I thought it would useful to post impressions of my car now I have owned her for 4 months or so.

I have 35T R Sport in Storm Grey with 20" wheels, technology package (12" centre screen, full electronic instruments etc.), dynamic handling package, full signature adaptive LEDs headlights, upgraded Meridian sound system, heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, soft close doors, power trunk.

Pros:

1. Excellent handling. The car is tight and feels like she is on 'rails'. Handles as well as my BMW 5 series in the past and my last 4 Grand Coupe.
2. Engine is powerful with nice torque and power characteristics. Although torque does not come in as low down in the rev range as the new BMW engines, it comes in at low enough revs to give a feeling of a surge of power and longer legs than those turbo engines which run out of torque at around 4800 or 5000 rpm.
3. Light weight contributes to an unexpected nimbleness in a car that is this size. Feels more like a 4 series BMW than a 5 series. Note that my XF is only 170 lbs heavier than my previous BMW 428i GC. Compared to my 2010 XF, the difference is night and day. The older car felt much heavier and did not change direction anything like as well. Mass is the enemy of handling.
4. Interior is an example of superb minimalism which I love. I hate knobs, switches, bits of silver etc. spread with abandon over the interior of cars (Audi and the current MB are particularly bad in this regard). See my comments below in Cons since they may have gone a little overboard with the minimalist appearance.
5. Surprisingly good mpg for a 340 bhp engine. That low weight is part of the reason of course.
6. Seats are both firm and comfortable.
7. Fit and finish is so much better than the 2010 XF I owned. It is now up there with BMW. Solid and well executed.
8. A beautiful car to look at.

Cons:

1. Not as much space in the back as you would expect for a car this size.
2. That minimalist interior can make the car look a little spartan. A little warmth would help.
3. The navigation/entertainment/electronics leave something to be desired. There are a number of obvious things missing which I will list here:
- No short cut buttons for favorites. e.g. dial this number, select this option etc. The main screen options do not give you many options (I have the larger screen option)
- No phone number favorites (or at least I could not find it).
- The system chokes on my music. I have 8,000 or so songs with about 30 playlists. It never loads all the playlists and you cannot select songs or some playlists from the screen. I have to do it from the phone (iPhone X).
- I have the upgraded Meridian system (850 watt, I believe they claim) and the bass is of a very poor quality and not particularly extended. It tends to get very 'boomy' when you try increase the sub woofer volume at around 150 Hz. It sounds terrible, much worse than the stock BMW system and even worse than the upgraded BMW HK systems. I am an audiophile and I am beginning to wonder whether it even has subwoofers. The bass extension is almost non existent and what bass there is of poor quality. Not at all impressed, especially when you consider that Meridian is a very good manufacturer of high end equipment. I am going to have to take some action to rectify this and am very disappointed with the system.
- The maps have a horrible colour scheme you cannot change (except the day night option). A predominance of yellow and purple. It looks disgusting and is not that clear.
- Can take a long time to boot up.
- No Apple Car Play. Why? Should be a no brainer. A significant miss.
- No Qi charging for phones (even in 2018 models).
4. Doors do not shut with a high quality thunk. The back doors are particularly nasty sounding.
5. The engine noise takes some getting used to. Sounds breathless and if it is wheezing. Not a nice noise at all.

Overall I am quite well pleased with this car. I purchased her as a demo model with only 3,500 miles or so on the 'clock', so I purchased her at reasonable discount. The original MSRP ($76,000) is way too high and I would not have paid full price for her. At the price I paid, she is a bargain and well worth the money. If you can negotiate a good discount on a brand new model, then it would be worth it.

 

You have a 10" Center Screen.

at the home screen, swipe tfrom L-->R

Now long press on the screen. This screen (and the 2 to the left of this screen) are made for customization.

 

Thanks, you are, of course, quite right, but I could not correct the posting after I had committed since the 12” refers to the main instrument panel and not the centre screen.

With regard to your observation about customising the screen, I had played with the customisation option but could find no way to put a short cut to, say, call my wife. If you know how this can be done I would be grateful for guidance.

 

Wow! This is a great sounding XF. I’ve been thinking about updating to a newer model (I have an ’08 Jag right now) and this makes me even more curious about whether or not I should just go for it. Is the difference in weight for the XF going to make it hard for someone who is used to a larger vehicle to be able to handle it? I’d love to hear your thoughts, thanks so much.

 

I would say that the XF 260 is a major improvement over the heavier XF 250. It is not going to cause you any issues due to the reduced weight as, in general, it is size that has more effect and the new one is not that different in that respect (although the increased wheel base caused me issues in the beginning).

My view is that the weight reduction is more apparent in the handling department (more neutral and less tendency to understeer in corners) although the XF 250 was no slouch in this area. Weight reduction improves handling and generally improves fuel consumption for any given performance.

I would go and drive one and make your own mind up, but for me it was obvious the moment I drove the new Jag. The only issues I have is a perennial one for Jags and that is fact that the electronics always seem to be at least a generation behind, especially when compared to the normal German competitors. Some people may not care, but, whether, we like it or not, the performance of the built in systems is as important as how well the car drives these days.