A British registered, right-hand drive Jaguar XF 2.2-litre diesel set off from New York this week with the aim of arriving in Los Angeles, California, in seven days - a journey of more than 4506km through 11 states.
With independent UK test drivers David and Alexander Madgwick at the wheel, the XF will cross a continent in order to evaluate just how frugal the 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel engine can be.
A GPS device has been fitted to the car to allow the project to be interactive - the daily progress of the XF as it travels from coast to coast, its average speed and economy can be tracked at either www.facebook.com/Jaguar or www.twitter. com/Jaguar (#XFCoast2Coast). Fresh images will also be posted daily.
A strictly standard car, the XF was shipped from Jaguar's global headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, making it the first diesel Jaguar to enter the US.
It's not the first time that the new model, also on sale in South Africa, has embarked on a long-distance trip.
Earlier this year an XF 2.2 was driven from the factory at Castle Bromwich to Munich - a distance of 1313km - on a single tank of diesel and achieved an average of 4.126l/100km.
The project will test the capabilities of the XF - serving as an engineering exercise to determine the maximum efficiency of the car. Despite being the most fuel efficient Jaguar ever created, the XF 2.2 produces 142kW and 450Nm and accelerates from 0-100km/h in 8.5 seconds. The XF 2.2 emits just 149g/km of CO2.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 