Jaguar Forums’s First Jaguar XE Extended Test Drive
Jaguar’s “Art of the Performance Tour” just kicked off this month with our first Jaguar Forums member taking delivery of his “extended test drive” Jaguar XE sedan. As you can see in senior member 2010 Kyanite XFR’s write-up, L.A. is the first stop on the seven-city Jaguar tour, so get on it and reserve yours today.
Kyanite has been in tight communication, updating the forum on his experience with Jaguar and driving the new British kitty, Jaguar’s XE V6 with the 8-speed automatic. Let’s run through some of the highlights.
Kyanite is already an owner of a heavily modified Jaguar XF R. From the sound of it, he is biased towards sporty cars, but also demands comfort. He used the driving modes of Sport and Dynamic most of the time, for they had the best responsiveness and feel for his liking. Both those modes squeezed the most fun out of the XE. He mentioned that the mid-range power was phenomenal and pleasing to pull out of rush hour traffic with over 350-plus horsepower to the rear wheels.
Although Kyanite enjoyed the throttle control, the suspension in those modes was a little too harsh for him. He stated that over choppy highway it was far from a luxury ride, but it sounds like the cornering abilities helped him forget that minor issue. His description of driving the XE across high-speed sweeping highway corners, holding the line flat-nosed with little effort, is definitely admirable. Also appetizing is the way he speaks of taking 85 MPH long corners gingerly, then pumping it up to 125 MPH on straights, a true statement to how refined the XE already is.
Kyanite did mention the wind and road noise. And that as a tall guy, he thought that the cabin didn’t offer as much room and visibility as competitors, though the legroom was adequate.
Kyanite’s XE test drive evaluation thread is growing in posts daily, and he is available for questioning. So head onto the forum and get inside the new XE with him.
