Serene luxury
JAGUAR’S MID-SIZE XE SHARPENS UP
Jaguar’s mid-sizer often gets overshadowed by the German heroes in the luxury sector – the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-class – mainly because, while it could foot it with the Germans in terms of dynamics, the details let it down. But now the XE has had a mid-life refresh aimed at addressing those details and taking the Germans on properly.
So what’s new then?
Quite a lot – the exterior has been revamped to look lower, wider and more aggressive, with new bumpers front and rear, as well as new LED headlights and tail-lights.
The tail-lights in particular vastly improve the look of the XE from the rear, bringing with them hints of the F-Type sports car.
But it is on the inside where the biggest changes have taken place.
Which is good, because that was arguably where those details that let it down lurked.
The cabin has been completely revamped, with extensive use of high quality soft-touch materials and premium veneers – it is a massive improvement over the old model and, while still not quite up there in terms of design with the likes of Audi or Mercedes, is at least equal with the Germans in terms of quality.
The door trim has also been redesigned to free up more elbow room, while the XE now also gets JLR’s gorgeous, yet slightly worrying, Touch Pro Duo dual touchscreen infotainment system.
Why slightly worrying? The screens don’t always come on straight away, with one or both occasionally giving you just enough time to remember Jaguar’s history of electronics before finally bursting it to life...
But the XE has always been a good thing to drive. Does that still apply?
Oh, yes – very much so. As far as mid-size luxury RWD sports sedan go, there is no shortage of excellent handlers and the XE is certainly still able to be counted among the best.
The aluminium-intensive structure makes for a wonderfully responsive and agile RWD car, while the steering is simply superb – sharply responsive and perfectly weighted – and the XE has a beautifully sorted ride that is firm, controlled and sporty, yet also smooth and refined – proper-Jaaag style.
On a winding road the XE feels not entirely unlike a BMW 3 Series – which is a massive compliment – with the engaging and enthusiastic nature of its handling matched by the powertrain’s eagerness and responsiveness.
The 8-speed automatic transmission is superbly fast and slick, and its ability to be in the right gear at the right time almost negates the need for manual shifting entirely. Almost.
It’s a Jag, so that’ll be a silkysmooth six that the transmission is hooked up to, right?
Well, you might have missed out on a bit of Jaguar’s recent history if you think that, because the XE is all about the fours these days (well, except for that mad V8 one . . .).
Our test R-Dynamic HSE was powered by JLR’s 2.0-litre turbo ‘‘Ingenium’’ four-cylinder petrol engine that produces very sixcylinder-like figures of 221kW of power and 400Nm of torque.
Instantly powerful with virtually no lag, the turbo four punches the XE along at suitably impressive rate, with a thick chunk of torque right across the rev range giving it a suitably six-cylindery feel as well.
A thick four-(but with strong hints of six)-cylinder growl accompanies the authoritative acceleration, while at other times maintaining a serene luxury carstyle near silence around its operation.
And it all works brilliantly well – nailing the throttle sees serene luxury interrupted by a throaty growl, a characterful squirm from the rear as 400Nm wrenches the tyres loose from the road and then strong, insistent acceleration before the next corner has you enjoying the lithe, responsive handling again.
OK, so grace and pace, but a proper Jaaaag has space too, does it not?
Yeah. And that is the one area where the XE struggles to convince.
While there is plenty of room up front, the rear seat is still somewhat cramped, while at 410 litres, the boot is small for the segment as well.
Of course, this isn’t a problem the majority of the time, because if you are regularly squeezing four or more people into your car, something in this size segment isn’t ideal anyway – I would suggest you turn your gaze to an F-Pace for that.
So while the XE doesn’t quite nail that first part of the proper-Jaaaag definition, its emphatic home runs on the other two more than make up for that.
The XE’s biggest downside, however, is its fuel economy around town – the Ingenium 2.0-litre packs six-cylinder power, but it also packs a six-cylinder thirst in urban environments – Jaguar claims consumption of 9.4L/100km in the urban cycle – we never saw less than
12, although it does drop drastically on an open road cruise, making the company’s combined claim of
6.7L/100km potentially believable.
Any other cars I should consider?
There is a small but formidable pool of competitors in this segment, including the Audi A4, Lexus IS and Mercedes-Benz C-class, but the single biggest competitor for the XE has to be the new BMW 3 Series.
The top-spec R-Dynamic HSE we test here lands at exactly the same price as the BMW 330i that has less power (190kW/400Nm) but is fractionally quicker to 100kmh (5.8 seconds versus 5.9) and is a thoroughly superb thing. But possibly the XE’s biggest problem is the recently-launched 330e plug-in hybrid, that lands at $91,900, is almost as powerful (218kW) and, crucially, massively more economical. Of course, if that is a concern, then the Tesla Model 3 is also the obvious competitor.