MOTORING


Jaguar sheds weight but gains


power FACTFILE


MODEL Jaguar XF R-Sport 250 AWD


PRICE OTR £41,835


We might be less than a year away from parting company with the EU, but can we separate ourselves from their cars? German marques have been the benchmark of reliability and build-quality for decades, French cars have given us quirky and innovative design and vehicles from eastern states have filled the bargain end of the market. The question is, can the latest prestige offerings from British car makers fill any potential void and compete on a global scale? We sent Nick Jones to look at Jaguar Land Rover’s latest offering.


Jaguar Land Rover is a British icon, or should that be ‘are’ British icons? Now a single brand owned by Indian global giant Tata, Jaguar and Land Rover were highly regarded independent companies until they united under the British Leyland banner in 1968. Those were dark days for UK car manufacturing with industrial action


and poor build quality blighting the reputation of the industry for decades. Land Rover was later sold initially to BMW as part of the Rover group,


while Jaguar went to Ford. Land Rover also joined the Ford family with the eventual demise of Rover. In 2008, the two brands were acquired by Tata which merged them as


Jaguar Land Rover in 2013. Away from the shadow of British Leyland, both brands flourished, Jaguar


continuing to combine sporting pedigree and luxury motoring. Last spring, Jaguar Land Rover celebrated the launch of a range of new


lightweight, more powerful engines, branded Ingenium, hailed as the most significant new automotive manufacturing facility in the UK in a decade. Jaguar Land Rover is now offering the lighter, more powerful engines


across its range and I wanted to know how they fared in a car with Jaguar’s pedigree. The answer is ‘impressively’. I put the Jaguar XF R-Sport 250 AWD through its paces and came to the


conclusion that we can cope without the top end Audis, BMWs and Mercs if we have to. The 250 in the car’s name comes from the increased power of the Ingenium 2.0-litre petrol engine, now 250bhp instead of 200bhp. There are three diesel variants too, but given the current state of the


market with regards oil-burners, I’m not sure there’s a lot of point discussing them in detail.


PERFORMANCE Top Speed: 147mph 0-60 mph: 6.2 seconds


CO2 EMISSIONS 159g/km


COMBINED MPG 40.9mpg


Suffice to say there are 163bhp, 180bhp and 240bhp versions, the latter


being a very sweet V6 and definitely the pick of the bunch. Married to its 250bhp lightweight engine, my XF R-Sport has an eight-


speed automatic gearbox as standard, delivering smooth and predictable changes throughout its range. Despite the enhanced power, some resulting from the addition of a turbo-charger, the fuel consumption and emissions figures are very similar to the older model so there is no penalty for improved performance. The lighter weight makes the car feel a little more nimble through bends


with a ride quality as you’d expect from a performance car with a luxury pedigree. The suspension is supple, even cossetting, but higher end models get an adaptive set-up which allows the driver to choose a firmer ‘dynamic’ mode for super smooth stretches of tarmac or if firmer handling is required. Internally, the XF range offers plenty of space. In fact, it’s one of its


strongest assets, with plenty of legroom and internal storage. The driving position is really good and visibility is enhanced as a result of


thin windscreen pillars and a low shoulder height on the side windows. Prestige trim is standard but the R-Sport offers more aggressive styling


with black detailing. Portfolio trim is a notch further up the scale and is more comfort-inspired, while range-topping S trim is available only on six- cylinder units. An eight-inch touchscreen allows easy navigation through all its


functions and my car also had DAB, Bluetooth and Sat Nav all as standard. The extras list was a full side of A4 and there were many more that could


have been added. I have no doubt that the XF will go head-to-head with rivals from Audi,


BMW and Mercedes-Benz and still have something more in its locker for discerning drivers.


business network April 2018 65


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