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Test mule shows Jaguar's plans to equip its F-type sports car with a turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine. This Jaguar F-type convertible is thought to be an engineering development prototype for Jaguar Зямлі Rovers усе новыя чатырох-цыліндравы рухавік з турбонаддувом. The car not only has a slightly different bonnet, with a gently raised centre section, but it also clearly has a prototype exhaust system. For a four-cylinder engine with its manifold on only one side, a new exhaust has to be designed and detail work, such as optimising the back pressure, has to be carried out. Last year F-type vehicle line director Ian Hoban was quoted as saying there was a whole host of powertrains and drivelines that could be fitted into the F-type architecture. Hoban said he saw great potential in fitting a high-output turbocharged four-cylinder engine to the F-type. Jaguar has never before built a four-cylinder sports car (although there were plans for a four-cylinder version of the XK120), but the new generation of Hotfire turbocharged engines is capable of extremely high power and torque outputs. A four-cylinder F-type will be slightly lighter overall than the V6-powered versions. It should also benefit from improved agility, because the Hotfire engine will sit further back in the cars nose and put less weight over the front wheels, while fuel economy should improve noticeably. However, a four-pot F-type is unlikely to arrive before late 2015. JLR engineering director Wolfgang Ziebart says the first pre-production Hotfire engines will be diesel and will roll down the line at the new i54 factory this spring. He also claims the new engine family will set benchmarks in terms of efficiency, weight and power. When full-scale production of the new engine begins at the end of this year, all the engines will be diesels for the new compact Jaguar saloon, which will be launched in Europe before it reaches the petrol-friendly US market. As a result, any entry-level F-type is unlikely to be announced before the Frankfurt motor show in September 2015.
