Jaguar XE review

While it is easy to get excited about the bold and beautiful F-Type Coupé unveiled back in 2014, Jaguar has arguably been far more daring with its new model the XE. 

After all, it is quite a thing for an established car brand to look at a market sector below its traditional target demographic, one that is fiercely competitive, and decide to join the fray. You could cheapen the luxury brand value, or worse, fail to make an impression against those new rivals that were once of no concern.

But this is exactly what the new XE is built to do: take on BMW, Audi and Mercedes in the business saloon segment. And it is new, too -- properly new. Its predecessor, the X-type, was based on the Ford Mondeo, but the rear-wheel-drive XE is an all-new car, built in a new factory at the Solihull plant.

What's more, it is made from more than 70 per cent lightweight aluminium with a technically advanced multi-link independent rear and wishbone front suspension.

The flavours? Choose from three engines: a 2.0-litre diesel delivering 161bhp or 177bhp, a 2.0-litre turbo petrol delivering 197bhp or 236bhp, and a 3.0-litre supercharged V6 petrol with 325bhp. 

The XE is the first Jaguar to have these new four-cylinder, low friction Ingenium turbo diesel engines with computer controlled oil and water pumps. The 180PS version gives 430Nm of torque at just 1750rpm and 109g per km of CO2, while the 163PS version offers 380Nm and 99g CO2, and 75mpg.   

So what you end up with is a car that delivers class-leading efficiency. 

Gearbox options are a six-speed manual and an eight-speed automatic – but if you want to take WIRED's advice, steer away from the manual, which we found to be unforgiving and positioned too high for swift, easy changes. The automatics, however, are quite the opposite -- especially the new diesels, which are superb, being both quiet and powerful. The ride is equally impressive, with that pimped suspension setup coming into its own when the XE is driven hard on winding country roads.

Driver aids are on board, including self parking and automatic city braking, while a stereoscopic camera lets the XE identify cross traffic hazards.

There is a pleasing amount of tech in the cabin, too. This is the first Jag to have an eight-inch touchscreen -- though WIRED still wishes the screen was more responsive. The Incontrol app lets riders sync both Apple and Android phones to the car and access some apps through the car screen. This is limited right now, and only 20 apps are supported -- but more should be on their way, especially as the tech behind the skin is a white label unit by Bosch that other OEMs will be using. No video or games will be allowed on Incontrol, though -- which seems sensible.

Using speech recognition tech from Nuance, Justdrive offers in-car dictation for apps such as Twitter, and Spotify is coming to the "Incontrol" system. The in-car WiFi is most welcome, and WIRED made great use of it, though this is of course only as good as the mobile signal the car can get wherever it is -- but it certainly saves battery life of your handheld tech. 

Other Incontrol offerings include Incontrol Remote, a smartphone app that lets you connect with the vehicle and operate features such as climate control remotely; Incontrol Protect sends out an SOS emergency call or Jaguar assistance call should you need one, even if no passenger has a phone with them; and Incontrol Secure will track your XE should some nasty person steal it.

Lastly, the Meridian sound system in the cabin is typically excellent -- with plenty of body-shaking bass should your musical taste require such extravagances.

To sum up, this is a car that can more than hold its own with the likes of the BMW 3-series and Mercedes C-class. Jaguar has produced a good-looking, agile, technically advanced and efficient competitor in this sector, one that should have the others nervously looking in the rearview mirror.