2019 BMW 8 Series

With the all-new BMW 8 Series Coupe fast approaching its first deliveries, the race is on for building the first tuning package for this brand new luxury coupe. Prior Design aims to be one of the first aftermarket companies to release an 8 Series wide-body kit. The German firm has already dropped a teaser image of its PD800 aero package and it looks like no body panel of the donor car will remain untouched. The tuning pack will make the G15 8 Series look more aggressive courtesy of the massive fender extensions, redesigned front apron with a big splitter and wider air intakes, matching side skirts and a sculpted bonnet with additional air outlets. As for the rear end, the teaser image allows us to spot a boot lid spoiler but not much else. We can only guess a sizable air diffuser is also part of the body kit. As with most of its creations, Prior Design鈥檚 PD800 tuning kit for the 8 Series will feature an H&R coil-over kit that enables the driver to adjust the car鈥檚 ride height. The tuner will also throw in a set of 21-inch PD4 light-alloy wheels to fill those wider wheel arches. We don鈥檛 know whether a power kit is also in the pipeline. Even if it isn鈥檛, the BMW 8 Series offers plenty of performance straight from the factory, as the base 840d xDrive makes 320 PS, enabling it to go from 0-100 km/h in 4.9 seconds. As for the current range-topper, the M850i xDrive, it offers 530 PS and it can pull off the same sprint in just 3.7 seconds.

You know a lot of young guys in the business add a lot of lines to the cars. It鈥檚 my job to say, 鈥淭hat one鈥檚 good; take the other ones off.鈥?Maybe I鈥檓 just old-fashioned, maybe they think the same as well. Were floating rooflines, added trim, or vertical air extracts considered? A Jaguar鈥檚 about the whole shape. You introduce a floating roof and it becomes something different. We had a bit of a floating roofline鈥攃antilevered roofline, we called it鈥攐n the XJ. But there鈥檚 no way I鈥檇 consider blacked out pillars in the front or anything like that; that鈥檚 very much Land Rover鈥檚. That movement between the wheel and body is very important. The relationship to the body is very important, in terms of width to the outside of the car. We also make sure that the overall diameter of the tire is kept as close as possible between wheels.

Of course the advantage is that when we get to 22s it looks phenomenal. But if you want 20s with more rubber it looks just as good, in proportions. We just decided with this range of cars we鈥檇 have a horizontal vent. Possibly because there鈥檚 this much room between the wheel arch and the door. And here the reason for horizontal, actually, was that we wanted to bring forth this line on the door鈥攍ike F-type鈥攊t needs a starting point, it needs a reason to be. We鈥檝e also gone to horizontal air extracts in the XE and XF. Primarily they鈥檙e there for beauty reasons, but they do actually function as well; it helps compensate for the corner not being square. Did you develop the sound of the car as you developed its form and driving character, as was the case for the F-Type? The F-Type is the first investigation of this; you see an F-Type, you think you鈥檇 better get a great sound out of this鈥攁nd you do.

Though the first prototypes of this car were a lot louder. And we realized for people sitting in the back of the car it might be a little too much. So we have actually toned it down. Tell us what you鈥檝e done with the interior and materials to make the F-Pace feel more like a Jaguar than just another SUV. One thing we did do was to keep the center console at a pretty high level. Although it鈥檚 a command position鈥攜ou鈥檙e sitting higher than you are in a car鈥擨 still wanted people to feel like they were sitting inside a car rather than an SUV. The center console鈥檚 rather high, so you feel cosseted by it. I feel that鈥檚 important鈥攊t鈥檚 a subtle thing鈥攂ut you do still feel like you鈥檙e in a car, although the visual lines are better than they are in a standard car. The wood alternative is available for customers who want it, but I鈥檓 quite keen especially in the XF that we have a metal-finish dashboard. I just think it looks more technically correct. It makes that technical sophistication a lot easier to express. It modernizes. The main thing for me is that we鈥檙e capturing some of that sportiness. The F-Type doesn鈥檛 have any wood in it, and neither did the E-type. But we do offer wood鈥攜ou can have it; it wouldn鈥檛 be my choice.

Power is sent through a standard eight-speed automatic transmission, sourced from ZF. All-wheel drive models like this one have a multi-plate clutch at the back of the gearbox that controls the amount of power sent to the front differential. Under most conditions, the majority of the torque goes to the rear wheels - emulating a rear-wheel-drive chassis - for traditional driving dynamics. However, up to 50 percent of that torque may be sent to the front axle if slip is detected. The AWD system is completely automatic, but a Winter Mode defaults to a 30:70 torque split to improve traction on slippery surfaces. A quick stab of the start/stop button brings the Jaguar to life, and it settles to a nearly imperceptible idle. The JaguarDrive Select to rises into place, and gear selection is just a clockwise spin of the dial away. The XJ is no sport sedan, but its subtle exhaust note is wonderful and very pleasing while underway.