NEW Jaguar XE

They really can't put a foot wrong these days can they. Beautiful machinery!

Looking forward to the daysul. Class yoke.

To be fair, nobody has driven it yet, so it's important to reserve final judgement.

That said, judging from reactions on other websites during the last 24 hours, a lot of people are underwhelmed by the design of the XE, especially the interior. The exterior looks like a cross between the outgoing XF and perhaps an Audi A4. To that extent, the exterior looks a bit derivative or "me too". For all its flaws, the current Lexus IS has the more "edgy" exterior - the XE looks as bland as its German rivals.

However, the car's aluminium body gives it an advantage (for now) over its German rivals.

I'm reminded of all the hoopla when the F-Type roadster launched last year. Some elements of the UK motoring press lost the plot trying to find adjectives to praise the car. Now, over a year later:
- There is consensus that the car is too heavy.
- The residuals on the V8 version are awful (in the UK, at least).
- In the US (where luxury and premium car sales are very healthy), the car is proving difficult to move off garage forecourts (pricing is probably the main deal breaker).

Looks to me like jag came up with a classy design in the xf and used it on the xj and now this xe.

captainspeed wrote: »

Have to say, I'm very underwhelmed by the interior. There's nothing wrong with it per say, and had it been launched this time last year, it would have been top of the class, I think it is marginally better than the 3 series (then again, BMW doesn't really bother making any kind of effort with their cars these days, except of course to cut costs as much as they can get away with, as evidenced by the wrong wheel drive 2 series Active Tourer thing). But in the past year we've had the new C-class, and as a result, the interior is already totally outclassed.

If everything else about the car is good (and I don't see any reason why that can't be the case), it could still be a class leader; after all the C-class is meant to be a bit underwhelming to drive without the very expensive air suspension and of course, Merc's four cylinder diesels are complete tractors, even by the (low) standards of four cylinder diesel engines they're very unrefined, and the 3 series isn't meant to be all that good without the expensive adaptive M sport suspension.

I bet a bog-standard XE will be at least as good as an adaptively or air suspended 3 series or C-class.

The CO2 is low as well, but I don't like the fact that the service interval is 21,000 miles - that's just WAY too long to be leaving the same oil in an engine no matter how many long life additives are in it.

Good to see Jaguar are still offering a six pot petrol engine (not relevant in Ireland admittedly, but nice to know that it is available in countries that aren't as obsessed with low road tax), and I note their comments about the 'Ingenium' engine being a suitable basis for an XE R model; I read somewhere (perhaps Mr David can confirm) that the new engines are a modular design a la BMW's latest engines, and it can be made a straight six; well I certainly would love to see the return of a Jaguar with a straight six engine under the bonnet .

Agree with you on some points but it's premature and frankly outrageous to claim that any variant of the XE might be class leading - for now, at least. People can criticise BMW all they like but the facts are that the 3 series defined the compact executive segment and has led the segment ever since. In recent years, the C class and the A4 have got closer to the 3 series but despite the interior and overall build quality of the new C class its refinement and some of the engines in the range have been criticised heavily, so for now BMW can rest easy.

If I was in the market for a small executive saloon id probably buy one instead of a 3 series, just because the current 3 is ugly and every second car on the road is a bloody 3 series.

A fine looking car, will be interesting to see how it stacks up once its released. And i dont think counting on the motoring press to give a decent account of a car is going to teach you much, they have their favourites and they will have their national pride and they somehow those always end up being just that little bit better.....

ba_barabus wrote: »

A source in the know was very disappointed with the A4 rear they bolted on to the back, particularly the lights. He described it as a bit bland and already done.............and exactly what the market wants. He liked the drive and reckoned it was at least a match for the best in class. In fact he reckoned it was great around a track.

If they can get the quality right it should have no problems selling. While it's not as mind blowing as I'd like it's exactly the right styling for the segment it's in.

Not sure what parts you worked on but I approve of it.

Agree, the rear end is the weak point for me. Front end looks very well though. Have to wait and see on the interior, the launch colours are awful imo.

The 3L supercharged petrol should be a proper weapon, that engine is a peach in the F type.

It's such a touch sector, I hope it does well.

Btw my contribution was from the aeroacoustic point of view so design of bonnet/wing mirrors/A post/sealing systems etc with a view to minimising wind noise.

Tea 1000 wrote: »

@Mr. David, is it the UK where most of the tests were done? Also, what qualifications do you need for your job? I assume jobs like that don't come up often!

Testing would be performed at various locations around the world. We used an acoustically treated wind tunnel in Germany for a lot of our work.

Qualifications wise I have a degree in Mech Eng!

fmcg_scribe wrote: »

Agree that many motoring journalists used to have a bias for certain BMW models but in recent years that has changed. New BMWs are longer guaranteed five star reviews and many reviewers are unsure about the direction in which BMW is going.

In fairness, the days when motoring journalists used to give BMWs glowing reviews and five star verdicts, they were deserved. The E39 5 series is an exceptional car, it was so far ahead of the A6 and E-class of the time. It's still a great car, even today.

The E46 and E90 were also great cars and were class leaders until almost the very end, but I note that already What Car no longer say the F30 is the best compact executive car. I don't agree with their choice (they say the A3 is the best), but stil, that kind of thing wouldn't have happened in times gone by. The F30 has most certainly been criticised for its driving dynamics (unless you buy it with the very expensive adapative suspension, and how many people are going to do that? Hardly any I reckon) and the N47 is an unrefined engine - it is a four cylinder diesel after all. Plus, as we know, it's one of the most unreliable diesel engines ever made with the infamous timing chain problem.

The press reviews of the pseudo BMW Active Tourer yoke say it doesn't even drive as well as the best in class, before when BMW used to do something that its fans would be screaming blue murder about they used to do it so well the critics were sent home with their tails between their legs.

For example, when the 335i came about, there was a massive fuss, because it was the first petrol BMW with a turbo in over 20 years and BMW had always extolled the virtues of naturally aspirated petrol engines. Then once people drove it they said it was like a large capacity NA engine because there was no lag and the throttle response and noise were as good as an NA BMW six. I've never driven an N54 but it certainly sounds awesome and it has the best of both worlds in that it pulls like a diesel at low revs but then as the revs increase it's a like a proper petrol engine with no let up until the redline.

One might have expected when they decided to go wrong wheel drive they would have made the ride and handling so good it would confound the critics, but it's very clear that it's not even that good by the standards of the class, so that means it's totally rubbish for a BMW - the self-proclaimed makers of the "Ultimate Driving Machine" after all.

I really believe they no longer care (certainly at that end of the market) about how good their cars are, they quite arrogantly point out that the badge will be enough for many. Unfortunately, they're probably right. As an aside, it really amused me how in the just released promo material for the 2 series cabrio how they made an issue of the fact that it's the only car in its segment with wait for it.... rear wheel drive!

And in their technology section of their global website, there is a bit about that thing that always distinguised them from everyone else - rear wheel drive.

This isn't personal opinion, this is what BMW themselves say about the advantages of rear wheel drive:

"BMW's characteristic agility and dynamic performance are the keys to driving pleasure. Rear-wheel drive is an important part of this, providing ideal thrust for perfect performance.

The best solution for vehicle dynamics is the standard drive, with the engine at the front and the drive force at the back, a division of labour that has a positive influence on steering, motion and comfort. Rear-wheel drive enables the characteristic BMW weight distribution of almost exactly 50% on the front axle and 50% on the rear."


http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/technology_guide/articles/rear_wheel_drive.html



And there's a nice YouTube video from BMW explaining why rear wheel drive is in their opinion better than front wheel drive:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHejSP27wis


Wise words from the BMW people there. So how is making a front wheel drive 2 series (or anything with the blue and white propellor badge) right?

You can always spec the 2 series with x-drive, which is biased to rear wheel drive, if it's such an issue.

I haven't driven one without it bar a short test drive although I recently drove a 4 gran coupe for about 10 miles and it seemed as if there was a good bit more roll in it, but tbf it was a different car/engine to mine. You can't disable it to compare.