Q & A: Chief engineer of new Jag XJ explains technology choices - Ford Forums

Stacy94PGT · 03-20-2003, 09:00

March 20, 2003
By AUTOMOTIVE NEWS

David Scholes, chief program engineer for the Jaguar XJ, spoke with Automotive News Staff Reporter Mark Rechtin about some of the decisions that were made in developing the new flagship.

Why did you use monocoque construction instead of a spaceframe as Audi did with the A8?
I don't see the spaceframe as a better solution. Monocoque has a better space-to-weight ratio. I don't see us as behind Audi. They have some technologies that are better than ours, but we have some technologies that are better than Audi's. We have the potential to take further weight out with different materials or different ways of joining. But something like a magnesium body shell won't happen anytime soon.

Shouldn't the XJ have a V-12 to compete with the top models of the BMW 7 series and Mercedes S class?
We could package a V-12 in the car, but there are no immediate plans. We're proud of the supercharged V-8 engine. It may not have the ultimate power of the V-12, but the 0-to-60 performance of the competition's V-12 is only 0.2 seconds quicker. There are also the fuel economy advantages to think of. And when the pricing comes out, you'll see how well the supercharged compares to their V-12. I won't say we won't have one, but there are more important things to do.

Did Alcan contact you about the aluminum job, or did you contact Alcan?
It was a case of us looking at aluminum, and Ford has some aluminum projects with Alcan already. As soon as we said we were interested in aluminum, Ford said they would talk to Alcan. We had about 40 engineers on the project on Alcan's payroll - materials specialists and production specialists, and they also gave supplier support.

How much did Alcan subsidize the project?
There were no dollar subsidies, but they threw us every bit of help they could. They took a real risk of us possibly backing out and then getting stuck with lots of production equipment they couldn't use.

How many changes would you need to make for a long-wheelbase version?
Not many. It needs a new rear door and a longer mono side and a new roof. But I wouldn't call it a major project. There's not a real problem in doing it. We planned for a long wheelbase at the same time we were doing the up-front work, so we knew the capability was there.