Jaguar XF 2009 review

Having a supercharged V8 engine under the control of your right foot is a blast at any time. When the engine is a large one that's installed in the latest Jaguar XF it becomes a very special occasion. We have just enjoyed that hot-Jaguar experience over a week’s road test in our home area of the Gold Coast.

The big cat revelled in everything we threw at it. From the boring run on the eight-lane M1, over the scenically curving backroads of the hinterland hills, on a picnic trip down the coast into the quiet townships of northern NSW it loved every moment, and so did its occupants. Oh, and the parking sensors and rear view camera made light work of the mundane tasks involved in day-to-day shopping and the like. 

The only thing we didn’t like about the big-power Jag was its big thirst. You don’t get something for nothing in this world, but figures of 11 to 13 litres per hundred kilometres in the easy running, and on the wrong side of 18 litres per hundred around town just aren’t acceptable in this day and age. 

Jaguar is soon to launch a facelifted XF with a new engine range, where an all-new 5.0-litre unit will replace the current 4.2-litre. Presumably it will be a significant improvement on the one we have just stepped out of. If not ...  

Jaguar's competitors from Germany can combine big performance with fuel efficiency, let's home the Brits can do the same thing with their new-generation powerplants. 

The styling of this medium-large Jag works very well, particularly as the company smarted over the accusation that it was stuck in the past with its body shapes. With the XF Jaguar's chief designer Ian Callum has managed the difficult task of penning a car that looks ultra-modern, yet which still carries cues to Jaguar's heritage.

So the XF has a big radiator grille, round headlights that are faired into the bonnet, swooping lines over the cabin, and a rear end that looks for all the world like a big cat crouching ready to leap. 

Because the Jag is aimed at the sports saloon buyer it has a coupe-like roofline sloping down to the rear. This has meant moving the rear seat forward to get decent headroom. Which has been achieved neatly, but at the expense of legroom in the back. 

If you keep in mind that Jaguars have traditionally been low, sporting saloons and that this is a continuation of that tradition, then it probably makes sense. But do make sure to take any potential back-seat travellers along during your own pre-purchase road testing. 

The positive side of the back seat placement is that the boot is huge and can swallow large amounts of luggage without every seeming to go close to capacity. 

The interior is a very special place, with many examples of lateral thinking that will delight owners. Step into the car and you will see an elegantly simple dashboard that appears to have no ventilation outlets whatsoever. Nor is there a slot for an ignition key. Look down at the centre console and there's no sign of a gear selector or handbrake. 

Then you push the stop/start button and it all unveils before your surprised eyes. Smooth blanking panels on the dash swivel up to reveal ventilation outlets and a round knob rises from the centre console. The latter is a gear selector unlike anything you have ever seen before. More like a computer mouse than a gear lever, it is turned to select the correct gears. And there is a handbrake, but it’s a tiny lever in the console that’s not immediately obvious. It could be called gimmickry, but it all works beautifully, and we feel this may well be the way of the future in car interior design. 

Other than these interesting new design features the interior of the XF is relatively conservative, reflecting early 21st century design themes in a neat mixture of the old and the new, and being very Jaguar in its use of high-quality leather with proud stitching, and a mixture of timber and alloy on the dashboard. 

Handling of the Jaguar XF S V8 is biased to the sporting side of the equation, but has lost little in comfort. The steering is nicely weighted and more to our tastes than the light steering in the standard vehicles in the XF range. There's good feedback so the driving enthusiast really does have an excellent mental and physical feel of exactly what the front wheels are doing. 

Model Range

XF 2.7D Luxury 2.7-litre turbo-diesel four-door sedan: $108,350 
XF 3.0 V6 Luxury 3.0-litre petrol four-door sedan: $108,350 
XF 4.2 V8 Premier Luxury 4.2-litre petrol four-door sedan: $134,830 
XF SV8 4.2-litre supercharged petrol four-door sedan: $173,170