The all-new Jaguar XF was launched in South Africa just over a year ago, and shortly thereafter a Jaguar XF 2.0d Sport press vehicle was delivered to me for these road impressions. The original Jaguar XF was an extremely important model for Jaguar and did exceptionally well in the market place. The all-new Jaguar XF however, is lighter, more efficient and packed with the latest technology.

The design of the new XF is a typical Jaguar and you won’t mistake it for anything else. With its low stance, coupé-like design, longer wheelbase and 19” 5-arm black alloy wheels which on the press vehicle were shod with low profile 245/40R19 Dunlop Sport Radials, plus there’s a space-saver spare below the boot-board. At the rear, the XF's tail lights feature a distinctive, Jaguar F-TYPE inspired, double roundel and intersecting horizontal detail. The LED brake lights are not only brighter than halogen bulbs, they use less energy. Within the tail lights is a pinstripe graphic and there’s a small subtle spoiler on the boot lid, said to increase down-force at 160km/h for greater stability and it has twin exhausts.

The all-new XF is a little shorter and lower than the original XF, yet at the rear there’s a bit more legroom, knee-room and headroom than before. Aerodynamically the drag coefficient drops from 0.29 to just 0.26. The all-new XF 2.0d retains features such as the rotary shift controller, rotating air vents and phosphor blue ambient lighting, and adds the InControl Touch infotainment system, XF's hub for connectivity, control and entertainment. Its 8 inch Touch-screen with intuitive touch and swipe controls.

Other features include Meridian audio with USB and Bluetooth, cruise control, black and red highly bolstered electric front sports seats, R-Sport multi-function steering wheel, power windows and mirrors, GPS, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry and start, reversing camera with parking sensors at the front and rear, auto headlights and wipers, auto-parking and leather trim.

The all-new XF offers a host of additional technology including; full-LED headlights, a colour laser head-up display, adaptive cruise control with queue-assist, lane keep-assist, intelligent speed limiter and automated parking. If the high-beam assist function is specified, the stereo camera will detect other vehicles in the distance, and the headlights will be dipped automatically as necessary to avoid dazzling other drivers.

Inside is quite lavish. There’s plenty of room for front passengers, while the rear seat occupants will find legroom quite generous if the seat in front is not set too far back. The rear headlining is carved out to accommodate the taller folk. A unique feature carried over from the previous model, on start-up the transmission’s rotary selector rises majestically from the center console and the air vents roll open, the latter an XF trademark. There are a total of four upholders’, two up front and two in the rear center armrest and door pockets in each door. The boot holds a massive 505 litres and can still be folded down for longer items.

Safety equipment includes; six airbags, ABS, traction, stability and corner braking controls, brake assist, autonomous emergency braking and lane departure warning.

The new Jaguar XF 2.0d Sport is powered by a 4-cylinder 2-litre turbo-charged diesel engine that delivers 132 kw at 4 000 rpm and 340 Nm of torque at 1 750 Nm and transfers power to the rear wheels via an eight speed automatic transmission, that offers three driving modes: Eco, normal and dynamic. I mainly used normal, which I found to be very flexible. Fuel consumption is given as just 5.2 litres per 100 kms but in practice I couldn’t match that as the trip recorder indicating that the test car averaged 7.2 which is still good for a large saloon. The fuel tank holds 70 litres.

The 2-litre turbo-diesel, while by no means a “hot” sports saloon, is quite lazy on pull-off but once off the mark and mobile, its good torque comes in to play and in acceleration tests, from a standing start with the gearbox set on dynamic and manual mode, flooring the accelerator got it to the 4 000 rpm redline rapidly, before tugging at the paddle behind the steering wheel to change up a gear, and it crossed the 100 km/h mark in 8.3 seconds which is not bad at all. Top speed is given as 229 km/h. On the freeways travelling at the 120 km/h legal limit, the 2-litre turbo-diesel Jag XF 2.0d spins at a very low 1 600 rpm and even at 160 km/h it only registers 2 200 km/100 km. The sports suspension is a little on the firm side, but makes up for it with excellent road-holding and enjoyable high speed cornering, especially fun in Sport mode which turns up the throttle response but doesn’t automatically shift the rotary dial transmission selector into Sport mode.

Road and wind noise is exceptionally well controlled and the engine is so silent that you’d be hard pressed to believe there was a diesel unit under the bonnet. The steering is well weighted and the controls all fall nicely to hand, however for a “sport” model it’s surprising that it doesn’t have aluminium pedals.

The all-new Jaguar XF 2.0d sport is very good looking and certainly turns heads when parked at places like a supermarket. The recommended retail selling price of the Jaguar XF 2.0d Sport is R838 600 which includes a 5 year /100 000 km maintenance plan.