This time my service loaner was 2018 XE 2.5T with the new Ingenium engine and updated info system. Here are my impressions:

1. Opening the hood, the engine is tiny, especially if you remove the cover. So much room in the engine bay!

2. Updated rear view camera is drastic improvement over old system. Wider field of view, clearer picture.

3. Lane assist feature works reasonably well, steering wheel shakes when you cross the line without using turn signals.

4. The engine didn't feel underpowered, however it wasn't working well with the transmission at low speed. When using brakes it would do unwarranted up shifting followed by almost immediate downshift that would make linear braking difficult. The effect of upshifts is that engine brake would randomly modulate. Not a safety issue, but annoyance.

5. Start and stop, while installed on the car, would not work. Not sure if this is a faulty car or it is disabled during initial wear-in period.

6. The engine has an actual oil dips stick! No more checking oil level through the dash.

 

Interesting stuff. The new engine comes in a 185KW tune and a 220KW tune over here, we will be calling the 225KW one a 30T. The existing 25T (which is my missus' car) can also be a little surgey, it is much better driving in dynamic mode. What you describe is pretty much exactly as hers behaves with the ecoboost engine.

We arent getting the new petrol engines until early next year.

 

The last time my loaner was XE S with V6 380HP. Basically, my F-type crammed into XE chassis. That car felt solid - tons of power, really good automatic gearbox that shifted smoothly and delivered power as needed. It didn't feel like a big step-down from my F-type. The thought that I overspent on F-type and should have gotten XE S instead briefly crossed my mind.

This time, XE 25T with Igenium engine I get exact opposite feel - the car just not in the same category. The engine is somewhat underpowered to be considered perfomance, flooring it creates high-rev drama with notable turbo lag. At highway speeds, it is surprisingly well-behaved and quiet. However, when pushed from stand still it falls apart. On my commute, I have a right-hand merger into 80km/h (most people drive 100km/h) traffic, with my F-type it is highlight of the day and opportunity to make noise and speed. With Ingenium it was high-rev drama where I was wondering if I should have waited for a bigger gap in traffic.

Transmission doesn't behave well, I can feel shifts and they take long time for an automatic and it shifts all the time at inopportune times. I don't think this transmission is CVT, but it feels like one. Especially noticeable when you braking at low speed, from 30km/h to 0km/h in traffic the transmission would shift 2-3 times. This makes braking evenly very challenging - you have to modulate brakes to compensate for transmission introducing drive train surges.

I tried all modes - Eco, Sport... I didn't notice any difference in handling. Both unnecessary shift points and surging were ever-present.

So after a day of driving my opinion of Ingenium is less than flattering. Perhaps it isn't well-executed in XE. I know they are also putting this engine into F-pace and even F-type, maybe it is more refined there. For me, XE 25T reminded of driving my friend's Corolla. However, my key complaint/dislike is transmission and not the engine.

 

So is this a completely different engine from the 2017 25t turbo 4 cylinder?

 

Today I seen it activate while the engine was cold. Then once it fully warmed up it stopped working. So strange.

 

I don't know for sure. Open your hood, if the engine cover says Ingenium, then it is the same engine.

 

Over last couple days of driving in mixed highway/streets I get only 10L/100km. This is about my F-type gas mileage.

 

Update, after filling it with premium no-ethanol fuel gas mileage drastically improved to 8.5L/100km with the same use. It states "premium recommended", I guess whoever filled this loaner last time ignored this.

 

Yes. 2015-17 Turbo 4's were EcoBoost engines. The 2018 4's with the 247 and 300 hp outputs are Jaguar.