A few years ago Jaguar were on the brink of disappearing into the darkest depths of the automotive jungle having seen their once iconic image wither away to one of a manufacturer on a one way road to oblivion.
Then came a change of ownership in 2008 with the Indian company Tata Motors taking over from Ford and thankfully it marked the beginning of a new era which was to allow this famous marque to claw its way back into the limelight for all the right reasons.
Jaguar’s resurgence over the past eight years has been truly spectacular with a management that was clearly focused on restoring its pride, and most importanly, its quality. The XKR marked the turning point in the company’s fortunes but even that has since disappeared to be replaced by the gorgeous F-Type, the best Jaguar sports car that has been built for many years. We have seen a new fleet of XJ’s, the XE, the exciting new SUV the F-Pace, and the XF S which is taking the fight to VMW, Mercedes and Audi in the extremely competitive executive saloon market.
If you are going to ruffle the well-pruned feathers of the Germans then you need to be sure that you can back it up with a high quality product and, to give it it’s full name, the XF 3.0 Supercharged S, certainly ticks all the boxes on that front.
It’s not surprising that this car is impressive because its predecessor, won countless awards in its class but this new one ups the ante even more. Its main rivals, the BMW 5-series, the Audi A6 and the Mercedes E-Class, are all nicely designed but, in my opinion, this handsome Jaguar offers a refreshing visual change and I think looks better than any of them.
The front of the car is bold and brash with a deep matrix grille with the fabulous Jaguar head badge sitting proudly in the middle, air intakes and stylish spoiler. The long sculptured bonnet with power bulge looks aggressive and the sleek LED headlight clusters with J-Blade day running lights add a certain big-cat like menace.
The side profile is pure class and the muscular rear, LED tail lights and its twin exhausts and 20-inch wheels complete what is a fabulously stylish design.
The car is actually 7mm shorter than its predecessor even though the wheelbase has been increased which makes the cabin more spacious. It also utilises Jaguar’s aluminium-intense architecture which means it is light and more taut which, combined with the chassis and suspension system, makes the car more agile.
The interior of the car is also extremely pleasing with lots of leather and nice wood, polish metals and carbon fibre, which extended to the wing mirrors on our test car which came in the glorious Italian Racing Red which just about provided the finishing touches to a car built for style, comfort and speed when required.
The steering wheel still has too many buttons on it for my liking but is otherwise attractive with the lovely Jaguar motif on the centre, the instrument cluster is classy – it actually resembles the one used by Mercedes and the standard infotainment system is good.
There was an eight-inch touch screen in the car I drove but there is an optional 10.2-inch screen and upgraded system available from Jaguar. The car is stuffed with great driver assists but nothing you won’t find in almost all vehicles of this calibre now.
Sitting in the car you immediately notice the high waistline and centre-console which is a clever move by the designers who have succeeded in making you feel as if you are sitting in the seats rather than on them and creates a more intimate driving experience.
The car has a 3-litre supercharged V6 engine, which is the same powerplant you will find in the F-Type S. It has 380bhp and 450nm of torque, putting the power down to the rear wheels via an excellent eight-speed automatic gearbox. The car has the signature Jaguar rotary gear selector on the centre console which rises up when you start the engine. The drive mode selector is on a strip below the dial and you can select between Eco, Normal, Dynamic, Individual and Winter. There are also paddle-shifts if you want a bit more direct involvement in what is very rewarding drive experience.
