The sun was shining on the yachts and cruisers moored in Monte Carlo harbour last week but our attention was focussed on the line of new Jaguars on the seafront.

This was the international launch of the most important Jaguar for many years and there were two Ulster faces in the PR team – Ken McConomy from Derry and Juliette Fairbairn from Katesbridge. As well as dealing with planeloads of inquisitive journalists, they had to contend with natural hazards of snow, rain and rock falls on the demanding test route along twisting roads and hairpins in the Alpes Maratimes.

We were the lucky group as the weather turned spring-like, though a blocked road meant that we had a more prolonged drive in the new XF than expected. That was little hardship for the XF just eats up the road and cossets its occupants at the same time. As a replacement for the middleweight S-type, this car comes at a critical time in Jaguar‘s history.

Faster still is the 416PS, supercharged version and this made quick and safe work of overtaking slower local traffic. This one hits 60mph in 5.1 seconds and is similarly governed to 155mph. It just steamed along those mountain roads. Despite their power, the V8s were civilised and took best advantage of the balanced steering and big reserves of grip.

Mated to six-speed automatic transmission, they were effortless to drive. Most of the time they changed gears seamlessly in auto mode, but when a sprint was needed to pass a crawling C3, I could flick down a couple of ratios almost instantly using paddles on the steering column.

While the V8s fully utilise the capabilities of the chassis, they will not be everyones cup of tea. They return just 22 to 25mpg on the combined cycle, dropping to 15 or 16mpg in town.

So the most popular XF is likely to be the third one we drove, the 2.7-litre, six-cylinder diesel. I expected this to be a bit sluggish but it was surprising in its urge. It is pleasantly refined though I wonder why they did not up the capacity to 3.0-litres to take Audi and BMW head on.