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2017 Jaguar XE: We'll miss our long-termer, but not its diesel engine

This may be automotive journalist blasphemy, but diesels aren't always a good thing. And I don't mean that from an emissions standpoint. Sometimes the diesel in question isn't a good engine, and/or is a bad fit for the cars to which they're fitted. Our long-term Jaguar XE diesel is a textbook case of both issues. The first issue becomes apparent from the moment the 2.0-liter turbodiesel four-cylinder fires up with all the clattering, tapping and ticking that can only come from a compression-ignition engine. It's far from the shaking and knocking of full-size diesel trucks of a few decades ago, but it definitely feels a generation or two behind other diesel cars. For instance, we had a diesel Chevy Cruze in the office, which was quieter and smoother than the Jaguar despite a base price roughly $10,000 less. It becomes a bit smoother and less raucous as revs increase, but the volume remains rather high, making it sound as though the engine is struggling more than it is. Though, to Jaguar's credit, the company has managed to keep virtually all engine vibrations from entering the cabin. Now, the diesel engine's voice would be less problematic if it provided some engaging performance, but, outside of the high fuel-economy numbers, there's hardly any to be found. This may seem surprising considering the Jaguar's 318 pound-feet of torque, but that torque figure lasts only briefly from 1,750 rpm to 2,500 rpm. After that, the torque rapidly falls off, and you don't see the Jag's meager 180 horsepower peak until 4,000 rpm -- not far off of the engine's roughly 5,000-rpm redline. As a result, the XE has adequate passing power and around-town shunt, but anytime you want to play with more revs, it faceplants. But at least it does nail, and even exceed, its 40-mpg highway fuel economy rating without trying. The faults of this diesel engine are then exacerbated by the fact that it's in such a smooth and fun car as the XE. It positively glides across rough city streets and highways, keeping the chassis steady and its passengers soothed. Coupled with a quiet cabin, the XE is a peaceful place to be. At least it would be if the diesel didn't rudely interrupt every time the throttle pedal is pressed. Through some sort of black magic, the XE handles about as well as it rides. The incredibly sensitive and accurate steering is superb. It feels like adjustment knobs on a high-end stereo -- weighted perfectly and fine enough to get it right where you want it.

Watch thieves dressed like ninjas hit dealership, steal $583,000 worth of Land Rovers

WAUKESHA, Wis. — A group of teenagers believed to be from the Chicago area broke into a luxury car dealership in Wisconsin and drove off with nine vehicles worth more than a half-million dollars, police said. Sunday's heist at a Jaguar-Land Rover dealership in Waukesha was captured on surveillance camera footage showing nine masked suspects filing into the dealership before each drives off in a car in the city about 19 miles (30.5 kilometers) west of Milwaukee. The video also shows one car being backed up and smashed through an overhead service door. Waukesha Police Capt. Dan Baumann said the suspects broke into the dealership about 6 a.m. Sunday, found where its car keys were stored and then activated those key fobs to find the cars they stole. “Nine subjects went out and throughout there looking for keys. One person finds where the keys were hidden and then starts to disseminate those to his friends,” Baumann told WISN-TV. The nine vehicles are valued at more than $583,000, he said. One suspect, a 17-year-old Chicago boy, was arrested Sunday in the southern Wisconsin community of Pleasant Prairie after the stolen vehicle he was driving crashed along Interstate 94 during a police pursuit. He was being held at the Waukesha County Jail on a $50,000 bond and faces burglary, theft and criminal damage to property charges, Baumann said. Police said Sunday that the suspects are believed to be “an organized crime group of teenagers from the Chicago area.” Baumann said Friday that all or most of the teen suspects are known to members of a police task force in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois and police in that two-state region were still searching Friday for the eight other suspects. Six of the nine stolen vehicles have been recovered — four in Chicago, one in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, and one in Wisconsin after the highway crash that led to the 17-year-old's arrest, he said.

Junkyard Gem: 1990 Jaguar XJ-S Convertible

The Jaguar XJ-S sold for big money, cost big money to keep running, and depreciated hard once its edges got a bit rough. You'll still find examples of the XJ-S in the big American self-service yards nowadays, but this '90 is the first convertible I have found in many years. 4,715 1990 XJ-Ss were sold in the United States; I haven't been able to find a reliable figure for the number of convertibles, but it must have been small. That makes today's Junkyard Gem a real rarity— not as hard to find as a Ford Tempo All-Wheel-Drive, of course, but still a prize. Jaguar kept the 5.3-liter V12 in production from 1971 through 1992, and when it was running properly — which wasn't as often as XJ-S owners wished— it couldn't be beaten for smoothness. By 1990, Jaguar had switched from fuel injection by The Prince of Darkness to a system made by Magneti Marelli. This one is quite rough, and it shows signs of having been parked outdoors with the top down for a few years. Since you can buy nice examples for well under ten grand, restoring this one would have been a money-losing proposition. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Some of you may remember a cameo by a similar XJ-S convertible in the film The Big Lebowski. In it, Bunny Lebowski reveals that none of her toes have been cut off by kidnappers; some suspension of disbelief is required here, because Americans couldn't buy the '90 XJ-S with a manual transmission. Maybe it's a gray-market six-cylinder car. The price tag on a new 1990 XJ-S convertible was a stunning $57,000, which comes to about $113,000 in inflation-adjusted 2018 dollars. Still, BMW shoppers had to pay $70,000 for a new 750iL that year, and that V12-powered machine didn't even have a convertible top. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Here is V12 power wrapped in soft leather. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1990 Jaguar XJ-S Convertible View 22 Photos Auto News Jaguar Automotive History