The Jaguar XE comes with only a petrol engine in India. The Ingenium diesel motor will follow soon. The 2.0 litre four cylinder petrol engine is available in two states of tune. In the Pure variant, it develops 197 bhp at 5500 rpm and 320 Nm torque at 1750 rpm. In the Portfolio model that you see in this review, the motor develops 237 bhp at 5500 rpm and maximum torque of 340 Nm coming up between 2000 and 4500 rpm. And what a stonker of an engine this is. Jaguar has taken the fun to drive factor to a whole new level with the XE. Don’t believe me? Just stomp on the accelerator and it just shoots off like torpedo. And it has most of the F-Type DNA. The kick back in the seat feeling, tail sliding out, the XE has it all. The eight speed ZF automatic gearbox that sends power to the rear wheels has slick gear shifts and is a joy to use. Add to that, the XE is light, being based on Jaguar’s new Aluminium Intensive Architecture. It goes from 0 to 100 in a claimed 6.8 seconds and has a top speed of 250 kph. There are four driving modes: Winter, ECO, Normal and Dynamic. Each mode makes changes to steering, throttle response, engine and the AC. The XE goes absolutely mental in Dynamic mode combined with Sport. The motor revs all the way to the red line and the dials turn red in Dynamic mode too. The growling engine note just adds to the drama. There is enough grunt even at the lower end and slight tap of the throttle pedal is enough for quick movement. However, press the pedal hard for a kick down and there is a delay of say a couple of seconds before you get a crazy surge of power. The baby Jag is comfortable in city traffic as well. The gearbox shifts quickly when driven with a light foot. The view through the rear windshield is a bit compromised due to the high boot lid, but the ORVMs provide good visibility and the rear view camera makes itself useful in these scenarios.
Coming to the handling, Jaguar has got it spot on. The chassis is beautifully balanced. The XE feels extremely confident going into the corners and there isn’t a hint of under steer either. Body roll is also not really noticeable. The electric power steering in the car is absolutely fantastic and you get super feedback, making you not miss the good ol hydraulic units. Let me just say that the smile on your face will get wider with each twisty that you tackle. The XE has aced it in the ride quality department too. The suspension has been tuned to perfection and none of the undulations or bad patches of the road filter into the cabin. The 225/55 R17 tyres too play their part in offering the smooth ride.
The Jaguar XE comes with a host of safety features including airbags- front side, full length Side window Curtain, driver and front passenger, with Seat Occupant Detector for Passenger, ABS, Emergency Brake Asssist, Dynamic Stability Control, Pedestrian Contact Sensing, Passive Front Head Restraints and power operated child locks. The Jaguar XE has also received 5 stars in the Euro NCAP tests.
There is no doubt that the Jaguar XE has set a segment benchmark as far as driver’s cars are concerned. It has a powerful engine, comes loaded with features, handles like a charm and has excellent ride quality. There’s nothing really to fault the XE as such. The only negative is the price. The Portfolio variant driven for this review is priced at Rs.47.99 lakhs (ex showroom Mumbai) which makes it clearly priced higher than its rivals. At the same time it moves dangerously closer to the segment above. Of course you have the Pure version which loses out on some power and some features like panoramic sunroof, keyless entry, Bi xenon headlamps and the Meridian sound system, but at the same time is 7 lakhs cheaper too. To conclude, don’t buy the Jaguar XE if you are looking to be chauffeured around. You will be losing out on all the fun. But if you love driving yourself and if you feel the smile on your face every time you take to the wheel is worth much more than a price tag, nothing but the baby Jaguar will do for you. And make that the Portfolio please. Nope I haven’t stopped grinning yet.
Jaguar XE photo gallery:
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