Is there a more important new British car this year than the Jaguar XE? With two freshly opened factories and thousands of recently created jobs, this all-new rival to the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class and Audi A4
has plenty riding on its handsome shoulders. And this is our first
chance to find out if it can truly compete with the giants of the
lucrative compact executive car class.
The XE arrives in UK dealers in April, when we’ll also get a chance
to drive full production cars here. But Jaguar is so determined to get
this car right, it’s building 600 pre-production prototypes. And it’s
one of the first of these models we’ve been invited to drive.
The brand new Wolverhampton plant is already churning out new Ingenium
four-cylinder engines (the other new factory in Solihull is assembling
the cars), and our first taste is of the more powerful diesel with
178bhp. The anticipated top seller gets a 161bhp version with an
impressive 99g/km of CO2 and a claimed 75mpg, set to make the XE a
company car favourite.
Our more powerful car in sporty R-Sport trim
with an eight-speed auto box is still on the money with 109g/km and
67.3mpg, while knocking half a second off the other car’s 0-60mph time,
at 7.4 seconds. That makes it more efficient than a 320d M Sport and just as quick, but it’s pricier, at £34,775 versus the £33,465 BMW.
You’ll get more kit in the Jag, but what we’re here to find out is
whether you get a better drive. Even accounting for this car’s
pre-production foibles, we’d say yes – marginally.
Settling into the comfy sports seats and hitting the starter button
(this Jaguar XE 2.0d 180PS R-Sport Auto is keyless) fires the diesel
engine into life with a bit of a shudder, while the brand’s familiar
rotary gear selector rises majestically from the wide centre console.
The engine seems a touch louder than we’d like, but Jaguar says things
will improve in production cars. It’s not a nasty rattle, with a bassier
note than some rivals. But even on the move, it’s slightly more vocal
than we’d like or expect.
However, that’s pretty much where the negatives end – throttle response
is good, especially if you sharpen things by selecting dynamic mode on
the Jaguar Drive Control system, while there’s a nice, smooth surge of
power for overtaking, if no great out-and-out punch. Whether it’s enough
to make you want to pay the extra £700 for this more powerful diesel
remains to be seen, but it’s an impressive start for this all-new family
of engines that’ll weave its way through all Jaguar and Land Rover models in the coming years.
So the power seems good, and so does the ride. This R-Sport model is
marginally stiffer than the standard set-up, but feels pleasantly firm
without ever jolting you. We slightly preferred it to the V6 S model we
drove with the Adaptive Dynamics that are optional on this car, and we
hope more comfort-orientated models don’t slacken the superb body
control too much – this is a car that corners flatly with strong grip,
giving you plenty of confidence; a nice balance between comfort and
sportiness. In fact, very much how you’d expect a small, sporting Jaguar
saloon to feel.
The XE uses the same double wishbone front suspension set-up as the
F-Type, while a clever integral link rear suspension was chosen over a
multi-link system, which Jaguar said would have compromised ride quality
– a good call, we’d say.
The lightweight bodyshell, using aluminium for 75 per cent of its parts,
is 20 per cent stiffer than the XF’s, and it shows in the car’s
agility. The electric power-steering is just a tiny bit vague off the
straight-ahead as it works out how much assistance to give, but then
reacts quickly with plenty of feel. The XE might not feel quite as sharp
as a 3 Series M Sport, but it’s not far off with a far greater degree
of comfort.
Jaguar made a big play of the XE’s noise levels and it’s certainly quiet
inside, but it’s not noticeably more hushed than rivals. Things will
improve as the engine gets better insulated on production models, but
road noise is more of a culprit than wind noise, which is remarkably
absent thanks in no small part to the XE’s slippery shape.
The driving position is pretty spot-on, too, with plenty of adjustment.
The centre console does feel wider than on rivals (more on that in a
bit), and hefty A-pillars create a bit of a blind spot, especially if
you sit low in the car. Front and rear doors open wide for easy access,
while in the back there’s easily enough space for a six foot tall
passenger to sit behind a similar-sized driver – as there is in a 3
Series.
However, that wide centre console hides a wide transmission tunnel,
which is obvious in the back. It’ll make things uncomfortable for a
third rear passenger in the middle – best not to wear a skirt. The boot
is an okay size, marginally down on the BMW for space and usability –
the entrance is a bit narrow, concentrating more on depth. It should be
fine for a few sets of golf clubs.
Back inside and the XE debuts JLR’s new eight-inch touchscreen
interface, complete with InControl apps that can be downloaded to your
smartphone.
It’s way better than the company’s previous efforts, but as our
finger waggled around in front of the screen over a particularly bumpy
road, we couldn’t help but think how much better BMW and Audi’s control
wheel solution is than a touchscreen. We wouldn’t call it a
deal-breaker, though.
What is likely to get you into the dealer is the XE’s style – a
refreshing antidote to the familar Germanic design of rivals. We’ll
admit to being underwhelmed when we first saw the XE, but on the road
with LED lights accentuating the width at the front and the back, it
looks purposeful and exciting. We like the interior more having got
behind the wheel, too. This is a classy car that’s growing on us more
and more
Key Specs:
- Price: £34,775
- Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbodiesel
- Power: 178bhp
- Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
- 0-62mph: 7.4 seconds
- Top speed: 140mph
- Economy/CO2: 67.3mpg/109g/km
- On sale: April 2015
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