Heavy hitter
It may lack ireworks, but the big Jag estate does the basics exceptionally well.
WAITING AT THE roundabout near Jaguar’s Whitley engineering centre, I found myself coveting another XF Sportbrake: an R Sport in vibrant Caesium Blue, with black rims and gloss black gills. In the XF aesthetic stakes, it was the Tess Daly to my Bruce Forsyth.
It shows how deleting the chrome and rolling on bigger rims eliminates one of my bugbears about the frumpy Sportbrake Prestige: its bulbous rear three-quarter section. Not that I’d upsize its 18-inch alloys: with the Goodyear Eagle’s 45 per cent sidewall, they still pack the arch, don’t compromise the splendid steering and have proven utterly impervious to the odd kerbside contact.
This aesthetic conversion reflects my XF Sportbrake experience in microcosm. It replaced an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio: ballistic 503bhp petrol V6 for whimpering 178bhp diesel four-pot, with a near-200kg weight penalty. And yet the Sportbrake is really rather lovely to drive. The steering makes this 1720kg car feel alive and darty – Ben ‘Maximum Attack’ Barry even complained the rack was too quick during the Our Cars test day in Snowdonia, featured in our August issue.
It’s a wagon you can push in corners, with loads of grip and then a nice line in feedback if the grip’s about to run out. The Sportbrake feels inherently planted and its bodyroll well contained, more than your typical boat-ina-storm SUV. That was all too evident when making a burbling V6 Maserati Levante look all mouth and no trousers: the XF dug into the curves, surfing the cambers and carrying speed, while the tottering 4x4 was marooned in the background.
This dynamism doesn’t come at the expense of comfort: the Jag bobs serenely over high-speed crests, though it does thump over potholes and expansion joints. And it’s largely a hushed place to be at motorway speeds.
All good. But the drivetrain is more workmanlike. Ours was the mid-ranking Ingenium diesel engine, with sufficient punch for sliding into motorway gaps and an eager launch upon kickdown. But it feels about as quick as an
8.8sec 0-62mph time suggests, with an engine note ranging from shrill to whiney and there are some vibrations when pulling from low revs.
Truth be told these are criticisms you could aim at most four-pot diesels: I just prefer the higher-revving character and smoothness of petrol engines. But there’s no denying the appropriateness of diesel for a big estate: going more than 500 miles between fill-ups was appreciated, though that was courtesy of the 66-litre tank rather than stunning economy – we averaged 42.8mpg over nine months.
Aside from auto-swivelling air vents and the pop-up gear selector, there’s nothing flash about the cabin. The dash is low-set and solid, with a lovely embossed metallic facia curving into slivers of gloss black trim on the door. Smart but simple.
The 10-inch touchscreen’s graphics are clear and it’s pretty responsive, and the frame doubles up as a low shelf for steadying your hand during interactions. But having to use Jaguar’s InControl smartphone app to secure a robust FireWire connection was annoying. The big screen comes in a £2670 bundle with the clear digital instrument binnacle and thumping 825w Meridian sound system: money well spent. As was the £1125 panoramic roof that enlivened the standard black leather cabin, and the £760 Cold Climate pack including the ice-melting heated windscreen. Money not well spent was the skittish gesture-controlled sunblind (£205) and 10-way electric front seats (£805) – spend extra to include lumbar support and position memory, or better yet stay with a manual.
The bounteous footwell space was welcome, allowing one daughter to walk across to her child seat, though lifting the other one into hers often involved a bit of head-banging (for her) and back-ache (for me).
And so to the crux of the estate vs SUV debate. If you value an elevated driving position and easy child-loading, your choice couldn’t be broader as manufacturers pile into SUVs and crossovers.
But if you rate handling, sleekness and economy more highly, then the XF Sportbrake is a fine car worthy of your consideration.
@CARPhilMc