RE: Jaguar C-X75 cancelled
Tuesday 11th December 2012
Jaguar has been on a bit of a high of late, and one likely to continue with the arrival of the much anticipated F-Type. But the C-X75 won't be joining it. As reported widely today, not least by our colleagues at Autocar, the radical and rather beautiful turbine-powered hybrid supercar is simply too much for the prevailing economic climate.
Three of the five built will be sold - tempted?Which is a shame, because there was much to admire about the concept, not least its looks. But also the technology. While others, notably Porsche with the 918 Spyder, try and combine existing technology with electric tech to answer the cry for new-age hybrid supercars Jaguar's turbine technology was genuinely something different. And had been much admired as such, scooping awards including 'Most Significant Concept Vehicle of 2011' from the North American Concept Vehicle awards and a Louis Vuitton 'Classic Concept' gong too.
Jaguar C-X75 cancelled
Dare we resist 'plug pulled on electric supercar' subheading? Nope...
Three of the five built will be sold - tempted?
Perhaps burned by the experience of the XJ220 Jaguar has decided to put the investment required into the C-X75 into other areas, though you can be sure the money already spent won't have gone to waste as the move to hybridisation gathers momentum.
And what of the five prototypes? Three of them will apparently be auctioned off. Form an orderly queue...
Discussion
"the radical and rather beautiful turbine-powered hybrid supercar is simply too much for the prevailing economic climate."
No, a "radical and rather beautiful turbine-powered hybrid supercar" would sell just fine. Multi-squillionaires don't even notice global economic downturns. (Jag themselves admit they already had expressions of interest for 100 out of a total run of 250.)
The trouble was Jag had dropped the specs from 4 electric motors and 2 turbines, to 2 leccy motors and a 1.6 twincharged engine. That's not the car that all those people had expressed interest in.
Far too similar to the XJ220 incident for comfort....
No, a "radical and rather beautiful turbine-powered hybrid supercar" would sell just fine. Multi-squillionaires don't even notice global economic downturns. (Jag themselves admit they already had expressions of interest for 100 out of a total run of 250.)
The trouble was Jag had dropped the specs from 4 electric motors and 2 turbines, to 2 leccy motors and a 1.6 twincharged engine. That's not the car that all those people had expressed interest in.
Far too similar to the XJ220 incident for comfort....
Edited by Dazed & Confused on Tuesday 11th December 11:42
[quote=Dazed & Confused]"the radical and rather beautiful turbine-powered hybrid supercar is simply too much for the prevailing economic climate."
No, a "radical and rather beautiful turbine-powered hybrid supercar" would sell just fine. Multi-squillionaires don't even notice global economic downturns. (Jag themselves admit they already had expressions of interest for 100 out of a total run of 250.)
The trouble was Jag had dropped the specs from 4 electric motors and 2 turbines, to 2 leccy motors and a 1.6 twincharged engine. That's not the car that all those people had expressed interest in.
Far too similar to the XJ220 incident for comfort....
[/quote]
yup, never could understand why they came up with it in the first place knowing full well it was a pipe dram for a production car....
can you begin to imagine the costs of homologating gas turbines for use in a road car in these days of H&S etc?
No, a "radical and rather beautiful turbine-powered hybrid supercar" would sell just fine. Multi-squillionaires don't even notice global economic downturns. (Jag themselves admit they already had expressions of interest for 100 out of a total run of 250.)
The trouble was Jag had dropped the specs from 4 electric motors and 2 turbines, to 2 leccy motors and a 1.6 twincharged engine. That's not the car that all those people had expressed interest in.
Far too similar to the XJ220 incident for comfort....
[/quote]
yup, never could understand why they came up with it in the first place knowing full well it was a pipe dram for a production car....
can you begin to imagine the costs of homologating gas turbines for use in a road car in these days of H&S etc?
Two problems with the turbine CX-75 prototypes as I understand it. You couldn't run the turbines for very long without melting the back end - which would probably have bankrupted the warranty department.
Also, even a multi gazillionniare may wince a bit with a major service on twin turbines. Turbine blades crack microscopically during use (even titanium ones) and would need to be replaced prior to any likelihood of failure. An uncontained blade separation at 20000 rpm is bad enough on an aircraft but doesn't bear thinking about on a road car.
"We need to replace six titanium blades in the hot section due to cracking, sir," each service will go down well I'm sure. Great concept though and hopefully it'll work properly in future.
Also, even a multi gazillionniare may wince a bit with a major service on twin turbines. Turbine blades crack microscopically during use (even titanium ones) and would need to be replaced prior to any likelihood of failure. An uncontained blade separation at 20000 rpm is bad enough on an aircraft but doesn't bear thinking about on a road car.
"We need to replace six titanium blades in the hot section due to cracking, sir," each service will go down well I'm sure. Great concept though and hopefully it'll work properly in future.
JW911 said:
"We need to replace six titanium blades in the hot section due to cracking, sir,"
I do feel that this car would probably be doomed to stay with a main dealer for its major services...Really I think the main problem for a turbine car would be getting the air to the turbines cleanly. You want air going at something like 300mph when it hits the compressor face, iirc, so that rules out any substantial filters... then you drive past a field that's being ploughed on a dry day and you get all sorts of crap going through your engine.
it is not a surprise. from the beginning it was making no sense. especially when in parallel they announce to go down market with a 3 series
jaguar was simply too arrogant and selfconfident when they announced the production of this car.
they don't have the image of ferrari or porsche and they have never produced a true sportscar, only some sort of muscle car with big v8 and auto box only able to drift and smoke their tyres.
jaguar was simply too arrogant and selfconfident when they announced the production of this car.
they don't have the image of ferrari or porsche and they have never produced a true sportscar, only some sort of muscle car with big v8 and auto box only able to drift and smoke their tyres.
h".My impression is that the turbines were never destined for production anyway. I thought it was confirmed that it would have a more conventional hybrid energy recovery system by Williams. I don't think the turbine technology is sufficiently developed for deployment. Amazing concept though.
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