2008 Jaguar XF 2.7 Diesel
By Bob Hume, 13th November 2008
Okay, I’ll start this with a hopelessly sweeping statement. The Jaguar XF possesses the best interior of any car in its class.
The material quality, design, space, seating, driving position, equipment and instrument/display ergonomics are all excellent, take my word for it. That’s not what I want to talk about though.
It’s the “Theatre” – I’ll explain:
There’s an ‘organic’ theme to the design – climb in and the vents open smoothly like eyelids to herald your presence, the red start button backlight gives a regular double blink like a heartbeat as if anticipating your command, press it and the circular gear selector rises seamlessly from an almost flush surface on the central control panel.
It’s all quietly dramatic and doesn’t lend itself well to description, in fact I wondered how the concept became reality – it sounds a bit contrived whatever way it’s described but looks and feels fantastic. Combined with the blue ambient light that bathes the cabin, the series of mini-events that signal the ‘awakening’ of the XF is like nothing else I’ve seen. I actually love it.
It’s a world away from the purity, function and apparent celebration of build quality in German luxury saloons. Before the XF, you just got into a car and drove it – all of the theatre in the big Jag lends a perception to its occupants that it’s their mate and it’s looking after them. It’s unique and it never failed to make me smile.
The list of equipment in the XF is pretty exhaustive; there’s touch-screen sat-nav with voice controls, iPod and phone connectivity as well as all of the expected kit and safety features. Visibility and driving position, leg and headroom are all great too, even in the rear – despite it having a coupe-like set of C-pillars.
That’s just the interior - the rest of the car isn’t too shabby either.
The XF is perfect from nose to tail – a piece of sculpture. The front light-clusters are well-formed, nicely angled and slightly oversized; a toned bonnet that suggests the potential power beneath it both balance a large recessed mesh grille on which floats the Jaguar-head badge. Unlike the Mercs and BMWs, the flank of this car doesn’t contain sweeping coaching lines or large unnecessary slices in its sublime form – only the ‘gills’ behind the front arches and a subtle feature-line above the door-sills serve to break up the large surface. The rear contains a few of the design signatures of modern Jaguars – the narrow horizontal arrangement of the rear lights, a chrome strip at the boot lid and the hint of a spoiler-lip on the short overhang are all recognisable features of the beautiful XK.
The XF is a honey - no doubt about it.
Completing the Holy Trinity of a so-far perfect car is the performance dynamics.
The range-topper is the supercharged 4.2-litre V8 petrol XF-R and it’s pretty swift – reportedly there’s no lag of any kind. If it’s anything like the XK-R, with which it shares an engine, then it’s a sharply dressed intercontinental ballistic missile. The supercharger sitting on top of this engine is a brute and right from idle to redline it’s extremely urgent. Working down the petrol end of the range, is the non-supercharged 4.2 V8, the 3.0 V6. The tested car was the 2.7 V6 diesel.
The car, despite being an oil-burner by no means lacks life – it’s full of healthy vigour, producing 204 BHP and 321 lb/ft - the car doesn’t hang about – floor it from rest and you’ll be a little less than 8 seconds older by the time you reach 60 MPH - keep the throttle open and you’ll reach the maximum speed of 143 MPH long before you can think up an excuse for the traffic branch officer.
Somehow Jaguar have managed to create a car that is crisp and communicative to drive hard, yet well mannered and smooth to be carried in. Across the range of driving styles the ride is firm yet comfortable and controlled yet supple.
There is no shadow of a doubt in my mind that Jaguar is building fantastic cars these days and the XF is the pinnacle. This is an exceptional car to drive, be carried in or simply to look at – I’ve absolutely no qualms about saying that it’s simply one of the best cars on the market today.
How’s that for a hopelessly sweeping statement?
Jaguar XF 2.7 D at a glance:
>On the road price (September 2008) £45,500
>Insurance group 16
>Power (BHP) 204
>Torque (lb/ft) 321
>0-60 MPH (seconds) 7.7
>Max Speed (MPH) 143
>CO2 rating 199
>Tax liability 29%
>MPG (Urban) 27.1
>MPG (Extra Urban) 48.5
>MPG (Combined) 37.6
The test car was kindly supplied by Charles Hurst Jaguar in Belfast - thanks to Paul Chesney from the DriveWire team
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