Jaguar XF – Driven To Write

A Game Of Two Halves

Three friends head out of deepest South Yorkshire to see how the Midland’s made cars in 2009.

On the 18th January 2008, Tata Motors purchased two illustrious British car brands from Ford, in the process establishing Jaguar Land Rover, aka JLR . Your author, along with many of our readership will no doubt remember the motoring magazines introducing this new Jaguar dawn, fresh with Indian money. At the time of our trip to the West Bromwich plant, the factory produced both XF and XJ models, considered by the press to be something of a relaunch for the Leaping Cat’s fortunes and capable of bloodying their German rivals’ noses.

Our November dawn was leaden, with heavy traffic heading south. As memory serves, we paid nothing for the privilege of the tour. Having registered our names sometime earlier, we were ticked off in school register fashion and like good school children wore our high visibility jackets and protective goggles without question. Informed the plant could be noisy, no ear defenders were proffered but we were told to Continue reading “A Game Of Two Halves”

We Are About To Attempt A Crash Landing

‘Place your tray tables in the upright locked position…’

Steve Cropley is seemingly a worried man. The veteran auto-journalist wrung his hands this week over the lack of meaningful intelligence emerging from Thierry Bolloré’s JLR boardroom over the future direction of the serially-troubled Jaguar brand. Almost a year has passed, he stated since the French CEO announced the Re-Imagine plan for the car business, which is attempting to emerge from a series of crises: political, pandemical and of its own making.

Now before we Continue reading “We Are About To Attempt A Crash Landing”

Big Cat Hunting (Part 3)

Chris Ward’s cat develops a limp.

Ponk-ponk-ponk-ponk-ponk-ponk. The electric glovebox release rapid-fired, a tiny machine gun waging war on my sanity. This time, instead of slamming it shut, I left the lid lolling open like a yokel’s mouth.

Yet the tiny machine gun in the dashboard kept firing. Ponk. Ponk-ponk-ponk-ponk-ponk-ponk.

The Jaguar XF had been in my ownership for all of two months when the fault first manifested. Initially the glovebox would refuse to Continue reading “Big Cat Hunting (Part 3)”

Am I Gonna Make It, Doc?

Well son, there’s good news and bad news…

It has been a busy week at Gaydon, with Jaguar Land Rover’s PR machine being cranked into renewed operation following a brief hiatus. The news this week is what one might best describe as mixed. But since most news items these days are of the most demoralising variety, let us first Continue reading “Am I Gonna Make It, Doc?”

Big Cat Hunting (Part 2)

Chris Ward continues his report on life with a 2009 Jaguar XF-S, experiencing a few bumps in the road.

Two months in and the Jaguar XF-S has settled into the daily grind. As cruel as it may be to hobble a continent crushing beast with stop-start traffic, the Jag proves adept at leaping over life’s bumps and ruts.

Upon those rare occasions when the traffic thins and the roads open out, the big cat is happy to Continue reading “Big Cat Hunting (Part 2)”

Big Cat Hunting (Part 1)

We welcome a fellow sufferer to the DTW branch of Kitty-Fanciers Anonymous.

My parents have always been baffled by my fascination with cars. The curse is not familial; neither parent has a fluid ounce of petrol in their veins. Dad preferred football to fast metal and never learned to drive. Mam passed her driving test in her thirties out of gritty necessity, her car ownership journey characterised by a series of grudgingly bought and traded-in Fiestas.

I on the other hand absorbed everything automotive like an oversized Halfords sponge. A yearly highlight was a trip to the Daily Mail British Motorshow. The week long event coincided with my birthday, making a trip to the NEC a great present for a car mad youth. One of my most vivid memories is from the 1988 show; I was ten when Jaguar launched the XJ220 to a seemingly hysterical response. Continue reading “Big Cat Hunting (Part 1)”

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Jaguar?

Where now for JLR’s limping cat?

In 2005, a chastened senior Jaguar executive conceded that both they and their Ford masters had made a strategic error, admitting to British parliamentarians that they had jointly pursued “a failed growth strategy” for the heritage marque. Once this realisation hit home, the residents of Dearborn’s Glasshouse began a fundamental rethink of the leaping cat.

Amongst the changes wrought was that Jaguar would henceforth emphasise its sporting credentials, with the cars’ dynamic dial being shifted from traditional values of NVH isolation and ride refinement towards matters of incisive turn-in and outright handling prowess.

The second strand to this change of ethos lay in abandoning the chase for sales volume, pushing them further upmarket. The key to this transformation was to Continue reading “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Jaguar?”

The Death of Romance

A (modest) commercial success, but ultimately a creative failure, the 2007 XF opened Jaguar up to a non-traditional audience, but in the final analysis, probably cast too many values on the fire.

(c): Car and Driver

By 2005, Ford’s ambitious growth strategy for Jaguar lay in tatters following a series of misguided creative decisions based on a discredited retro aesthetic. As Ford’s Premier Automotive Group began its slow dissolve, the storied luxury car maker’s consistent inability to Continue reading “The Death of Romance”

Holding Station – Jaguar XF Sportbrake

The new XF Sportbrake has landed.

Who in the name of Lyons signed these off? Image: Super Street

People often accuse me of being overly critical about the current range of Jaguars and it’s true that I have been at times unsparingly harsh. I’ve said rather a lot on this subject in the past, but just for the purposes of clarity, and to reiterate, my issues with the current crop of JLR’s Jaguar-branded saloons and crossovers are as follows: Continue reading “Holding Station – Jaguar XF Sportbrake”

Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One Before

We’re talking about Jaguar today. I know, again…

Last month, I felt the need to talk to you about XE, which I’ll admit made for some uncomfortable reading. But not content with establishing History Repeating© as Jaguar’s mood-music, the ‘World’s Least Influential’ Jaguar critic is drilling deeper still by repeating himself thematically. Not I might add because he necessarily wants to, but because he finds it cathartic and more to the point, his editor told him to. Continue reading “Stop Me if You’ve Heard This One Before”

Entering the Plastic Age

Jaguar used to be renowned for their warm and inviting cabins. No longer.

2016-jaguar-xe-dashboard-and-cockpit — Not bad – for a Nissan. Photo (c)gtautoperformance.com

Jaguar’s current stream of new models is testament to the enormous sums being spent on reinvigorating the brand – unfortunately, the new car’s interiors make every effort to appear as though they were lowest on the list of priorities. A new family of combustion engines doesn’t come cheap. Neither does an all-new aluminium platform. But is that enough to explain quite why the cabins of Jaguar’s new-from-scratch XE, XF and F-pace models are so blatantly disappointing? Continue reading “Entering the Plastic Age”

Dark Satanic Mill: Jaguar XF 2.2 Premium Luxury

Jaguar’s power units have entered legend. This month we ask whether the XF’s engine and powertrain are cut from similar cloth?

Try as I might, I’ve yet to satisfactorally reconcile the concept of a compression ignition Jaguar. But commercial realities make for expedient bedfellows and the Ford/PSA-developed 2179 cc 16 valve diesel unit powering our XF has been responsible for the marque’s growing acceptance in the vital company user-chooser market in the UK. Commercial success notwithstanding, there’ll be few obituaries now it’s been consigned to Continue reading “Dark Satanic Mill: Jaguar XF 2.2 Premium Luxury”

The Lyon of Beauty: Jaguar XF 2.2 Premium Luxury

This month your correspondent gets himself in a lather over the XF’s styling.

I’ve always considered the XF to be a handsome car, even if I had assumed it was something of a stopgap design; a stepping stone from the failed nostalgia of the S-Type to something more aesthetically robust. But confronted with the knowledge it now embodies the true North of Jaguar saloon style has forced me to re-engage with the car’s appearance in a way I might otherwise have sidestepped. Continue reading “The Lyon of Beauty: Jaguar XF 2.2 Premium Luxury”

Theme: Shutlines – Nose Jobs

Some manufacturers today use a large plastic moulding as a front mask that includes bumper as well as radiator grille. A solution I appreciate for its simplicity and which can be pleasing to look at – but beware the pitfalls!

Not long ago, we discussed an odd triangle, trapped between shutlines, panel folds and functional elements. The object in question was the 2014 Lexus IS’s rear door. I was reminded of this discussion when I saw a short article in my local newspaper about the new Jaguar XF. There it was again – between headlight, bonnet shutline and radiator bulge. What the above Jaguar press photo (!) also shows: it’s not easy to align large plastic and metal pieces. There is a visible offset between the bonnet and the front mask above the left headlight (as seen in the picture), and the shutline itself varies in thickness. Continue reading “Theme: Shutlines – Nose Jobs”

Nice Kitty? Jaguar XF 2.2 Premium Luxury

You only get one chance to make a first impression, so how does ‘our’ XF fare?

Among the tenets of luxury car motoring is the notion that everything you touch and feel should feel expensive and well engineered; that the manufacturer has gone that extra bit further to make you feel more deserving, more special. Approaching the XF for the first time however, the first thing you grasp is the door handle, only to be greeted by a flimsy-feeling plastic arm that wouldn’t be out of place on a car many times cheaper. As first impressions go, it sets a very disappointing one. Frankly, my 19-year Saab’s similarly configured door handles feel immeasurably more solidly engineered and durable. In fact, they’ll probably outlive the car. So much for progress.

Having gotten over this initial setback, you Continue reading “Nice Kitty? Jaguar XF 2.2 Premium Luxury”

Extended Test: 2013 Jaguar XF 2.2 Premium Luxury

A Jag? With my reputation?

'Our' XF, yesterday. — ‘Our’ XF, yesterday. All images: Driven to Write

As anyone familiar with the site will know by now, Jaguars are something of a recurrent theme in my life. So when a few months ago I was offered the extended use of a 2013 Jaguar XF, I tried to accept with jaded equanimity. However the unseemly haste with which I bit the owner’s arm off probably betrayed my true feelings. Continue reading “Extended Test: 2013 Jaguar XF 2.2 Premium Luxury”

Jaguar’s North Star Saloon

The F-Type is not the quintessential modern Jaguar. This is.

The 2016 Jaguar XF - image via performancedrive — The 2016 Jaguar XF – image: performancedrive

Upon release, Jaguar made lavish claims about the significance of the F-Type. How it would become the fulcrum of the entire Jaguar range. How successive models would reference its styling. This has proved wildly inaccurate because on the basis of the two most recent model launches, Jaguar’s pivot point is not in fact the F-Type. It’s the XF. Continue reading “Jaguar’s North Star Saloon”