I agree. The downgrade from a V8 NA to a 6 is a big mistake in the part of Jag. I was very disappointed when I found out the specs of the new one, I asked myself! What are they doing. No more V8, what a downer. I also think the 5.0 V8 NA looks better than the new XF.

 

Side bar. I agree. The downgrade from a V8 NA to a 6 is a big mistake in the part of Jag. I was very disappointed when I found out the specs of the new one, I asked myself! What are they doing. No more V8, what a downer. I also think the 5.0 V8 NA looks better than the new XF.

 

Not every V8 is created equal. The 340HP V6 I have in my 2016 XF is quiet, reasonably economical and very powerful. I cannot undertand why anyone would need a V8 when the V6 has more than enough power and torque. Anyway, Jaguar will likely replace the lot with a straight 6 as the top powerplant. I do like 6's as they are so well balanced as engines without the need for engine balancers. As for looks it is really subjective and actually grows on you once you have one for a while. The shape is graceful imho.
Not much out there in that size and price which looks better for 2016 or 2017.

 

I agree that economy is a plus, but in terms of performance, the v8 is perfect. The upcoming models in the svr lab are coming in v8. That will be the XE with 500 bhp, the XF with 550 bhp and XJ with 550 or more. The F Type SVR is at 575 bhp is a monster.

We will have just wait and see what will they do next!

 

>6's as they are so well balanced as engines

Unfortunately, they took the easy route with that engine, rather than creating a new design they simply stopped using two cylinders, it's still a 90 degree V engine and that is all wrong for a V6 (read up on the GM 3800 V6 and everything they tried to do to smooth it out).

The key to this engine is the split-pin crank shaft design. In this design the two connecting rods, for the two cylinder banks, don't meet on a common crank journal (i.e., where the bottoms of the connecting rods would be beside each other). Rather the crank pin is split with an off-set between big ends of the rods.

That was done to approximate the optimal 60 degree offset of the true V6.
Nice engineering "fix" to a design problem, but it's only a fix.
================================================== =
You dreamed of a big star -
He played a mean guitar -
He loved to drive his Jaguar...

So welcome to the machine

 

Yes, I forgot to mention I was talking about STRAIGHT/INLINE 6s not the V6. I agree that 90 degrees and the balancers they used isn't the best. I do notice at certain lower revs I get a sort of grainy roughness but if I simply nail the pedal it is smooth. I couldn't get the diesel so I took the V6 model they had. The car has been great -- I have had it for 4 1/2 months and it did really well in the usually snowy/icy winter here this year. Using Continental Conti Pro GX M&S no problems anywhere. No issues so far.
cheers
al