Jaguar Art of Performance Tour
Okay, those of you who regularly buy shoes without trying them on, raise your hand. Anybody?
No one does, because we want to make sure those shoes fit and look good. It should be the same thing with cars and trucks. Sure, we can be smitten by a hot looking sports car, but until we test drive it, how can we know that we’ll appreciate the way it drives, or if we even fit in its snugly supportive seats.
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That’s why more and more manufacturers are going on tour with their vehicles, crossing the country and inviting potential customers to their event so they can discover how great the brand and its models are. That’s what the Jaguar Art of Performance Tour is all about.
We were invited to attend the event during its stop at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal. This is the third leg of the cross-Canada tour, after visiting Vancouver and Calgary. The tour will then head back west for the two final stops, both in Toronto.
The event in Montreal consists of three different exercises. Attendees get to flog the new 2017 Jaguar F-PACE SUV, a 2017 Jaguar XE sedan and a 2016 Jaguar F-TYPE R Coupe around an autocross course. No one will likely break a sweat or exploit the limits of these vehicles around this circuit, but it’s always fun to see the reaction on people’s faces when they climb aboard these vehicles, and especially with they climb out. The sound of the 340-horsepower, supercharged V6 in the F-PACE and XE is enjoyable, while the roar of the 550-hp, supercharged V8 in the F-TYPE R is utterly intoxicating.
We then headed over to Land Rover’s stand. The brand created a trick hydraulic ramp that lifts a Range Rover Sport up in the air at a 45-degree angle, while Land Rover representatives behind the wheel showed us the latest electronic gadgets used for off-roading. The RR Sport we were sitting in was equipped with cameras all around that show what’s happening around the vehicle through the infotainment system’s screen. Once the SUV was jacked up in the air, the hill descent control system slowly and skilfully guided the vehicle down the ramp while the driver wasn’t touching either the throttle or the brake pedal.
The final exercise was to drive a Jaguar XE on a closed course riddled with randomly placed checkpoints. However, using what they call “intelligent cones,” the checkpoints would flash green one at a time, and we were scored based on distance and centering the nose of the car through each checkpoint. Some people sailed through the course with finesse, others were nailing the throttle and mashing the brakes, which inevitably took its toll on the tires that squealed through the entire timed trial. However, everyone had fun and we’re not paying for the tires anyway.
At the conclusion of the event, some guests were amazed at how these Jaguar cars and SUV drive and handle, and that’s the whole point. Now that these folks have tried on the Jaguar shoes, the automaker now hopes these people will head to their local dealership and shop for one, or at the very least, talk about the brand amongst friends and family.
Click here for more information on the Jaguar Art of Performance Tour. If you’ve missed it, well, know that there are several manufacturers that organise this type of event every year, so check out the website of a car brand you’d like to discover, and hey—you might be trying on a new pair of shoes too.