Can the XF save Jaguar?

THE JAGUAR XF is not just a car.
It’s a vehicle that has a tremendous task.

It must single handedly save Jaguar as a brand name.

For over 2 decades, Jaguar has been under the parenthood of Ford Motor Company where it failed to earn any profit.
While economists who follow automotive culture will be able to come up with better detailed explanations than I, my opinion is that Jaguar failed to be a profit earner because even the latest models were far too reminiscent in aesthetics to the old models.
The German’s change up their styles at an average rate of 5 years and the Japanese luxury brands follow suit. But poor Jaguar’s cars seem to all have the exact tradition behind them even when they move upscale to advanced technology.

They look antiquated.

The question here is whether of not the XF can revive Jaguar’s geriatric image in the same way Cadillac’s CTS and Chrysler’s 300 did.
The XF is a major departure from their traditional styling and after getting to know her a little, I feel it will make huge waves for its new Indian owners.

The XF was set to replace both the S-Type and the X-Type in a similar manner to Ford’s Lincoln MKS which will replace both the Town Car and LS.




STYLING


Jaguars have always had a bold, distinctive styling of their own.

A long hood. Bulging headlamps like the wide, sensitive eyes of the Jungle cat that it represents – complete with a little pouncing hood ornament – the Jaguar itself.

But I never liked this style. It didn’t connect with me at all. I’m not one for hood ornaments. I hate bulging circular eye-like headlamps (I’m also talking to you E-class).

I never thought I’d find myself loving a Jaguar simply because the style was a complete turn off coupled with the fact the cars have traditionally been high-class, luxury saloons where you end up paying more for the name and the quality of the materials than practicality and fun-to-drive factors.

The S-Type, reintroduced in 1998 under Ford Motor Company, was a decent step in the right direction for Jaguar – specifically targeting professional executives with the desire for luxury and the Jaguar name. My uncle and his wife, both have an S-type. My biggest problem with these cars is that to me, they seem a bit “snobbish”, “snooty” - too small inside and lacking in the technology that I demand in an Internet era.

The Jaguar XF marks a fresh start for Jaguar. A new design and a new face – targeting the “swing voters” such as myself.

At first glance, the exterior of the Jaguar XF resembles something I’ve seen out of Volkswagon. It resembles in my mind, the Jetta, or the Phaeton – or possibly an Audi due to the large air dams beneath the face.
Liquid chrome adorns the air damn, the grill, the outlines of the headlamps and of course, the angry growling Jaguar emblem.

What does bother me, once I get talking about the interior, is that the angry Jaguar emblem bothers me since it also appears in the center of the steering wheel – growling at me.

The rear of the car closely mimics the lines of the soon to be released Aston Martin DBS, only with less brake light real estate and a huge chrome bar that stretches from ear to ear shouting: J A G U A R.
Rather than placing the asymmetric leaping cat emblem, this was actually a better place to put that angry cat face.



THE INTERIOR OF THIS CAR brings with it the "feelings" I expect from getting into a Jaguar car.
Everything is chrome or leather. Everything feels hard or tough. Everything feels hand-made and carefully placed.
Yes, it feels familiar, but, thankfully, the XF has been brought into the digital age with highly fashionable technology.

The redefined Jaguar carries a very minimalist interpretation of the technology required to make it a luxury car and yet keep it trendy and ultra stylish. It feels like a high end attempt by Ford to recreate the awe one might sense getting inside a BMW 5 or 7 series.

There is the standard luxury features such as; steering wheel integrated controls and voice activation button, steering wheel cruise controls. There are also huge slabs of Wood veneer for the door panels and dashboard to take your mind off the moderate amounts of hard plastic that there are. Where there isn’t plastic there is stitched leather.
While the wood trim isn’t as glossy and shiny as that in the upper level Benz, it does mimic and surpass what you’ll find in the 7-Series.


I LOVE SUPRISES. The first thing that captured my eye in the car was a small bullseye mark that sat all alone in front of the passenger seat where the glove compartment was. I though it was a dent in the wood at first. I touched it an *POP*, the glove compartment opened. At first I was startled. The salesman then took the time to show me that the overhead Map lights were touch sensitive too. I rubbed my finger across one and it did light – must have been a capacitive touch device like the screen of an iPhone.
The only downside is, these devices react to human skin - gloves must be off.

The designers must have figured that some elements of a car are better when they are out of sight. Therefore, they’ve equipped the XF with the first automatically rotating air vents I’ve seen in a car. When the A/C is off , they close up tight. But, I’ve yet to see a Jaguar driver with his windows down. It’s A/C all the way !

The XF also features its own interpretation of the almighty German control knob, i.e. I-Drive that was introduced in the BMW 745. But while the 7’s I-Drive controlled the Navigation system and Radio, Jaguar’s is the car’s gear selector.
How this will be received by the critics and Jaguar newcomers remains to be seen, but I for one found it interesting to be able to shift gears from Drive to Reverse and back to drive without having to move my entire arm. And when the car is deactivated, the chrome plated knob retracts flush into the armrest right under the car’s START/STOP button and right above the car’s electronic Parking Brake.

What did sorta’ confuse me was the Jaguar’s Radio controls and HVAC controls.
The Navigation computer is touchscreen but the radio controls just below it offer fast access to TRACK switching and SOURCE changing. But typically, you don’t see Radio controls right next to HVAC controls. Normally, they are above or below…but never side to side. It adds a lot of buttons to what was otherwise a very minimalist design.


THE SEATS have a perforated design to promote air flow. Unlike past Jags, this one does not feature a cloth seat option. All trims are leather.
The choices to be made are whether you get the 10-way power front seats, or if you’ll opt for the 16-way driver/12 way passenger seats. Unfortunately, Jaguar didn’t take the time to change the positioning of the seat actuator switches so you’ll still have to reach down under your but to get to them. Also, they aren’t bolstered well for lateral support. Instead, they look like a posture-perfect chair in a French art-deco museum. Curved for your spine yet mostly flat across the shoulders.

I found the seat comfort to be reasonably comfy, but still, nowhere near what I am used to in the S550 Benz – paling in comparison to the 5 series BMW and oddly enough, not as spacious or as comfortable as the Chrysler 300’s.

The rear seat space is anemic. Though I doubt many Jaguar owners really drive around with their kids in the back, small children are just about the only ones who’s fit back here due in part to the XF’s coupishly low raked roof lines. The S-type had the exact same problem – no comfort for the tall in either row. A driver over 6 feet tall will start to feel boxed in with his head next to the B Pillar but if you are a group of four 5 foot tall people, you’d be fine, but larger Americans are much more demanding.
Entertainment systems are available options to give the headrests TV monitors, but once again, I doubt the driver of this car will host many rear seat passengers.

Right now, there are 3 interior choices. Each of these “themes” changes the color of the seats, the color of the seat well plastics and the carpet color. The first is a Charcoal Black which will likely be the choice of owners not interested in going back and forth to the carwash for shampooing.
The second is the “Premium Luxury” Champagne/Truffle. Simply put…its White and you’d be cleaning this one a lot.
The third choice, for the “Supercharged” versions is Spice/Charcoal. It’s a deep Red Orange that looks like Pumpkin Pie. The carpet remains Charcoal Black but trim lines are Spice so the outlines further the detailing of the chair’s appearance.


OVERALL the control knob and the touch panels were nice features but the rest of the interior is “Ho Hum” even though its thoughtfully executed. For those who’ve never experienced this level of luxury and are busy vegging out on Accords, Acuras, Lincolns and Buicks, the interior of the XF will be awesome. But for me, a constant driver of the S550 and other people who’re veterans of the BMW and Mercedes Benz models, the XF will fail to turn heads.




ON THE ROAD

Jaguar has decided that each and every time you turn on the Jaguar, that it should "do the same for you" to quote Cadillac's new motto.
The Start/Stop button pulsates with red diodes until you press it.
Once the Jaguar is activated, the A/C vents rotate to their locking position and your gear selector switch rises up. This all happens in a similar fashion to what you might imagine from a sci-fi movie where the President uses "the button"
You simply scroll it to the right to get into {D} gear... your Drive begins.

Due to the nature of the shifter, there is no longer a Manual Transmission being offered. Instead, you get the same 6 speed automatic in whichever of the 3 trims of the XF you can buy. The Luxury model comes equipped with 18-inch “Cygnus” alloy wheels and under the hood, we find a 300HP 4.2 Liter naturally aspirated V-8. Tires are 245/45 HR18 al seasons.
The Premium Luxury comes with the exact same engine, but upgrades you to 19-inch “Auriga” wheels (245/40 HR19 all season tires). The Premium also allows options such as upgraded audio systems (from 8 speakers with subwoofer to 13 speakers with subwoofer) and a Navigation system (which should be standard on all models) and larger brakes.
Finally, the Supercharged comes sitting on “Selena” 20’s (rear: 285/30 ZR20 and front: 255/35 ZR20) performance tires.
The supercharged offers C.A.T.S (Computer active Technology Suspension) – a cartoonish acronym that simply acts as an automatic damping system to reduce shock and body pitch/roll. Under the hood is the 420 HP (@ 6250 rpm) as well as an upgraded audio system, bi-Xenon Headlamps, rearview backup camera and a front/rear park assist like what I’ve seen in the Audio A8.
All the Jaguar models fortunately, include sport shift paddles behind the steering wheel which will be activated when the car is in sport mode. You simply turn the shifter to the farthest right position.

The car companies in my area are brilliant. They mostly sit on Sunrise Highway which is miles and miles of FLAT, pothole-less land which allows potential buyers of Lexus, Benz, BMW, Jaguar, Toyota, and countless other brands – to test drive the cars on PRISTINE ROAD in ideal circumstances. You can even hit 80 in between lights and the dealers won’t harass you. This is the reason I actually bother to drive to the backroads where pot holes, pavement waves and other unsightly geologic conditions exist. I figure, if the car rolls nice and smooth on perfect road – fine. But, I wanna see how you take abuse.


The XF is using updated components from the XK coupe – a car which I’ve never driven nor cared to drive. As far as I can tell, the Jaguar’s sleek nose design allows for low drag which allows it to ride very quietly and keeps her devoid of most wind noise.
Over bumps and poorly managed road, the Jaguar succeeds in providing a soft ride that doesn’t become too cushy as to disconnect you from what’s going on under the tires.
Handling is extremely agile. You can take sharp curves with ease while the tail of the car hangs out - those behind you watch in horror.
Sightline ahead of the car is very good due to the sloping, pointing nose (and the absense of leaping cat ornaments), but the rear view may be a bit tricky for some shorter drivers (likely female) due to sharp raking of the roof. Be sure to get the rear-view camera option.
Switched into sport mode, the paddles feel instantly responsive and I noticed that when hard braking, the car doesn’t pitched downwards as you’d normally suspect.
The Chassis feels as tough as a brick - like a Benz.

0-60 for the bottom two trims is around the same 6 ~7 seconds as the bigger, heavier 2007 Escalade while the Supercharged manages to decrease that to around 5 seconds but, it would still get beaten if it went up against an SRT8 Chrysler 300. While the XF may have a smaller drag coefficient than the 300, it weighs about 35 pounds more.
While many will think comparing the fine Jaguar to the obsolete 300 is ludicrous, I do find it funny that both these cars have near identical height and length but the 300 offers more interior space for full sized adults.

Around corners, the Jaguar remains poised and dignified thanks to C.A.T.S but naturally, it fails to give the same inertia cancelling effects of the BMW 7. again, a poor comparison due to the Beemer being $20,000 more, but, once you experience it, its hard to opt for anything else.

The voice activated Navigation system is probably the best I’ve ever used. It recognized almost everything I said even before I voice trained on it. What did disappoint me was that the Graphic User Interface designed for this car – while very attractive – was a bit poorly designed in some spots regarding POI/address entry, but nothing bad enough to turn the average luxury buyer off from the car. It would probably take a week or so to train yourself to use it.
The Navigation Radio allows you to control some features of the seats (such as temperature) but it is nowhere near as fleshed out as in the S550's G.U.I.
There is also a computerized "Valet mode" which allows a Valet to setup a temporary passcode to take your car in, and then use that code again to retrieve it for you.

What will really blow buyers away is the Bowers & Wilkins premium sound system. A 440 Watt Alpine class Amplifier powers the doors and the subwoofer in the trunk under the spare tire. You typically never see a 10 inch subwoofer as OEM equipment. The system is custom tailored to the XF’s interior. The speakers are made of DuPont Kevlar (bulletproof vest material) and achieve the highest sound quality while remaining undamaged from being forced to play at maximum performance. Its one of the few OEM systems I’ve seen where it sounds great on any type of music I could play on the radio wherein some Luxury maker’s versions lacked BASS response.

Space amenities include a 3 spot cup holder with stainless steel floors (2 are removable) and there is even ipod integration in the touch sensitive glove compartment. The trunk is deep and very spacious for golf bags, suitcases and Walmart scores.


OVERALL

If anything hurts this car it will be the $4.29 Premium Unleaded Gas Prices or the consumer wariness of Jaguar’s new owners, Tata Motors. Ford is argued to have brought improved reliability to Jaguar, but because many, such as myself, regard it as too expensive for the amount of luxury it brings, the X-Type and the S-Type haven’t brought major numbers to Ford’s billboards.
Ford got tired of being in the red and began dumping their luxury marques: Land Rover, Aston Martin and Jaguar.

But Perhaps Ford has dumped Jaguar prematurely. Since the XF hit markets, Autoblog announced that Jaguar sales have risen 300% ! According to Automotive News, Jaguar reported that they have received over 10,000 preorders, with 3,000 just for the USA alone.

The buy-in prices are $49,975 for the XF Luxury, $55,975 for the XF Premium Luxury and $62,975 for the XF Supercharged.
If you are one of those lucky people blessed enough to be buying a $50,000 Luxury car like this when Oil Prices are reaching record all-time highs with every new opening of the markets, God Bless You. This seems to be a car that will serve you loyally.