BRITISH ACTOR NICHOLAS HOULT TAKES ON UNIQUE DRIVING CHALLENGE IN NEW JAGUAR XF ALL-WHEEL DRIVE

26 September 2016

British actor Nicholas Hoult, known for his roles in blockbuster films including Mad Max and the X‑Men series, has become the second Jaguar ambassador to tackle the ‘Smart Cone challenge’ after F1 driver Romain Grosjean set the score to beat earlier this year.

  • Star of Mad Max, Fury Road and X‑Men is the latest contender to take on Jaguar’s ‘Smart Cone’ driving challenge
  • New Jaguar XF AWD put through its paces on a unique low‑grip course
  • Sign up for the ‘Smart Cone’ challenge as part of Jaguar’s Art of Performance Tour now taking place across Europe: www.jaguar.com/experience
  • Watch Nicholas’ ‘Smart Cone’ performance in the Jaguar XF AWD here: https://youtu.be/qTt9_73gZ‑w

Monday 26 September, 2016: British actor Nicholas Hoult, known for his roles in blockbuster films including Mad Max and the X‑Men series, has become the second Jaguar ambassador to tackle the ‘Smart Cone challenge’ after F1 driver Romain Grosjean set the score to beat earlier this year.

It comes as Nicholas’ brand new film Collide, which also features Felicity Jones, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley, hits cinemas across Europe. The film features Nicholas behind the wheel of a Jaguar XF, as well as the Jaguar F‑TYPE as the ride of choice for Ben Kingsley’s character.

For the unique ‘Smart Cone’ challenge, Nicholas put the Jaguar XF AWD R‑Sport through its paces around a course situated in the beautiful backdrop of rural Sardinia, where the Art of Performance Tour visited in August. The course was built on a low‑grip sandy surface, pushing both Nicholas and the AWD capability of the XF to the limit.

The Smart Cone course uses wireless technology to randomly illuminate pairs of cones to set out a different route each time. With millions of different potential options taking place in real time, the technology provides a unique test of driving skill, precision and reactions.

The challenge is part of the Art of Performance Tour – a worldwide tour for Jaguar fans that provides the opportunity to drive the latest Jaguar products. To get behind the wheel and challenge Nicholas’ score of 42000 and Romain’s score of 49032 points, sign up here ‑ www.jaguar.com/experience

I’ve loved getting behind the wheel of the new Jaguar XF AWD R‑Sport. Driving scenes in films can be a challenge – everyone expects you to be a superstar even behind the wheel and I’m definitely not a pro driver – so it’s good to be able to put my skills to the test in a safe environment.

The XF AWD R‑Sport is great – it does a lot of the work for you. I was driving on a particularly challenging surface with lots of sand and dust but the car just gripped and performed. It was really fun to be able to compare driving the car here to some of my driving experiences when filming and hopefully I’ve done myself justice!”

Nicholas Hoult
Actor

The new all‑wheel drive option is available for the 2.0D 180 AWD R‑Sport variant of the model. It brings Jaguar’s Intelligent Driving Dynamics system, shared by the F‑TYPE AWD, to the executive saloon. With the ability to transfer torque to the front axle when it senses a loss of traction, the system provides surefooted capability across all surfaces.

‑ ENDS ‑

Notes to Editors

ABOUT THE ART OF PERFORMANCE TOUR

Current Tour locations will include:

Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Finland, Romania, Turkey, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, France, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, India, Singapore, Philippines, New Zealand, Japan, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Moldova, Ukraine, Australia, South Africa, UK, Brazil, Korea, Russia, USA, China and Canada.

  ART OF PERFORMANCE TOUR   MARKET MARKET URL DESTINATION URLS Global www.jaguar.com/artofperformancetour  http://www.jaguar.com/experience‑jaguar/art‑of‑performance‑tour/index Italy www.jaguar.it/artofperformancetour  http://www.jaguar.it/experience‑jaguar/art‑of‑performance‑tour/index.html Germany www.jaguar.de/artofperformancetour   http://www.jaguar.de/jaguar‑live/art‑of‑performance‑tour/index.html France www.jaguar.fr/artofperformancetour  http://www.jaguar.fr/experience‑jaguar/art‑of‑performance‑tour/index.html Belux NL www.jaguar.be/nl/artofperformancetour http://www.jaguar.be/nl/experience‑jaguar/art‑of‑performance‑tour/index.html Belux FR www.jaguar.be/fr/artofperformancetour http://www.jaguar.be/fr/experience‑jaguar/art‑of‑performance‑tour/index.html Netherlands www.jaguar.nl/artofperformancetour http://www.jaguar.nl/about‑jaguar/art‑of‑performance‑tour/index.html Austria www.jaguar.at/artofperformancetour  http://www.jaguar.at/jaguar‑live/art‑of‑performance‑tour/index.html Czech Republic www.jaguar.cz/artofperformancetour  http://www.jaguar.cz/jaguar‑live/art‑of‑performance‑tour/index.html

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