2009 JAGUAR XF First Steer
30 Apr, 2008
24 Comments 
A criticism would be the lack of feeling in the steering, while it is light initially it then seems to loose its way a bit and doesn’t tell the driver a lot about what is happening under the front wheels.
That said the car always feels well controlled and the ride is very smooth, even though our V8 was riding on 19-inch alloy rims. Mohan told us that the 20 inch wheels that are fitted standard to the Supercharged V8 will be offered across the range, while they might be a good look the ride quality will probably deteriorate markedly.
Even though the car was driven vigorously on the twisty stuff we rarely saw the traction control kick in and when it did it was unobtrusive in its operation, no sudden chop in power that can leave you feel like you don’t know what’s going to happen next.
On the run back down the mountain to Melbourne we had a 3.0-litre V6 and while its 175kW of power and 293Nm of torque, was more than up for the job of hauling the slightly lighter 1679kg car along, it just didn’t have the zing of the V8.
Colleague Anthony Crawford drove the 2.7-litre diesel and you will have to read his impressions of that car but I’d say it is a better prospect that the petrol V6.
The Jaguar is not cheap, and while it mixes in the company of the Lexus GS, Mercedes-Benz E-class and the Audi A6 it gives away a god bit to all those rivals on initial price.
Jaguar-LandRover Australasia managing director David Blackhall, sees little to apologise for with the starting price of $105,500 for the V6 and Diesel, which rises to $130,500 for the V8 and $16,700 for the S/C V8.
He says the new Jaguar is all about style, presence and luxury and he wanted the latter to be right in the cars, not the price.
Blackhall believes that if Jaguar can deliver a new experience to luxury car buyers then they will turn away from the German and Japanese rivals.
Time will tell if he is right, but he certainly has a good prospect on his hands, in the Jaguar XF, with which to start.
Location: Home / Jaguar, First Steer, Behind the Wheel / ...
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(9 votes, average: 4.44 out of 5)
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April 30th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I got an XF to bad it’s 21 years old with a ford badge, can i swap it for this. this is a nice looking car.
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April 30th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I dunno, the exterior styling still looks a bit contrived to me. The chrome strip around the rear side window looks a bit too thick. The headlights look too big and ugly. The grille - mmmm… The thick chrome strip across the boot looks like it was copied from a Statesman ! Can’t see it would be any better than a CLS Merc to get into the back of…
The inside though looks good and has a few new gimmicks to get the punters in. The silver switches IMHO are a bit tacky and their function isn’t as easy to see in daylight as those with a black background but generally it seems a nice place to be !
But would I buy one - nah…
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April 30th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
Interior : Nice
Side Profile : Nice
Rear End : Nice
Front : BUTT UGLY
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April 30th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Lovely, lovely, lovely! Beautiful - some people who didn’t know too much about cars would mistake it for a 4 door Aston Martin. My friend in Manchester just got one and I went up to see it and its sooooo much nicer than my old S-Type. I got rid of the S-Type about 5 years ago because the interior wasnt all that pleasant and it had bad electrics but I may be about to get one of these.
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April 30th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
Fantastic looking piece of automotive sculpture, and very overdue for anyone with respect for what Jaguar’s were in the past.
My only wish is that the headlights were more aggressive like the show cars. Otherwise, brilliant. Love the interior too.
With good road manners too, Jag should finally be onto a winner. I’d buy one if I had a spare $100k or so.
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April 30th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
the concept photo looks awesome.
yes i can see that many cues ended up on the production version, but why is it that the concept photo looked a mile better.
compare all the body lines and they are the same.
its like the production version got a bit bloated.
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April 30th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
ahh the front lights spoil the whole car. everything else looks sophisticated and those lights look like something kia would do… there you go.. i said it.. kia lights.
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April 30th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Front is ugly, Rear only looks good because it’s very similar to an Aston Martin. Looks like they couldn’t decide to copy Aston Martin or Bentley. Then someone decided it didn’t have any carry through Jag styling, so they mixed in a Jaguar light bulge that carries through the bonnet.
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April 30th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
I tend to agree with TP, I love it from every angle, except the front. Not sure why but it just doesn’t cue in to the rest of the car, I think mainly it’s the large outboard headlamp. The prototype front looks better IMO.
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May 1st, 2008 at 12:05 am
I thinks it looks great all-round, however the headlights are the least attractive part. why could they not be more like the concept showcar? probably cos they would look dated too soon. Obviously not a car for our friend the Stig. Stick with the statesman then.
As for the techno bits, I love to see them, why have a big clunky lever when a small knob will do, why have a bloody great lever for a hand-break when a little one attached to servos will do. Most of the manufacturers fail on this point burying their heads in the sand and thinking lets stick with the Dinosaur age thats what we know best. BMW’s idrive cock-up accepted.
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May 1st, 2008 at 3:16 am
Looks yuk and nothing like a Jag.
Best days now that curry-eaters are running the slow are OVER
PASS, get a Benz or Lexus
Cheeers
F-0
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:13 am
I think it looks fine and tad sad - will be better in metal but! If that looks yuk, well your outta luck as you support Toyota whitegoods that are as exciting on the WOW factor as watching grass grow!
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:15 am
frugal if it looked like a older jag then you would whinge that it looked the same am i correct??
I think that is a hot looking car bar the front, looks like they have bought some cheap mesh to finish it off with!
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:16 am
Nice looking car……….you can easily see the similarities to the lovely sleek Mondeo and the FG Falcon, not surprising really seeing that this was really designed by Ford. Looks like the doors would go straight on to a FG !!! The headlights could be better but still look ok…….
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:37 am
TONYN -
Prezactly, the front looks like it was done by Koreans.
What sort of drugs do Koreans take anyway?I want some!:-)
Ssassyong[sp?] and early Daewoos…..wow spaced out designers on rec.type drugs 4sure!!
Cheers
F-0
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May 1st, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Front lights spoil an otherwise nice looking car
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Hyundai Elantra Coupe anyone?
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May 1st, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Are you a comedian by trade cameron?
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May 6th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
Price in UK $A70 700 - $A114 500
Price in Australia $105 500 - $166 700
Please explain why is there such a great difference Jaguar-LandRover Australasia?
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May 6th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Yep - the reason is you guys get ripped for lux cars. Whereas we get ripped for everything but lux cars. Try mondeo Au = ~A$34K UK = A$39K
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May 8th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
The imported Mondeo is not subject to the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) but LCT on the $A105 500 XF is $A11 020, so on this occasion someone other than the government is responsible for the majority of the rip-off.
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May 9th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
The headlight bumps are usually at the bottom part, as in many BMW, but the XF’s are on top. It looks a bit odd, maybe too artsy fartsy but the whole car looks pretty promising outside. It’s about time the S-Type be replaced; even the previous generation 5-Series was far better than that.
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June 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Pity the new Jag isn’t aimed at younger crowd in Aus as it’s being marketed to in the rest of the world. Unfortunately us aussies get the honor of paying the highest price in the world for the XF. For example the bottom of the line model in the US (which by the way is the N/A V8) is US$49,995 ~ in Aus it was around AUD$135,000, not including on road costs and not including the new tax hike… so lets call it US$50,000 verses AUD$155,000. So if you want to project the image of an obese, balding (with perhaps a comb over) 50 ~ 60 year old with yellowing teeth then go right ahead and get this car because that’s the demographic jag is squarely aiming for in Aus.
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June 6th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
A more glowing review of the car couldn’t be writen by Jag’s own PR department.
Yes, it’s a great car…But come on guys, let’s hear the flaws along with the superlatives please?
rising gear selector and pulsing heartbeat start button, all cool stuff granted, but won’t that novelty wear in time?
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