I just attended a Jaguar event wherein they had a 2012 jaguar XFR on display and I was able to really get close, turn it on, and get inside to see what the fundamental differences are between it and my 2010 XFR. In fact, I pulled my 2010 XFR side by side so that I can compare it.

In some ways, the differences are significant, in some ways not so much.

Exterior:

The new exterior is far more aggressive, but not as unique as the original XF headlight design. I think that the front headlight design of the 2012 is probably what I like the most, but it does change a little bit of what the car looks like. In some ways, it is now much more generic. I have to say, with J blade LEDs, it does look very mean, and on the XFR it means business. The 2010, has a more jaguar sourced design with the round headlights that have a more prominent bulge or pontoon going into the hood. One thing I do like though is that the headlights are now really projector Bi-Xenon headlights. I thought it was an embarrassment that the 2010-2011 had a halogen high beam light, and was not a true Bi-xenon design.

Also, the supercharged vents are more visible by being lower on the 2010 than on the 2012. My 2010 has the bright silver grill, which I think makes the car stand out. I never was a fan of turning the main grill of the car black for the XFR, as I think it lost its sparkle and differentiation from other high-performance sedans. In fact, many people mistake my car for either a Bentley or a Maserati based on the front of the car and grill. That said, I have to admit that on the 2012, the black grill looks more appropriate, because of the overall mean look of the car, and the more pronounced black intake vents in the lower front bumper.

The rear of the car, looks pretty good, but I will say that I miss the chrome accent that says "jaguar", and more importantly, I think that the revisions in the rear tail lights, make the car look less Aston Martin, and more Audi.

Interior:

The interior of the car is virtually identical except for a few things. The dark ash wood trim now is replaced by shiny carbon fiber, which looks pretty good. Also, the center display between the gauges is now full color, which is cool. However, I was disappointed with the fact that they reverted back to black gauges, and not the silver/white gauges on the 2010 and 2011 XFR. The center display, is the same size, but now looks like the infotainment system of the XJ. At first, I thought that was cool, but because it is much darker, and because it's trying to display more functions on a smaller screen, it gives you the impression that the screen is way too small for the information it is trying to provide. Also, I don't know if it was my imagination, but it seemed significantly slower than the computer on my 2010.

All in all, it is a pretty good update, but if you have a 2010 or 2011, it is not thorough enough, or significantly better to desire the newer model.

More importantly, it definitely shows that Jaguar is continually moving in the right direction with their cars, and I'm excited to see what they have in store next.

Bring on the XFR-S!

 

Thanks for the thread, I recently saw a comparison of Jaguar XJ ,Mercedes E Class, BMW 5 Series . I first thought why on earth they brought Jaguar XJ but I later realized that it was a facelifted model lol

So, new XF is very similar to new XJ headlight design concerns . Still, I don't think that would bring more harm than good for XF's sales