24 May 06
Here's an executive saloon car that can do 0-60mph in 5.9 seconds and reach a top speed electronically limited to 155mph; acceleration between 50-75mph takes just 4.7 seconds.
Yet its engine is not a large-capacity V8, nor is it supercharged or turbocharged: it's a 3.5-litre V6, delivering 'just' 292bhp at a high 6,400rpm and 271lb-ft at 4,800rpm.
That's an output some way short of the Audi A6 4.2 V8 (335bhp/310lb-ft), Mercedes-Benz E500 (301bhp/339lb-ft), Jaguar S-Type 4.2 V8 (300bhp/303lb-ft) or, dare we suggest it, the loony Volkswagen Phaeton 6.0 W12 (444bhp/413b-ft) - all cars which it comprehensively outsprints. Only the BMW 550i, doing 0-60 in 5.5 seconds, has it licked, apart from the more hardcore S6, E55 AMG or S-Type R.
Let's add another dimension to the riddle: this car returns 35.8mpg. That's a little better than the Audi 3.0 V6 TDI and BMW 535d, and only marginally behind the E320 CDI diesel - yet it is significantly faster than all of these and its carbon dioxide output of 186g/km is better too. Good news for the environment, as well as for your pocket: this output incurs a lower VED tax banding and lower liability for BIK company car tax, levied at 21%. Oh, and it's exempt from the £8-a-day London congestion charge, as well.
No prizes for guessing, then, that this 3.5-litre V6 is no normal engine, and no more for correctly surmising that it's part of a hybrid petrol-electric powertrain.
