SPORT FOR ALL? (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 92

Jaguar's second generation XF Sportbrake aimed to offer a refreshing alternative to the usual choices when it came to large executive estates - primarily cars like BMW 5 Series, the Mercedes E-Class Estate and the Audi A6 Avant. In taking on these rivals, this MK2 model Sportbrake aimed to tempt buyers with low-slung looks and a package that was refined, efficient, charismatic - and very usable too. There's a 565-litre boot, it can tow up to two tonnes and there's the option of AWD if you need it. Still want that F-PACE?

Modelsword count: 17

5dr 'Sportbrake' estate (2.0 petrol / 3.0 V6 supercharged petrol / 2.0d diesel / 3.0 V6 diesel)

Historyword count: 395

You don't tend to associate Jaguar with estate cars, which if you think about it is a little strange because the British have always liked them. At the moment though, our market seems to like the idea of SUVs even more. So is there still a place - in this case in the full-sized Executive sector - for conventional station wagon motoring? Jaguar thinks there is, delivering us this, the second generation version of their XF Sportbrake. We'll deal with the name first, an amalgamation of 'sportscar' and 'Shooting Brake', a term that gentrified folk have traditionally used to designate more stylised estate cars. This is certainly one of those. Indeed, with its low-raked roof line and emotive F-TYPE sporting cues, it stakes a claim as one of the best looking models that Jaguar makes. First time round with the XF, it took over four years of production before Jaguar got around to making a Sportbrake estate variant - in 2012. With the second generation 'XF260'-series XF design, introduced as a saloon in 2015, things moved a bit quicker, this MK2 XF Sportbrake hitting the showrooms in the Summer of 2017. Which was a year after Jaguar had launched the car that went on to account for almost 40% of its total sales, the F-PACE mid-sized SUV. This XF Sportbrake was priced and powered very similarly to that model, but was a much rarer sight on the roads. For some potential buyers though, it might conceivably be a better fit than an F-PACE - indeed a better fit than any premium mid-sized SUV, thanks to sharper handling and slightly better levels of running cost efficiency. Mind you, that was also the argument all of this Sportbrake model's direct large Executive estate competitors used - cars like BMW's 5 Series Touring and the Mercedes E-Class estate, both of which by 2017 had been recently much improved, partly in order to counter the threat posed by Audi's fifth generation A6 Avant. This Jaguar needed to be very good indeed to stay with opposition of this calibre, hence this MK2 model's provision of slightly more load space, more frugal 'Ingenium'-series engines and some genuinely clever lifestyle touches. There was a mid-term update in 2020. And a final light update in 2024 to last the car until Jaguar pulled out of the UK market at the end of 2024.

What You Getword count: 547

If style is your sole determining factor in choosing a full-sized executive estate, then it's hard, we'd suggest, to look beyond this one. Designer Wayne Burgess was a part-time rock musician who would probably use this XF's extra capacity for sound equipment. He certainly seems to have been someone unafraid to go against station wagon convention in designing a car of this kind. It might be a touch ridiculous to add sportscar touches to the equivalent practically-orientated models from Audi, BMW, Mercedes or Volvo. But this Sportbake's fast, sweeping silhouette is different and more dynamic, making its F-TYPE-inspired rear end treatment somehow entirely fitting. A seat in the front of an XF has always been a special experience. If you ever tried the first generation model, what you'll probably remember most is the way the start-up sequence brought the car to life as the rotary gear selector rose up from the centre console and the air vents rotated into position. In creating this 'XF260'-series second generation model, the brief was to retain a real sense of occasion but mature and simplify the design language a little. So there was a classier, more modern look as Jaguar's designers sought to find more interesting and contemporary ways to say 'luxury': largely, their efforts worked. The rising circular gear selector remained on automatic models: so did the cartwheeling air vents, though they were reduced in number and thrown to the edges of the cabin, with the centre of the fascia freed up for the 10.2-inch 'InControl Touch Pro' infotainment system. Get settled and as you look around, the height of the waistline and the centre console gives the safe, driver-focused feeling of being sat in the beautifully supportive leather seat, rather than on it. At the same time, the strong horizontal theme of the instrument panel, the layering of it and the materials used for each layer creates the kind of rich, luxurious, hand-crafted ambience you just don't get in this car's Teutonic rivals. Just one example of that is what Jaguar called the 'Riva Hoop' (named after the famous powerboat), a veneered strip that sweeps from the doors right round behind a dashboard that on plusher models can be coated with exquisite stitched leather. The previous model really had no more room on the back seat than you'd have got from a car in the next class down. Even with this MK2 design, three adults will still need to be on personable terms, but two will be very comfortable indeed. The XF saloon gives you a 540-litre trunk, so if you go for this Sportbrake estate body style, you might reasonably be expecting the capacity to be quite a lot larger. Actually, the figure is 565-litres, though the space available is squarer and more usable than a conventional boot area would be. If you need more room but still need to carry a couple of rear-seated passengers, you'll be pleased to see that the rear bench has a central split so that long items like skis can be poked through. If you do need to flatten everything then you can use the discreet levers positioned inside the flush cargo side panels (or controls on the seat backs themselves), all of which frees up 1,700-litres of completely flat loading space.

To see the full road test text contact us on 0330 0020 227