Eindhoven and back on a tank
For hauling the family across Europe, the reviled diesel is still where it’s at. By Phil McNamara
ALL IS QUIET on the A21 towards Antwerp. One daughter is asleep, my wife has withdrawn conversation following my tantrum about her buying the ‘wrong’ croissants, and the Jag is cruising calmly at an altitude of 181m above sea level. We’re returning from CenterParcs near Eindhoven, and the XF Sportbrake was made for a journey like this. The grey sky spits inconsequential raindrops, and the surrounding traffic is equally dreary: the highlight is a mesh-and-spotlight-festooned 206CC that makes Marcus Grönholm’s old rally car look understated.
The 2.0-litre turbodiesel is murmuring gently in the background, the Goodyear rubber only gets vocal on coarse tarmac that’s under repair, and there’s barely a lick of wind noise. For mile after mile, the Jag glides serenely over Belgium’s smooth motorway topography.
Occasionally the gearbox software lands us in the engine’s sub-1200rpm boggy patch, but otherwise the turbodiesel pulls adequately. And the response to kickdown is good, helping the XF to fend off the incessant tailgaters before finding a gap to pull into. Jag offers an uprated 2.0-litre diesel with twin turbochargers, and if you can live with the economy and CO2 impact, its extra 52lb ft of punch at lower revs would be pretty welcome.
Rearwards I have all the visibility of a Lamborghini Diablo, due to the jumble sale piled into the boot. I considered a £200 bike rack: turns out it would have been unnecessary expense. An F-Pace SUV might haul more, but it wouldn’t tip into the wickedly curving slip roads as pointedly as this estate with its fast-acting steering, nor feel so stable.
Jaguar’s infotainment has many bugbears, particularly its laboured attempts to connect a phone, but its navigation search – controlled by an on-screen pop-up keyboard – unearths a host of suitable parking for a Bruges detour. And then we are home. I have my reservations about diesel’s refinement and character. But this round trip reminds me of its inherent suitability for big motorway cars. We drove 583 miles to Holland and back on a single tank, averaging 49.7mpg according to the trip. No electric car can compete with that. Yet.