Jaguar XF test drive since 2007 sedan
Break and build
Who will say that the Jaguar brand is no longer the same as before, will be mistaken and will be right at the same time. The brand is changing, but only in order to preserve centuries -old traditions. Jaguar xf project of the perestroika period, the beginning of which is already laid, but he has not yet seen the end and edge Revolution and buttocks
A year after Ford got rid of Aston Martin, the Americans put up for sale Jaguar with Land Rover to addition. For $ 2.3 billion, British brands were bought by Indian Tata Motors. So, the colonists themselves were colonized. Revenge? No, hardly. But the vindictive Indians (there are few of them, but they are) accurately felt better in his soul.
India began to depend on Britain from the middle of the 18th century, and two and a half ruin and humiliating centuries later the symbolic English enterprise began to obey the Indian leadership. The Irony of Fate
Apparently, the XF sedan is the last Jaguar project, to which the Tata Motors concern did not have a hand. The sedan replaced the S-Type model. Instead of an important and heavyweight, swift and tightened. Instead of a classic British sedan, a modern progressive-dynamic car with an outline of the coupe.
He pulls on a revolution, and British designers do not hide this fact. It’s time for us to be brave, and XF is well consistent with this, says Wayne Burgess, the main manager of the XF project from the Jaguar Design branch. With its dramatic design, strong, but beautiful smooth lines and a characteristic front of the body, the new XF does not look like any other Jaguar sedan. Moreover: behind the sedan strongly resembles Aston Martin models. And it is not surprising: the previous work of Yana Kolama, the current head of the Jaguar design bureau, the design department Aston Martin. Jan knows a lot about pumped buttocks: at the DBS supercar, they are damn appetizing!
Puck!
Replacing S-Type arrived in time, nothing to say. Only 11 years have passed! During this time, competitors were updated three times, so Jaguar needed a step forward, but a jump. And this also applies to the interior.
Inside there was less tree, skin and luxury in general, but plastic, aluminum and ergonomics are now enough for everyone. The number of buttons is reduced to a minimum, and all control (naturally, except for the steering wheel and gearbox) is carried out from the main touch monitor located on the central console. By the way, not only the display, but also the glove box buttons and turning on the lamps for reading cards differ in supersensitive properties.
Getting driving is very easy and very convenient. You feel not at home, but as in a large leader in the last word. As soon as you find yourself in the cabin and close the driver's door, the Start button begins to pulsate brightly, as if in a heart rhythm. Start and the motor come to life and light rustling. After a vibro-sound greeting, four panels turn into rotary deflectors, turning around the front side, and in the central tunnel, in the literal sense of the word, a rotary washer like a patented BMW IDRive selector grows. The metal cylinder is called Jaguardrive Selector. The turning point of the Jaguar switching interface is not only spectacular, but also effective. The circle is located right at hand and turns on easily with a well -twisted effort.
Seeing something like Jaguardrive Selector, conservative S-Type customers would surely fill dealers with refusals. But a decade later, this device should cause a diametrically opposite reaction.
Fast, dear, British
Whoever considers Jaguar XF is not fast enough, let it scream it to any of the exhaust pipes of the 5-liter XFR sedan, which is in full swing work on Coventry. But the civilian sedan is not a weakness. What costs a 4.2-liter compressor version with a capacity of 416 liters. With.!
The three -liter Jaguar XF is the slowest in the family, but far from the most on the road. The puck is in the drive, gas to the floor, and the whisper of six cylinders turns into a uterine roar, which was worked on Jaguar with special care. After 5,000 rpm, he penetrates the salon, but so conceived; This bass is an integral part of the interior. Hearing this voice, drivers begin to give way, not even having time to make out growling in the side mirror. V6 engine with a capacity of 238 liters. With. And a six -speed automatic machine from ZF perfectly find a common language. To move from measured driving to fast, it is not necessary to convert the box selector to the sport (S) mode: just be more persistent with the right pedal.
The speeds switch quickly, and a set up to 200 km/h will not make you wait long. So why sport mode? To switch even faster, and the machine is more willing to slow down with the engine. And with the help of steering wheel petals, you can make a gearbox completely manual except that, approaching the cutting, the transmission will incredulously lean increased.
In the urban cycle of movement, with its inherent low speeds and small angles of rotation of the steering wheel, the latter suffers from vigor and slurred feedback. And the chassis settings, at least with a conventional suspension (an active CATS suspension on the XF) is beyond praise. Jaguar, to the joy of connoisseurs of the brand, turned out to be from among cars that combine high smoothness with sports control. The brand is transformed; For example XF, this is clearly visible. However, this is not all, and Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata group of the groups, being an outstanding businessman, will certainly return the stunting brand to life. He promised not to repeat Ford mistakes and regularly update the model ranks of his new companies. At the same time, the image of British brands will not change. So, Jaguar cars will remain Jaguar in India. Fast, expensive and a little British
The car is provided by the company Autobiography by the official jaguar dealer.
Text: Alexander Korobchenko
Photo: Roman Zubko
Source: Wheel magazine [April 2008]
