Heart Transplant

What happens when you match the excellent dynamics of the Jaguar XF with a punchy and refined petrol engine? Ravi finds out.

- Ravi Ved

While Jaguar Land Rover introduced the 2.0-litre Ingenium diesel motor a few years ago, they introduced its petrol counterpart only last year. When we tested it in the F-Pace a few months ago, our unanimous verdict was that the SUV finally got an engine that it deserved. That engine, however, was tuned for 247bhp. But the XF that we’ve got our hands on, in Prestige trim, makes do with the 197bhp version.

Matters of the heart

Since this car is all about the engine, let’s get straight to the business end of things. Hit the start button and the engine comes to life with a bit of a judder. Once it settles down, though, it’s reasonably quiet inside the cabin. But the real beauty of this motor is in the way it behaves on the move.