By EWAN KENNEDY
THE Jaguar XF is an upmarket medium to large sedan/ saloon that has a sporting flair in all models that’s not always the norm in its market segment.
While not an out-and-out performer in the manner of the SVR (nee R-Sport) range, the standard XF definitely sits to the sporting side in the eternal sports/ handling compromise.
Drivers love it for that and we’ve just spent a most enjoyable week behind the wheel of an iconic British machine.
The newly launched Jaguar XF has a strong visual resemblance to the model it has superseded, which makes a lot of sense as the latest Jaguar theme has gained a lot of praise.
The distinctive new-generation Jaguar grille is almost upright and flanks large headlights with big foglight grilles beneath them.
The Jaguar’s profile is long, low and sleek and finishes off with a fastback rear end.
Our review car certainly drew plenty of comments on the road and when we parked.
Inside you can opt for the traditional leather-and-timber look – still our favourite – or more modern metallic-sports appearance.
Quality of build is high and there’s no doubt you’re in a Jaguar due to the centre gear selector that rises from the console, and the air vents that are hidden when the ignition is off. Love it.
Jaguar XF has two infotainment systems. The standard one is InControl Touch and uses an 8.0-inch touchscreen. It supports gestures as used on smartphones and tablet computers to let you swipe and drag your way around the system.
There’s also voice recognition control which reduces the amount of potentially dangerous driver distractions.
Jaguar’s InControl Touch Pro, as fitted to our test car, had a 10.2-inch touchscreen.
The home screen can be customised, wallpaper can be set to any image, and widgets can be added to provide shortcuts.
It also supports the latest generation of Jaguar’s Dual View technology and has a 100 per cent increase in screen pixel count over the previous model.
The quality of the audio output from the optional 17-speaker, 825-Watt digital surround sound system developed by Meridian in conjunction with Jaguar is very impressive.
There’s a solid range of engines on offer; four-cylinder 177 kilowatt turbo-petrol and a 132 kW turbo-diesel engines, both with capacities of 2.0 litres.
Then there’s a trio of 3.0-litre V6 engines, two supercharged petrol, the other a turbo-diesel.
Outputs are 250 kW or 280 kW in the petrol and 221 kW from the diesel.
Our review XF was fitted with what we feel is the best of the lot, the supercharged 250 kW V6.
All engines sit in front of an eight-speed automatic transmission.
It works brilliantly with the engine’s computer, providing fast smooth changes and generally reading the driver’s mind as to the correct ratio.
Passive and active safety features had already gained the Jaguar XF a five-star Euro NCAP rating before it arrived in Australia in February 2015.
In April 2016 it was issued an ANCAP (Australasian) rating with the maximum of five stars.
Seat comfort is every bit as good as in all Jaguar saloons. It seems the Brits prefer it that way, and as our bones aren’t as young as they used to be we approve of this design standard.
Front seat room is fine with good leg and reasonable foot room. The rear seat, while not exactly stretch-out spacious, is fine for two adults who aren’t a lot taller than average, the low sporting profile creates a minor drawback in this area.
The 3.0-litre 250 kW supercharged petrol V6 was our favourite unit when we attended the national media launch of the Jaguar XF in Melbourne early this year.
Having just spent a week with that engine in our home area in south-east Queensland our view certainly hasn’t changed.
The silky smooth feel and fast throttle that make a supercharged engine quicker than a turbocharged one is very much to our liking.
The seemingly endless torque made light work of hills and minimised time on the wrong side of the road when overtaking.
Though it’s obviously a high-performance unit, the efficiency of the petrol 3.0 means it only used seven to eight litres of fuel per 100 kilometres on the open road and motorways.
Around town and when we enjoyed all that grunt this climbed to a still pretty reasonable nine to 12 litres per 100.
While Jaguar tells us the XF is aimed at a slightly more mature owner than the smaller XE we find it just as enjoyable to punt hard.
The EPAS (Electric Power Assisted Steering) in the new XF is the best in the business, with excellent feel and accuracy.
Ride leans slightly to the sporting side in the endless ride/handling compromise that always bugs suspension engineers.
We like the firmness and feel true lovers of sporting sedans will side with us. Jaguar XF is a true businessman’s express.
Road grip is excellent, with generally unobtrusive electronic assistance should you make a mistake and enter a bend at a higher speed than intended.
Smooth roads saw the Jag provide limo-like smoothness and noise levels. However, tyre noise on some rough-ish road surfaces was higher than expected.
The XF is an excellent example of modern day Jaguar sporting saloons, with beautiful styling, excellent steering and plenty of performance, especially in the V6 variants.
For more information contact Silverstone Jaguar, 591 Doncaster Road, Doncaster. Phone 9840 8888.
Model range
XF Prestige 20d (132kW 2.0 Ingenium Diesel): $82,800
XF Portfolio 25t (177kW 2.0 Petrol): $ 97,800
XF Portfolio 35t (250kW V6SC Petrol): $112,800
XF R-Sport 20d (132kW 2.0 Ingenium Diesel): $ 88,800
XF R-Sport 25t (177kW 2.0 Petrol): $ 89,800
XF R-Sport 35t (250kW 3.0 V6SC Petrol): $104,800
XF S (221kW 3.0 V6 Diesel): $120,700
XF S (280kW 3.0 V6SC Petrol): $128,200
