History
of Jaguar XJ220
 The
Jaguar XJ220 is a mid-engined sports car produced by Jaguar in collaboration with
Tom Walkinshaw Racing as Jaguar Sport between 1992 and 1994. It held the record
for the highest top speed of a production car (350 km/h, 217 mph) until the arrival
of the McLaren F1 in 1994. The XJ220 is unrelated with the other XJ models, although
shares the same name 'XJ'.
A racing version called the XJ220C was also made. The XJ220C, driven by Win Percy
won its first race, a round of the BRDC National Sports GT Challenge at Silverstone.
Three works XJ220C's were entered in the 1993 Le Mans 24 Hour race, in the newly
created Grand Touring Class. Two of the cars retired but one XJ220, driven by
John Nielsen, David Brabham and David Coulthard took the checkered flag to take
a class win. This, however, was revoked two weeks later, when the XJ220C was disqualified
for a technical infringement.
An XJ220 would also be used in the Italian GT Championship in the early 1990s,
although this car had no factory support.
In 1992 at the Nardò Ring, Martin Brundle drove an XJ220 to 212.3 mph (341.7 km/h).
The car's catalytic converters sap the engine of an estimated 60 bhp (45 kW),
the catalysts were later disconnected and the rev limiter was increased from 7200
rpm to 7900 rpm in a quest to enable the XJ220 reach a higher top speed. On a
later run with the modifications, Brundle took the XJ220 to 217.1 mph (349.4 km/h)
(the equivalent to approximately 223 mph (359 km/h) on a straight road).
The production version of the car was first shown to the public in October 1991
after undergoing significant changes. The most obvious of which was a completely
different drivetrain and the elimination of the scissor doors. TWR was charged
with producing the car and had several goals/rules: the car would be rear wheel
drive instead of all wheel drive; would have a turbocharged V6 engine instead
of the big V12; and performance goals of over 200 mph (320 km/h), 0 to 60 mph
(97 km/h) in 3.8 seconds, and the lightest weight possible.
The 6.2 L V12 had been judged too difficult to get past increasingly strict emission
regulations, and there were also reportedly some design problems caused by the
size of the power plant. It was replaced with a Tom Walkinshaw-developed 3.5 L
V6 based on the engine used in the Austin Metro 6R4 rally car and fitted with
twin Garrett T3 turbochargers, generating 542 bhp (404 kW; 550 PS) of maximum
power at 7000 rpm and 476 lb·ft (645 N·m) of torque at 4500 rpm. This engine was
the first V6 in Jaguar's history, and was the first to use forced induction. In
spite of the smaller displacement and half the number of cylinders, the engine
produced more power than the V12 would have. However, potential customers judged
the exhaust note to be harsh and the lag from the turbos to be an annoyance. Also
missing from the production version of the car was the Ferguson all wheel drive
– the production car had only rear driven wheels, through a conventional transaxle
– and the ABS.
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