Jaguar XE Roadster Will Take on Porsche's Boxster

The tension created around the arrival of a much smaller Jaguar roadster is almost palpable right now. The project has been for years in the making, and we still have a long time before we’ll be able to sit behind the wheel of such a car, but at least we can bring our readers a few tidbits of information to help pass the time.

As was previously stated, the XE is indeed a successor to the E-Type, arriving on the roadster market to take on rivals from BMW, Mercedes and even the mighty Porsche Boxster. It will be based roughly on the XK cabriolet, a car that was developed from the ground up to sport a fabric roof, and will "blow the rest of the industry away," according to the latest report from Autocar.

The XE was originally expected to arrive in Frankfurt last year, but it wasn’t to be. Test mules have been roaming public roads for a couple of months, so at least we know Jaguar can’t turn back, and Autocar says we can expect to see the XE in late 2012.

The purposeful chassis will make use of aluminum and will be only 4.3 meters in length, much shorter than the XK, but almost as wide. It will weigh just over 1500kg, around 50kg more than today’s Boxster. Sounds like the spiritual successor to the XE is a veritable roadster, with plenty of character to go round.

While the XE is currently testing as a soft-top, Jaguar is likely to develop a hard-top version as well, willing and able to take on the Cayman.

We’ve saved the most important until the end - the engine lineup, which will feature V6 petrol engines in normally aspirated and supercharged forms. A turbocharged four-cylinder petrol unit is also reportedly on the table. An eight-speed automatic gearbox and stop-start technology should help with fuel consumption. The typical Jaguar V8 will be used on the top of the like XER. Sounds a bit like the new Mercedes SLK, doesn’t it?

Autocar suggests we can expect to see the XE's elegant proportions at this year's Franfurt Auto Show in just over a month.