New Jaguar XF 2.0 diesel review, test drive

 

The original XF’s interior was intentionally showy to distance itself from the past, but the latest car takes it down a notch in a few ways. The multiple cartwheeling air vents, for example, have been reduced in number and thrown to the peripheries, while the dashboard design, save for the kind of crease that BMW favours, has been simplified.

 

This isn't a bad thing. The XF feels business-like. The quality of the trim materials has improved, as has the finish, while the relationship with the XE is obvious enough. Its centre console is wide; the new 10.2-inch infotainment screen fits in here nicely, as do the separate HVAC controls. You can even add in a new 12.3-inch TFT instrument cluster (although that didn’t feature on the test car).

 

In the back, unsurprisingly, it has just gotten better. The new car's updated size has translated into some concrete gains: 15mm more legroom, 24mm more knee room and 27mm more head room. The manufacturer claims a 3mm superiority over a BMW 5- series in legroom, but for now it’s enough to say that it can fit a taller adult comfortably.

 

There are a few drawbacks here. The seat memory buttons fall to hand easier than the window controls, the drive mode switches are too small and the steering wheel buttons still feel like those on an old Nintendo controller — but these are minor quibbles. However, the larger gripe is the regular reminder that the new Ingenium engine hardly produces the sweetest or subtlest soundtrack. To begin with, you’re going to notice it more often than you don’t.

 

As in the XE or Discovery Sport, this generally isn’t a problem at low revs, but is revealed all too easily under acceleration. Despite extra efforts made to improve the XF’s sound-deadening, the high voice isn’t easily isolated. It’s also not the most free-revving diesel unit in the world. The 43.8kgm  made from 1,750rpm gives the XF long legs, and the gearbox’s many ratios keeps the flexibility high. The dynamic qualities that marked out the XE as special are successfully replicated here, albeit fine-tuned to fill out a larger model with the 5-series’ performance in mind.

 

At high speeds, the XF behaves well. On optional 20-inch wheels and the passive ‘sports’ version of Jaguar’s double wishbone and rear integral link suspension, the XF delivers a comfort, stability and composure so crisp that it threatens to plough through the glass ceiling that separates mid-size execs from limo-sized luxury.

 

The XF is unwilling to give up even one micrometer more than it needs to in either wheel or body control, yet it steadily plots a mid-way balance between pliancy and poise. The steering, too, is made to measure. Where the original XF was supple but a mite overly sensitive at pace, its replacement is linear. The result is that rare thing: a four-door, five-seat car that doesn’t just make an empty motorway bearable, but uniquely enjoyable as well.

 

The chassis tuning is of the highest order. The benefit of a lower kerb weight — and the distribution of that lower mass at close to 50/50 front to rear — is also readily apparent. And while the occasional Spanish switchback hinted that the XF hasn’t emerged completely unscathed from a lengthening of its wheelbase, for the most part the handling resists the implication that it may have become a trifle more staid. Naturally, its finer moments are encountered on fast A-roads, where the fluency of the chassis feeds into an intuitive reading of the road and the impartial front-to-back balance encourages commitment.

 

Given the plentiful grip and nature of it all, taking it too far is an entirely conscious decision — reciprocated by the kind of progressive, easily catchable involvement you expect from a rear-drive Jaguar.