took the car in for service this week and they gave me a pretty basic XF for a loaner.

I was surprised how much power it actually had!!!

The weirdest thing was how quiet the engine was when it started vs the 5.0L!!!

 

I had a 4 cyl on a loaner a few months past and I had a completely opposite reaction to my experience. I came away thinking that my next XF needs to be a V8 like my current one or I could tell I wouldn't be pleased. I felt that the exterior said "Jaguar" but the performace said "kitten." You are absolutely correct about the quietness of the 4 cyl engine...I guess I've grown acustomed to that throaty sound from the V8 when I press the accelerator.

Did you find it weird to get acustomed to the car stopping the engine at each stop light and then restarting when you depressed the accelerator?

 

The 4 cylinder cars don't have stop/start.

 

I had the XF V8 and now the XFR. I also had the 4 banger. It was underwhelming to say the least. I would never consider it. My wife has the Mercedes C250 Turbo 4 and my son has the Jetta Turbo 4 - both had more pickup in sport mode off the line. IMHO the XF is too big and heavy for a 4 cyl. Just my 2 cents.

 

My dealer has stopped ordering 4 cylinder XFs. They had several when they were first released, but apparently were completely incapable of getting anybody to buy them. As a result they have all been converted to the service department's loaner cars. It's a dramatically different driving experience going from the XFR to the 4-cylinder XF loaner, and not in a good way. Definitely agree with the above post that the 4-cylinder has no place in the XF. Very underwhelming.