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The Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah are legendary, the home of numerous land speed records and this is something very special; the new Jaguar XF in prototype guise recorded a stunning top speed of 225.675mph. This makes it the fastest Jaguar ever.
Jaguar’s previous best at Utah was set by an XJ220 some 18 years ago with a speed of 217.1MPH.
So what is special about this record breaking XF? Certainly it is very different from the version I had recently on test.
Powered by the all new AJ-V8 Gen 111 engine and with aerodynamic and safety modifications the extra power was obtained by a revamped ECU, a modified air intake and exhaust system.
The supercharger settings were revised, but surprisingly no internal engine components were changed and the standard six speed automatic transmission was used.
Now down to earth and a far cry from Bonneville and the often challenging roads of Ulster. The new XF is a thoroughly modern design for Jaguar, replacing the S-Type, which had echoes of a bygone era of Jaguar, the new car should appeal to a wider public and could even take sales away from the well established German premium brands.
I have to admit I was quite taken by the new Jag, although my test car was running with the 4.2 litre petrol engine, later versions now get the improved five-litre version. I would have very much like to have driven the five-litre, but as they say beggars cannot be choosers.
While I may not have been able to sample the benefits that the new engine brings, I was able to appreciate just what a good job the Jaguar designers and engineers have done with the XF.
This is one car that is a sports and executive saloon all rolled into one. No sacrifice in ride quality and the handling is right up there with the best.
Comparing the two engines, the sprint from rest to 62pm takes 0.8 seconds less and power and torque are substantially increased and the good news is that these improvements are obtained with comparable fuel economy and better emissions.
Like user friendly technology, then you will really appreciate the XF. This car is packed with such delights; features that distinguish it include full shift-by-wire transmission controlled by the JaguarDrive Selector; cruise control with Automatic Speed Limiter; an optional radar-based Blind Spot Monitor that warns the driver when there is another vehicle nearby in a different lane; and XF’s optional Rear Camera Parking Aid, which provides a clear view of the area behind the car on the colour touch-screen while reversing.
The latter is now upgraded with on-screen guidance lines that move according to steering wheel angle to indicate the area into which the car will reverse.
With my test example the engine and the transmission were truly in harmony. The transmission has a fully-adaptive shift system which delivers extremely smooth gear changes and optimises performance and economy at all times.
The Jaguar Sequential Shift suffers no torque interrupt resulting in a smoother more powerful shift feel and an almost instantaneous shift from the time the driver touches the shift paddle to the completion of the shift event.
It also continually adapts to suit driving style, which can vary from sporting to more economical. The mechatronic control module incorporated inside the transmission includes the software for the semi-automatic Jaguar Sequential Shift function, selected when the driver operates either of the two steering-wheel paddles.
One of the best products to come from the Jaguar stable, a car which is thoroughly modern and is worthy to carry such a famous name.
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