My fascination for Jaguar Cars is manifold. Despite being shoved from pillar-to-post in company ownership terms, despite being described as a ‘brand-in-peril’ more times than is amusing, the simple truth is that Jaguar remains, supported and owned by the Tata Corporation in India, despite being a small volume producer. Jaguar fans ought to feel very glad that Ratan Tata’s company was so determined to ‘save it’, as, all too readily, it might have slipped into the mud of non-existence.
As a brand, it has been helped immeasurably by its less than tenuous links to Land-Rover, as its production costs have plummeted, thanks to platform and component-sharing across the marques. The latest XE model has been styled cutely to rival the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4. It retains the signature Jaguar chrome-line around its rear three-quarter windows and employs the Jaguar-esque family snout, within a coupe-like profile that is highly style-centric.
The XE can transport four adults in well-assembled comfort. The curved tumblehome of the XE’s side windows creates a cabin cosiness that is welcome in a sportingly confined manner. In fact, combined with a low-level seating position and the driver focus implied by the centre console and the leather-wrapped digital instrument pod (supported by a head-up display monitor), Jaguar honours its sporting past, albeit in a modern idiom.
Felling a forest and skinning a herd of cattle to fettle a car’s interior is not exactly fashionable these days. Jaguar’s key competitors, Audi and Merc make do with ‘technical’ interior finishes, while BMW does fashion replica wood-panels to trim its dashboards and sustainable hide furniture features in them all, but Jaguar’s pierced metal strip and black dashboard detailing and (in the test car) brown leather upholstery possess a subtle conservatism by comparison. The constant radius curve of the upper dashboard, complete with alloy Jaguar ingot in its centre (a clue that will be elaborated on momentarily), looks stylish and purposeful.
The electrically multi-adjustable front chairs and steering column enable a convenient and wide range of movement potential. The positions for three drivers can be saved for easy readjustment. The driver’s seat is supportively comfortable and occupants suffering from the backache that can occur on sustained longer drives can obviate it using the inflatable lumbar pads integrated into the adjustment controls. The view outwards is good, although the thick pillars can provide over-shoulder blind-spots, which are countered by the in-built information system, relayed to the door mirrors by way of amber warning indicators.
Powering the test car in mid-way Portfolio trim is the 236bhp version of the Ingenium 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, which emits a gorgeous guttural snarl under full-throttle acceleration. This is most uncharacteristic of a diesel engine but Jaguar’s engineers have plumbed the sound into the cabin and ensured it is of the correct level of Jaguarness. It is certainly no slouch, being capable of covering the 0-60mph benchmark dash in a cool 5.8s, before topping out at a politically-restricted 155mph.
Of course, there is genuine logic to its impressive performance figures, as the car features extensive aluminium alloy panelling and sub-structure that save a tremendous amount of weight. For a car in this segment, a 1.5-tonnes kerbweight is splendidly low. It is reflected in an Official Combined fuel return of 54.4mpg and CO2 emissions of 137g/km.
The 8-speed fully automatic transmission works smoothly and imperceptibly and can be manually shifted using the ‘+’ and ‘-’ paddles located just behind the cross-spokes of the steering wheel. Dialling in the movements normally gifted to a lever remains a Jaguar-specific delight, the pillar rising magically from the centre console into the driver’s palm, at start-up; disappearing again as the car is stopped. There are plenty of practical stowage spaces around the interior, including particularly accommodating door pockets, and the boot provides 455-litres of usable room, with underfloor slots for personal possessions.
Driving the XE is mostly undemanding from push start to switch off. While the digital dials are very plain, the left hand of the TFT display is configurable and can carry whichever sat-nav, radio, or other settings that can be programmed into it. The ambient lighting can also be colour-changed, once you get into the settings aspect of the main dashboard touch-screen, where the heating and ventilation controls are also managed, using neat on-screen graphics. Both front seats and steering column contain heater elements.
As all four wheels are driven on this model (the most potent diesel variant) and its ‘chassis’ features vectoring technology that further aids the dynamic balance of the car, it is utterly amazing. Good steering feel and exceptional roll control ensures that the XE corners flatly and even lane-change manoeuvres are fuss-free and instantaneous. Bump absorption is excellent and ragged surfaces do not upset the XE’s composure, regardless of angle of attack, or even applications of speed. It is so refined in the cockpit that you must monitor the speedometer to ensure that speed restrictions are adhered to.
Jaguars of old suffered from supply inconsistencies that ensured they were never as well-built as they ought to have been. It is easy to peer through rose-tinted spectacles at renovation enhancements on classic models that complete tasks never managed at the Browns Lane factory! However, it is still easy to love the new, Solihull-built XE and there is no denying the magnificence of its punchy diesel engine, the performance potential and outstanding frugality, even though former Jaguar highlights, such as the sweet aroma of aged traditional leather, or the relative warmth of its expansive wood detailing, are missing from the latest XE’s make-up.
