2015 Jaguar XF 3.0 TDV6 S UK, car review: The new exec proves itself on British roads – and hits the bullseye

For driver appeal alone, the XF has gone straight to the top of the class

It’s already been said, many times over, that Jaguar’s second-gen XF looks a lot like the first.

It does, but that’s hardly what you’d call a criticism. Unless you thought the Mk1 was ugly, in which case you’re in a minority so small you probably get a government grant.

So let’s cut straight to the chase. Is this new Jag as good as any new executive car must be?

Well, we’ve got the range-topping diesel version here. The 3.0 TDV6 puts 296bhp and 516lb ft at your disposal, which is plenty of the former and shedloads of the latter.

Behind it is the now-familiar eight-speed auto, whose spread of ratios means the whole plot moves as smoothly and silently as you could ever ask for at more or less any speed. The engine only raises its voice if you go at the throttle like a gun dog on a chew toy, and even then the noise it makes comes second to the performance it delivers.

The result is that at any sort of near-enough-legal motorway speed, and quite some way beyond, you sit behind the wheel in perfect peace.

All the same, this is a Jag. And people who buy Jags like to think of themselves as sporty types.

They won’t be disappointed.

The XF is one of those cars which remind you of how important a role ride plays in handling. The surface can be rutted, corrugated, broken, pot-holed or just plain all over the place (proudly British, in other words) and it’ll be dealt with admirably.

This is all happening at the sort of speeds the 3.0 TDV6 is capable of, too. You can press on with real purpose, whether on big, long-striding A-roads or temptingly coquettish B-roads, and it’ll respond with firm but unflappable composure. Body control is outstanding, too, with adaptive shocks dishing up a level of handling that beggars belief.

Like most premium cars now, you can set up the steering response, gas pedal and transmission logic to suit your tastes. It’s so very good with all of them just left in standard, however, that if your taste is mainly just for cars that drive like a dream, playing with them is something you’ll only ever do once.

Something else you can adjust, and in this case it’s in all directions at once, is your seat. It’s heated and leather-clad, obviously, which points to the sort of spec level you get up here, and the sky-high comfort level it allows you as a result exemplifies the general quality of the cabin.

The XF does have some fearsome competitors, though. Chastising it for not quite matching the likes of Audi and BMW for the last word in cabin quality feels picky, but those are its benchmarks – and as it costs more than the equivalent 5 Series, it’s a question that more or less asks itself.

The answer is that yes, there are details which count against this Jag. But details are what they are. And the big story here is that below all the nit-picking is an executive car which ticks every major box.

You can argue all day long about the noise the indicators make. For driver appeal alone, the XF has gone straight to the top of the class.

Jaguar XF 3.0 TDV6 S

On sale Now

Price: £49,945

Engine: V6, 2993cc, turbodiesel

Power: 296bhp at 4000rpm

Torque: 516lb ft at 2000rpm

Gearbox: 8-spd automatic

Kerb weight: 1750kg

0-60mph: 5.8sec

Top speed: 155mph

Economy: 51.4mpg (combined)

CO2/tax band: 144g/km, 25%