South Africa bound Jaguar XF revised inside and out

With mid-life updates applied to various Land Rover and Range Rover models, plus the F-Pace last month, Jaguar has now taken the scalpels out on the XF and XF Sportbrake estate.

Outwardly, the front facia is new with the inclusion of a redesigned bumper and grille, slim quad LED or optional Pixel LED headlights with so-called double J daytime running diodes, a larger lower air intake and as ever, the optional Black or R-Dynamic styling packs.

Down the side, the leaping Jaguar vents from the facelift F-Type has been applied and at the rear, the bumper widened and taillights revised. A total of 12 alloy wheel options are now offered including five new choices; five-spoke 18-inch Gyro diamond-turned wheels, 19-inch Elegance five-spoke in silver or gloss black and 20-inch Delta wheels finished in Satin Black or Sparkle Silver with gloss black inserts.

Like the F-Pace, Jaguar has kept the lion’s share of revisions for the interior with the inclusion of not only the new 11.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Pivi Pro software, over-the-air updates, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but also an optional 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, new centre console with a wireless smartphone charger and a stubby gear lever in place of the previous rotary dial selector.

In addition to the usual selection of veneers ranging from aluminium to open-pore wood, a Heads-Up Display is now optional together with the ClearSight digital rear-view, while the rest of the interior updates include new door casings, Jaguar Leaper headrests with ‘Est 1935 Jaguar Coventry’ seat tags, more premium feeling materials, a wider selection of ambient lighting colours, the I-Pace inspired steering wheel, new heated and cooled front seats with an optional massaging function, standard air suspension on the Sportbrake, Active Road Noise Cancellation technology and the PM2.5 Cabin Air Ioniser with Purify function.

Underneath the bonnet, the range of powerunits have been trimmed to three with all of the six-cylinders options bowing out together with the six-speed manual gearbox offered only in Europe on entry-level diesel derivatives. As such, the oil-burning range now comprises only of the mild-hybrid D200 that replaces the D180.

As its moniker suggests, the 2.0-litre Ingenium is rated at 200 pferdestarke (PS) or 147 kW with torque unchanged at 430 Nm. Like the rest of the line-up, only the eight-speed automatic gearbox is offered with buyers having the option of rear or all-wheel-drive.

On the petrol front, two conventional 2.0-litre Ingenium turbo units are offered; the P250 rated at 184kW/365Nm and the P300 that delivers 221kW/400Nm. Top speed is limited to 250 km/h with the former completing the 0-100 km/h dash in 6.5 seconds or 6.9 seconds in Sportbrake guise. Unlike the diesel, the P250 doesn’t offer the all-wheel-drive option. The all-paw gripping system is standard on the P300 however and translates in the sedan reaching 100 km/h from standstill in 5.8 seconds and the Sportbrake in 6.1 seconds.

Confirmed for South African introduction early next year, the XF range will consist out of three trim levels; S, SE and HSE with the latter pair getting the R-Dynamic pack as standard with the Black being optional.   All three of the mentioned powerunits are likely to be offered but like the price, exact specification has not yet been determined. What is known is that the XF will be limited to the sedan again with no chance of the Sportbrake being offered.

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