacturer Mastretta will be there with its 150mph MXT coupe, the first car ever to be designed and built in Mexico.

It makes its world debut in London on July 22, in ‘penultimate prototype’ form. RHD production is expected to start in January 2009, and is limited to 80 cars per year.

It’ll be worth getting your name down quick, though. As well as its impressive top speed, the MXT can hit 60mph in under five seconds and its 2.0-litre supercharged Duratec engine produces 240bhp. With the car weighing just 900kg, that means 267bhp per tonne – almost 50bhp more than a Porsche Cayman S manages.

The Mastretta also vastly undercuts the German coupe, with a price tag of £32,995. You can see it on Stand N10 at the ExCeL arena.

Honda has lifted the lid on its next S2000 roadster – and it will have you going green! The Honda OSM (Open Study Model) shown in this official sketch will be unveiled at next week’s British Motor Show as an eco-friendly concept car. But the sleek drop-top also gives us a tantalising early look at the forthcoming S2000.

Officially a ‘design study’ at this early stage, Honda will use the OSM to “gather feedback from customers at the show to guide any future developments”.

That means the Japanese firm is intent on making the next S2000 a seriously desirable sports car when it hits the showrooms in 2010. And judging by this concept, Honda looks like it could have another big success on its hands.

The new car will be as green as it is good looking, thanks to a number of mechanical and aerodynamic features designed to reduce consumption and emissions. Honda will reveal all at the expo, but an efficient, lightweight petrol engine – possibly boosted by a small electric unit – will sit inside a body featuring class-leading aerodynamics.

Shaped by up-and-coming young designers at Honda’s studios in Offenbach, Germany, the OSM will sit alongside the zero-emissions FCX Clarity fuel cell car and the CR-Z hybrid sportscar – both making UK debuts at the British Motor Show.

Toyota is set to get pulses racing at this year’s British Motor Show. The Japanese firm has commissioned a wild one-off version of its Aygo to appear on its stand.

The £100,000 Aygo Crazy has a 1.8-litre turbo from the MR2 roadster, producing 197bhp and 240Nm of torque – enough for 0-60mph in under six seconds and a top speed of 127mph.

A unique hand-built bodykit and 17-inch wheels are fitted, while a race-inspired roll-cage, Sparco steering wheel and four-point harnesses continue the motorsport theme inside. Unlike most super-stylish show concepts, the race-bred pocket rocket is fully road legal and capable of causing one or two surprises in the supermarket car park!

Muscle Cars are performance cars made for the most part in Detroit, Michigan from 1964 through 1974. The muscle car manufacturers placed large V8 engines in mid-sized vehicles, giving them high levels of performance and setting off intense competition between the manufacturers to produce the most powerful and fastest muscle cars for sale during those times.

Although auto makers had sometimes experimented with placing the performance based V-8 engines in a lighter mid-size platforms, and full-size cars such as the Ford Galaxy and Chevrolet Impala had high-performance models, Pontiac received most of the credit for starting the muscle car era with its Pontiac GTO. Started by Pontiac a, the GTO was far more popular than anticipated, and inspired many imitations and a  movement towards performance, both in the true muscle car class of intermediate vehicles as well as smaller cars like the Ford Mustang, Plymouth Barracuda and AMC AMX, and more luxurious and expensive cars such as the Buick Riviera.

Nevertheless, a large part of the appeal behind muscle cars was that they were mostly reasonably priced models that young drivers could manage to pay for. For instance, Chevrolet placed an extremely large 396 cubic inch motor in its compact Nova body. This would be comparable to taking Chevrolet Cobalt and putting a  Corvette Z06 engine in it. Mopar also had several low-cost models, such as the Dodge Super Bee and Plymouth Roadrunner.

Between 1964 and 1970, the Detroit companies were in competition for the bragging rights to the highest horsepower motor and offer the fastest muscle cars for sale. Horsepower numbers generally hit their peak in 1970, with the Chevelle SS 454 from that year is generally considered to have had the highest output, producing 450 horsepower. By 1971, most muscle cars began to fall out of favor and fade away, with Pontiac’s Trans AM model being the last one by 1975.

While they were fast cars in a straight line, most had poor performing brakes and suspension setups, and tires which were insufficient to handle the acceleration and speeds the engines made possible. These factors have all been to some degree addressed by after-market suppliers.

Bosses at Audi won’t rest until every possible niche has been filled – and now, the four-door coupé market is in their sights.

These exclusive images provide the best look yet at the new A7. It’s Audi’s challenger to the Mercedes CLS, as well as the forthcoming BMW 8-Series, and promises a strong combination of luxury, style and performance.

The A7 will showcase a raft of technology, including the second-generation of Audi’s MMI cabin control system. And according to insiders at the Ingolstadt company, it will raise the bar even higher in terms of interior quality.

Under the skin is a stretched version of the platform which underpins the stylish A5 coupé, although the newcomer will ride on air-suspension to provide an impressive balance of sharp handling and a smooth ride.

Six engines will be available from launch: a trio of V6 diesels, including an all-new 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged unit, as well as V6 and V8 petrol powerplants.

Hot S7 and RS7 models are in the pipeline, too. The latter will use a revised version of the 5.2-litre V10 in the current RS6, albeit tuned to give more than 600bhp.