Once upon a time, there was a Jaguar… Back in the old days, Jaguars tended to flaunt their raw power by having massive engines with lots of cylinders – V12s and V8s.  However, these days, it’s not quite so desirable to consume masses of fuel and belch lots of exhaust.  This is why in the diesel-powered units in Jaguar’s popular XF range break the traditions, so what you get is a 2-litre engine with four cylinders.  If you think that this should mean that any self-respecting Jaguar should go around singing lines from Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday” (“I’m not half the car I used to be…. oh, I believe in yesterday.”), then think again.  The big cat may have a smaller engine but it has not been tamed: 136 kW of power at 4000 rpm and 430 Nm at 1750–2500 rpm.  A top speed of 229 km/h (double the legal road limit) and a 0–100 km/h sprint time of 8.1 seconds.  Eight-speed automatic transmission.  I’m purring already, just about as much as the motor in question.

However, I’m just as happy about the fuel consumption figures.  Under test conditions, the Jaguar XF Diesel had an urban fuel consumption figure of 5.2 L/100 km.  Yes, that is the urban fuel consumption figure.  The combined figure is 4.3 L/100 km, which means that if you take it out on the open road (OK, in ideal test conditions!) you can squeeze out 3.8 L/100 km.  These figures had me looking again just to check that this wasn’t a hybrid vehicle (it isn’t).

Two XF variants come with the 2-litre 4-cylinder diesel engine under the sleek bonnet proudly bearing the Jaguar badge: the Prestige and the R-Sport.  However, one can take things up a notch if you prefer a gutsier engine, such as the 3-litre V6 unit inside the Jaguar XF Diesel S.  This will get you cackling with glee like one of the stereotyped villains that Jaguar parodies in its TV ads (I love those ads as much as I love lots of torque).  This does more than just purr; with 221 kW of power at 4000 rpm and 700 Nm of torque at 2000 rpm, it roars.  No, that was not a misprint.  This was another figure that had me looking twice.  It really does have 700 Nm of torque.

Of course, there’s always far more to a luxury vehicle than just a good engine, no matter how juicy it is.  Let’s face it: if all you wanted was torque, you could go and buy a tractor (this is how luxury manufacturer Lamborghini started out, but that’s another story).  A tractor the Jaguar XF Diesel is not.  Let’s start with the entry level, the Prestige variant (the second-tier Portfolio doesn’t come with a diesel engine).  Even this variant oozes luxury, with Taurus leather seats with 10-way adjustment (and 4-way lumbar adjustment) for the driver and front passenger, and mood lighting in the interior.  What’s more, it’s very fun to drive, thanks to driver aids such as the torque vectoring, the cruise control (which includes Jaguar’s low-speed cruise control all-surface progress control for slippery surfaces), the dynamic stability control with traction control, hill start assist and, best of all, Jaguar’s Drive Control that has a range of driving modes available so you can choose what suits you best (eco, dynamic, normal and winter). These driver aids come as standard on all Jaguar XF Diesel variants, but if you go for the S, you also get the Adaptive Dynamics package that continually fine-tunes the dampers to suit the conditions and your style. The R-Sport Jaguar XF Diesel, however, has a sports suspension upgrade to add that extra bit of fun (and the body kit to go with it).

For more sedate driving situations, the Jaguar XF Diesel has a number of other aids as standard, such as autonomous emergency braking, lane departure warning, front and rear parking aids, parking assistance and a rear view camera as standard on all variants; the Jaguar XF Diesel S adds in a 360-degree parking aid.

What else does the “entry level” Jaguar XF Diesel, the Prestige, have to offer as standard?  It certainly has more than enough to enjoy, along with the features already mentioned.  Rain-sensing wipers, dusk-sensing bi-Xenon headlights, dual-zone climate control, 18-inch Fan design alloy wheels, Bluetooth connectivity and streaming, SD card navigation, an 8-inch colour display panel for the infotainment and a 5-inch instrument display balancing the analogue dials in a lovely combination of old and new.

The R-Sport variant of the Jaguar XF Diesel has the body kit and the sports suspension.  It also gets 19-inch Vortex design alloys and lots of R-Sport exclusive touches such as the tread plates. Take things up to the final level of luxury in the Jaguar XF Diesel S and you get very innovative LED headlights, the S-body kit that includes red brake callipers with the Jaguar script on them, 19-inch Blade design alloys and the Head-Up Display that projects important information onto the windscreen visibly but unobtrusively.

All in all, the Jaguar XF Diesel is a very nice car indeed that lives up the Jaguar tradition of power, precision and luxury, but without consuming vast amounts of fuel.

Current model series include:

• Jaguar XF Diesel Prestige
• Jaguar XF Diesel R-Sport
• Jaguar XF Diesel S

For any more information on the Jaguar XF Diesel, or for that matter any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quotes requests out to our national network of Jaguar dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!