'Let's maul down the BMW 3 Series, Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class!' says Jaguar XE. The premium compact sedan, which made its premiere in Malaysia early last year, was one of the test car that this writer got his hands on at the recent Drive Luxury Edition by Carlist taking place at TPC Kuala Lumpur golf club. I was handed the entry level XE Prestige variant for the test drive.
It's a handsome looking sedan that dares you to provoke it. It's menacing looking bumper, sharp looking HID Xenon headlight with LED daytime running light and LED taillight speaks for itself. This family hauler isn't just a looker, but there's a beast lurking under that aluminium monocoque.
It all started when I approached Jaguar's booth at TPC. I booked online in advance to test drive both the XE and the marque's SUV, the F-Pace. However, I was told by the people manning the booth each person was limited to just one car due to backlog of customers placing their test drive booking. After a brief moment of rumination, I decided to try out the XE instead. I came not to regret my decision.
I was led to the Bluefire XE Prestige waiting for me at the main lobby. There it was purring away as a gaggle of cars slipped past the dark blue compact sedan in a rainy day.
Let's start off with the nitty gritty shall we? Dwelling under the XE Prestige bonnet is a 2.0 litre turbocharged inline 4 cylinder petrol, sending 200 PS and 280 Nm of torque to the rear wheels, enabling the XE Prestige to sprint from 0-100 kph in 7.7 seconds; top speed is rated at 237 kph. Mated to the mill is an 8 speed torque converter automatic transmission with paddle shifters. The mill achieves combined fuel consumption of 7.5L/100 km and emits 179 g/km of CO2. As you can see from the photo above, the '20t' emblem is its state of tune designation. Go one trim up (R-Sport) and you'll have '25t' emblem tacked on the tailgate of the XE signifying a higher output.
Ride and handling is taken care of by front double wishbone and rear integral link suspension. The setup theoretically endows the XE Prestige with sharper handling. Complementing the ride and handling section is Jaguar's torque vectoring by braking which gently brakes the inside rear wheel during cornering to limit wheel slip. At the helm of the steering is an Electric Power Steering.
Step inside the leaping cat, leather seat and multi-function steering wheel greet you with its cossetting touch. Optioning the Prestige trim proffers 2 interior colour choices: Jet with Siena Tan and Latte with Jet. The test car came with the former option.
Serving as your command centre is Jaguar's proprietary InControl Touch which is an 8-inch touchscreen that displays information such as GPS navigation and front and rear parking distance. Media interface include AM/FM radio, bluetooth connectivity, iPod integration and AUX-IN audio.
Seat adjustment is possible thanks to electrically adjustable seat with memory setting.
Taking the centre stage is Jaguar's rotary shifter, JaguarDrive Control which let's you choose between Dynamic, Normal, Eco and Winter mode, Electronic Parking Brake and Cruise Control.
There's also a decent fitment of safety features, made up by Hill Start Assist, Emergency Brake Assist, Dynamic Stability Control and Traction Control, airbags on the driver, front passenger side and side window curtain, and ISOFIX rear child seat anchor.
The Prestige trim rolls on standard 17-inch Turbine 10 spoke wheel, but oddly enough the test car I drove sports an optional 18-inch Templar 5 twin spoke wheel. Maybe to sell the cool perhaps?
On the pricing front, the XE Prestige carries with it a RM340k price tag (including GST but excluding road tax, registration, insurance, optional features and accessories). Without further delay, time to get the wheel rolling.
Setting off from TPC, the test drive followed a designated route as directed by Jaguar's marketing specialist accompanying me.
At the beginning of the test drive, the car was already in dynamic mode (I guess the previous customer left it in dynamic so the next person in line can have a blast). Toggling drive modes change the instrument cluster's highlight, with dynamic changing it to red (looks MAD!!) as illustrated by the photo above. Selecting this mode makes the leaping cat even more badass which I will get to later.
Switching over to Normal, Eco and Winter morph the instrument cluster highlight to a more subdued tone. As explained to me by the marketing specialist on hand, Normal strikes a good balance between ride comfort and performance, good for those who prefer to leave the decision making to the car rather than fumbling around with the drive mode selector; Eco tones the cat down for luxurious feel and to cut down appointment with the gas station; Winter acts sort of like traction control when you're stuck in snow, limiting power to reduce wheel slip to keep you from marooning your cat in a thick blanket of snow as you navigate a snowy thoroughfare.
Considering there's no winter in Malaysia, this mode can be regarded as redundant. I didn't try out Normal, Eco and Winter mode during the test drive though.
Back to the test drive. Being in dynamic mode, I could already feel the angry cat squirming in my hands. It was ballistic! Yet refine. Even over pockmarked Malaysian road, the XE Prestige just literally 'float' over the road imperfection. Kind of like a limo. Nevertheless, the engine response was savage.
The turn of speed would have you slack-jawed. It was remarkably rapid. It gets even more theatrical as the test drive took place under inclement weather. With brutal power delivery, it's very easy to provoke traction control.
It was quite a hairy moment. I could vividly recall as I was slowing down for a U-turn, downshifting to 2nd gear (I was shifting with the paddle). As I arrived at the exit, I eased back onto the throttle and the next thing I realised, I had the most 'OH SHIT' moment of my driving experience when the back end briefly kicked out. In a split second, the traction control light flickered away on the instrument cluster signalling its intervention to save me from killing myself.
That was one heck of a cat to tame when you're driving around in dynamic mode. Despite that, it's still a livable cat to live with. Though the road was soaked, it still remains tractable as long you don't overreach your skill level and drive responsibly.
Is Jaguar's compact sedan a comfortable car for highway cruising? Indeed it is. The suspension does a great job in filtering out the road imperfection to keep you from feeling nauseous. The leather seat ensconce you securely, exuding the premium feel associated with the brand from Coventry. I was in dynamic mode the entire time and yet I never felt sore after the test drive.
With 455 litres of boot space, there's ample space to load it up with luggage for a comfortable trip to kampung or on a long family vacation. Thankfully, a space saver spare wheel is provided over a tyre repair kit that has caught up with a fair number of cars lately.
Is the Jaguar XE Prestige a good day-to-day driver? My initial impression from the short test drive suggests an affirmative. It's not too brutal nor too soulless. It's a perfectly well-balanced cat that can get you from point A to point B in relative comfort with unadulterated dynamism to boot. It's a win-win proposition in my humble opinion.
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