JAGUAR XF

Combustion-engined Jaguars may be on their way out but, as our time with one showed, there’s life in the old cat yet

- FELIX PAGE

FINAL REPORT MILEAGE 8700

WHY WE RAN IT

The Jaguar saloon is endangered. Can an updated XF leave a lasting legacy?

There are many reasons to be glad of 2022’s arrival: England gets another stab at bringing home the World Cup, Glastonbury looks to be going ahead after a three-year hiatus, we get two days off for the Queen’s platinum jubilee and… well, it just isn’t 2021, is it?

But there will no doubt have been some who, as Auld Lang Syne rang out across the land, thought to themselves: “That’s it, then – only three more years of combustion fuelled Jaguar models.” I know I did, as I looked back fondly on 3150 miles comfortably passed at the helm of the XF saloon, which joined us following an extensive mid-life facelift and in the wake of Jaguar’s ground-shaking pledge to go all-electric from 2025.

Even leaving aside that aspect of finality, though, there remained a pervasive sense of occasion to each journey in the XF, cultivated by the agreeably meaty steering wheel, luxuriously appointed cabin, punchy motor, well-resolved ride and keen dynamics. Driver and passengers alike exited at the end of each journey with nary a stiff limb or spinning head, and not quite so light on funds as you might expect after a stint in a hefty, non-electrified saloon car.