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2016 Jaguar XF First Drive [w/video]

Jaguar has never had a problem with style or driving joy. Every generation of the British brand's vehicles – with excuses made and accepted in advance for S-Type and X-Type and other outliers – has offered compelling styling and great performance. New kid XF was no exception when it was introduced in 2007. The car's sheetmetal pointed the way forward for the fully up-to-date range we see now, and its confident engines and handling chops were on pace with the best Bimmers, Benzes, and Cadillacs. The first-generation XF made some hay for Jaguar, selling around 280,000 copies through 2014. But those annualized rates still represented a blip on the luxury midsize radar when viewed against the backdrop of the German Three's numbers. Part of that sales story has been down to the E-Classes and 5 Series of the world being consistently excellent, to be sure. But a lot of the blame can be found in Jaguar's historic weak spots. Grace and pace the brand had in spades, but consumer perception of quality and reliability just weren't there, pricing was typically near the top of the class, and the residual values of the cars were low (a combination of all three factors, most likely). Of course, Jag would love to sell a few more cars. But this time, instead of simply building a great-looking, great-driving new XF (which is absolutely the case), the brand is doing some clever non-engineering-based things to put more big cats in more garages than ever before. The tradeoff of very good ride quality is worth the minute amount of roll. After flying all they way to Spain – Pamplona and the Navarra Circuit, by way of Barcelona and a Range Rover adventure you'll hear about soon – I would be remiss not to tell you how the new XF goes down the road. Some 150 kilometers (93 miles) of motorway and challenging b-roads lie between the city with that annual livestock problem and the 2.44-mile, FIA approved racecourse. A route that led me to understand that this XF, in my case the 380-horsepower XF S, has gained more than it has lost in the generational changeover. The company is fully committed to aluminum for its midsizer, with the new car now using a body structure that's 75-percent built from the stuff. I'm told that means a body in white that weighs just over 600 pounds, and an overall weight savings of 11 percent. Body stiffness has been raised by 28 percent in the process.

Jaguar has something special planned for Goodwood

It's been barely a week since JLR announced its new Special Operations division, dedicated to creating limited-run halo cars and custom creations for both the Jaguar and Land Rover brands. Now the British automaker has confirmed the debut of the division's first project.
We don't know what it is, exactly, that Jaguar will be bringing to the Goodwood Festival of Speed later this week, but we bet it'll be exciting. If we were the betting kind, we'd put our money on some kind of hot-rod F-Type, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Alongside whatever JLR Special Operations has got cooking, Coventry will also be bringing the new F-Type R Coupe and XFR-S Sportbrake to run up the hill alongside a whole slew of classic and racing Jaguars, including a pair of D-Types, a Group 44 E-Type, a Group A XJS and the reunion of XJR-9 and Andy Wallace that last saw each other on the top step of the podium at Le Mans in 1988.

Jaguar recalling XK Convertible and XF 2.0T sedan for unrelated issues

Jaguar has announced that it will be recalling 1,989 XK Convertibles produced between October 1, 2010 and August 1, 2013. Model years ranging from 2011 to 2014 are part of the recall.
The issue has to do with one of the switches the switch that controls the opening and closing of the convertible top. The switch also has to do with the operation of the power windows. According to the Feds, the switch doesn't move down to close the power windows, meaning that the window could accidentally close on the finger or arm of an inattentive person.
In related news, Jaguar is also recalling 940 2013 XF sedans powered by the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine for a hose that can detach underhood, which could cause the engine to stall or could leave the driver without power steering or brakes.