If that was not sufficient a challenge, Jaguar lopped 8 months off the programme from SI Gateway(Strategic Intent) to Job 1 to take advantage of market conditions which left the competition unusually quiet in terms of new product action during, and substantially following the launch period. Discipline and thoroughness were the order of the day during comprehensive benchmarking through virtual simulation and simultaneous design release activity.
Creativity abounded in the design studios and was taken on board by the engineering team which included such features as the retracting rotary transmission control, the rotating air vents in the facia, touch control interior lights and the extremely subtle blue theatre lighting of the interior. The refinement tuning and abuse load testing of some of these new features was a story in itself.

A steel body construction was chosen as the development time was shorter than that for aluminium enabling the truncated timing programme to be achieved but extensive use of aluminium and magnesium elsewhere kept the weight targets in sight. Computer crash simulation proved to be remarkably accurate to actual test results justifying the decision to use 20% of the engineering team working on CAE.

In performance terms this Cat might purr but it also has a big bite and in supercharged 4.2 litre V8 form is a very fast yet sophisticated vehicle offering rapid but refined and safe progress. The face of Jaguar might have changed but the values firstly espoused by Sir Williams Lyons of ‘Grace, Space and Pace’ live on.

A vehicle was on display outside the lecture theatre and was closely inspected and admired late into the evening. An offer to raffle the car amongst the students was declined by Mick and the evening closed with many dreamy eyed young men even more determined to pursue their intended career aspirations in vehicle design. Bill Gladstone expressed our thanks to Coventry University for the use of their facilities and to Mick and Andy for their fascinating and comprehensive presentation. Bill Gladstone FSAE-UK.

The latest technical lecture hosted by the Midland Section took place at Coventry University on Tuesday 20th May when an audience in excess of 70 members and students were treated to a memorable lecture by Mick Mohan, Chief Programme Engineer Jaguar XF and Andy Whyman, Vehicle Engineering Manager, Jaguar XF.