Instrumented Test
All-wheel-drive sports sedans are a prerequisite for any manufacturer serious about racking up sales in markets where the weather can get frightful. Jaguar learned this the hard way in places like the American Northeast, where BMW’s xDrive, Mercedes-Benz’s 4MATIC, and Audi’s Quattro AWD systems rendered the British brand’s products all but invisible.
That’s not to say that Jaguar is all of a sudden more than a bit player in comparison to the Teutonic trio, but its sales veritably exploded when it fast-tracked and retrofitted an all-wheel-drive system to the XF and XJ luxury sedans. And sports-car fans take note: Jaguar recently announced certain variants of the 2016 F-type would be available with AWD, too.
Although the rear-drive XF is available with engines ranging from a 240-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four to a stonkin’ 550-hp supercharged V-8, the AWD XF comes paired exclusively with the 340-hp 3.0-liter supercharged V-6. We’re not complaining, as the 3.0-liter is a brawny beast that churns up 332 lb-ft of twist from 3500 to 5000 rpm.
Mated to a ZF-supplied eight-speed automatic transmission with the requisite paddle shifters, the V-6 delivers its output in a linear fashion and obediently follows commands to rev, spinning smoothly to its 6500-rpm horsepower peak. The thrust is accompanied by a reserved soundtrack well suited to the car’s elegant exterior. We shaved nearly an entire second off Jag’s quoted zero-to-60-mph time of 6.1 seconds, with our test driver turning in a 5.3-second sprint. Keeping the throttle pinned sent the XF through the quarter-mile in 13.9 seconds at 102 mph, respectable numbers for a 4385-pound car.
This XF’s accelerative feats can partially be credited to the electronically controlled all-wheel-drive setup, which Jaguar markets as Instinctive All Wheel Drive. Capable of shuffling up to 50 percent of the available torque to the front wheels when conditions dictate, it can also preload torque on the front wheels to optimize traction when accelerating from a dead stop. Once underway, it transfers the bulk of the power back to the rear wheels for maximum acceleration. (Do that often, however, and you’ll end up with a low fuel-economy number like our 17-mpg figure. The car is rated for 17 mpg city and 27 mpg highway.)
It’s easy to make friends with the XF’s brake pedal, a firm, honest device that flawlessly relays commands to the binders and operates with a short range of travel. Progressive and smooth around town, the brakes respond to deep presses in stride, our test driver noting zero fade on the way to posting a 70-to-0-mph stopping distance of 169 feet. That metric falls within spitting distance of the competition; for example, both the Mercedes-Benz E350 4MATIC and the Lexus GS350 AWD turned in 165-foot stops.
But it’s the chassis that remains the XF’s ultimate weapon. With light and accurate steering that’s quick to respond to inputs, the fleet-footed XF is more reassuring and dynamic in real-world use than its middling 0.84-g skidpad figure would indicate. The chassis can be cycled through three modes—Normal, Dynamic, and Winter—that tailor the engine response, shift characteristics, AWD system, and stability control to the task at hand. Winter mode sends 30 percent of the torque forward as the default setting, key when you’re scrabbling for purchase on a snowblown road. Pushed hard in Dynamic mode, the XF slightly understeers, its 19-inch 245/40 tires intimating that physics would like to have a word with you. Push harder and the stability control will intervene just as the tires begin to shout.
Available in either Sport or Portfolio trim for the same $60,800 MSRP, our XF 3.0 AWD was the latter, which emphasizes luxury over, uh, sportiness. That means heated and cooled power front seats, soft-grain leather trim with contrasting stitching and a faux-suede headliner, a heated steering wheel, and adaptive headlamps. Adding a heated windshield ($375) and fancy silver paint ($500) brought the as-tested price to $61,675. (For comparison, a BMW 535i xDrive starts at $58,850; adding heated front seats and adaptive headlamps brings the Bimmer’s price to $61,250.) If junior-executive club-room chic isn’t your thing, the Sport trim swaps the Portfolio’s 19-inch rollers for 20-inch wheels, ladles on some black exterior trim, adds sport seats, Bond-grain leather, and nets some piano-black interior trim.
Whichever way you go, you’ll end up with a satisfying sports sedan with all-weather peace of mind—and a surefire way to stand out from the typical luxury herd.
