ON SALE: Now
BASE PRICE: $60,800
AS TESTED PRICE: $61,175
DRIVETRAIN: 3.0-liter supercharged V6; AWD, eight-speed automatic
OUTPUT: 340 hp @ 6,500 rpm, 332 lb-ft @ 3,500-5,000 rpm
CURB WEIGHT: 4,145 lb
FUEL ECONOMY: 17/27/20 mpg(EPA City/Hwy/Combined)
OBSERVED FUEL ECONOMY: 16.6 mpg
AN UNDERSTATED AND ELEGANT SPORTS SEDAN
PHOTO BY JAGUAR
Been a while since I drove an XF, and I must say in some ways, it’s refreshing. No denying it’s a good-looking thing, though being an Ian Callum slappy, I’m probably a little biased. Whatever; I dig the looks. (I also like the new XF that debuted at the at the New York auto show.)
Ditto the powertrain. The supercharged 3.0-liter V6 is plenty for me; stand on the gas, and it really gets moving in fine linear fashion; the ZF eight-speed gearbox is spectacular, and AWD means I could easily drive it all year.
Besides being quiet like an English club, the car is most impressive on the freeway. It has fabulous seats, nice direct steering, responsive chassis and it offers plenty of room. Probably my only beef, and it’s a small one, is the infotainment/navigation/climate control system -- it’s getting a little long in the tooth. I understand the XE has an upgrade, but I’ve not experienced it yet.
Other than that, though, it’s a hoot; or at least as much of a hoot as a midsize sedan can be. If you want to be different and avoid the Audi/Benz/BMW trifecta (I’d argue this car feels more nimble and agile than those), the Jag is worth a look.
PHOTO BY JAGUAR
Even if you think the exterior of the XF Portfolio has been over-refined to the point of bordering on boring (it’s clean, but this isn’t the slinkiest Jaguar by any stretch of the imagination), you’ve got to love the look of the interior. Like Audi’s best efforts, it shoots for elegant simplicity -- and nails it. Leather, Alcantara, veneer and metals in a few different textures could come off as busy, but here, it all works together harmoniously. It’s quiet, serene even, at speed. This is the kind cockpit you’re happy to be in after a long day.
Yet it just doesn’t feel as nice to the touch as a Benz, and there’s certain delicateness to everything that I find troubling. For what it’s worth, I feel the same way about Range Rovers. I don’t know if there’s any merit to these durability concerns, though, as our long-term Jaguar F-Type R coupe seems to be holding up fairly well.
PHOTO BY JAGUAR
Steering is a bit numb around center, no matter which driving mode you’re in. That’s the biggest complaint I have about how it drives. No real doubts about the supercharged V6. In all traffic conditions, it provides more-than-adequate thrust; I can’t say the same about the base 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four, which seemed kind of wanting last time I tried it. The even larger 5.0-liter supercharged V8 is probably overkill, but it’s a nice option to have if you don’t mind sucking down fuel even more quickly than you will with this V6; fuel-efficient, this car is not.
Beyond all this, I agree with Wes about the infotainment. I’d just as soon have it all disappear behind a nicely veneered panel when I’m not using the navigation system, but if it’s going to be front and center at all times while driving, it might as well be cutting-edge. More than simply looking out of date -- hardly unforgivable when some more futuristic systems remain basically unworkable -- there’s still a slowness to it that plagues the cockpits of everything in the Jaguar/Land Rover lineup.
Maybe the XE and the new XF are better, but that doesn’t really help today’s XF buyers.
PHOTO BY JAGUAR
If you can tolerate the infotainment, there is a lot to enjoy about this car -- even (or especially, depending on what you’re comparing it to) at $61,175. At least here in America, Jaguar strikes me as the individualist’s luxury option, at least when compared to anything from the Germans.
It’s not that today’s Jags do any one thing consistently better than the competition, but they do everything well -- and it’s all executed in an understated, classic style. Plus, you just don’t see them everywhere, which I enjoy, but Jaguar’s sales team would probably like to change.
PHOTO BY JAGUAR
This XF didn’t do anything to shift my perception of the marque, but with that stated baseline in mind, that’s not really a bad thing.
Options: Heated front windshield ($375)
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