Mid-engine Jaguar.(Brief Article)

Jaguar's F-Type sports car is being developed with a mid-engine layout, pitting the open-top two-seater directly against the Porsche Boxster when sales start in the 2005 model year. Boxster was always the target, but the Detroit 2000 show F-Type concept was front-engine/rear-drive. It was also all but impossible to produce, with poor packaging for drivetrain or occupants.

Jaguar admits considering a mid-engine layout, but insists the decision won't be made until spring 2002, when Ford brass in Dearborn are expected to give the project, codenamed X600, final approval. Suppliers, however, are concentrating on the mid-engine design.

The chassis and body will be aluminum. The structural central tub will use bonded extrusions, riveted pressings and space-frame tubes joined by castings. Bolted to the back of this tub will be the engine and gearbox from the X-Type sedan, mounted transversely. Engines developments will include a supercharged 3.0-liter with about 300 hp. Expect a 250-hp 3.0-liter, a 220-hp 2.5-liter and (perhaps not for America) an entry-level 2.2-liter with 170 hp.

Borrowing from X-Type means F-Type will use a strut suspension, rather than the more ideal wishbones. The Boxster also uses struts.

Will 007 target 911?

While Jaguar goes for contemporary layout and design (see Cover Story), its sister division in the Ford family, Aston Martin, sticks to

tradition with front-engine/rear-drive layouts on the drawing boards for its next two sports cars, including a potential Porsche 911 rival.