Jaguars have always been marvellous cars, renowned for their grace and pace (their words, not mine). But not, sadly, their economy. Even if you could afford to buy a second-hand model – and the depreciation on some cars was horrific making them very affordable after a few years – the running costs would cripple you. The larger engined versions would regularly drop into single figure miles per gallon.
This may be about to change.
The official ‘combined’ figure for the new Jaguar XF 2.2 diesel are 52.3 mpg (5.3 l/100km) but can owners of the baby-engined Jag really expect to get that?
Yes. An XF diesel, with 3,000 miles on the odometer, has just been driven for 816 miles (1,313 kms) on one tank of diesel giving 57 mpg (4.96 l/100km) overall.
An independent tester and his brother drove the car from the Jaguar factory in Birmingham, England to Munich in Germany and the whole journey was witnessed by an independent observer to verify it.
Andy Whyman, Chief Programme Engineer for the XF, met the car at the end of its epic journey and said in a statement:
“The entire development team is very proud of what the new XF 2.2 has achieved – this not only proves the efficiency of the new model but underlines that performance and economy can be combined.”
It’s not just a cheap economy-special though, and nor is it all show and no go. It produces 190 PS and 332 lbs ft of torque, allowing it to sprint from rest to 62mph (100 kph) in just 8.5 seconds on its way to a top speed of 140mph.
It also emits just 149 g/km of CO2, meaning that road tax (in the UK at least) will be relatively cheap at just £130 per year.
The new 2.2-litre engine is mated to a new eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox and an innovative Stop-Start system – the first time such a device has been fitted to a Jaguar – which helped to achieve these remarkable fuel consumption figures.
The car forms part of the new 2012 model range, all of which promise to be faster, quieter, more fuel efficient and better equipped than the outgoing model.
The new 2.2 diesel is available from September 2011.