Geneva 2012 : Jaguar XF Sportbrake

Words: Keith Adams Photography: Newspress

Jaguar XF Sportbrake
Jaguar XF Sportbrake

Jaguar’s Sportsbrake made it public debut at Geneva, and extends appeal of the XF, opening up to a further 30% of the executive car class. The estate has increased headroom for back-seat passengers, and with the split-fold rear seats down, it can carry 1675 litres of cargo. Initially powering the Sportbrake will be a choice of two diesel engines – the 187bhp 2.2 four-cylinder engine and the 237/271bhp 3.0-litre V6, with the petrols being added later.

All Sportbrakes will also be available with Jaguar’s Adaptive Dynamics System, which adjusting the damping rates according to road conditions, and can be firmed up with the press of a button. Jaguar is also keen to point out that the Sportbrake matches the saloon in both torsional rigidity, and aerodynamic efficiency, so it shouldn’t lose any of its driving finesse.

Prices and specifications will be announced nearer the time of the launch, expected to take place towards the end of 2012.

 

Keith Adams

34 Comments

  1. The Sportbrake was the worst kept secret in motoring.

    Lets hope it sells well though, looks like a nice successor to the 156/159 sportwagons.

  2. Looks like a Ford Mondeo! Really ugly car. The stylish tourer will stand by Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Alfa. The better made cars with less styling, you will find by Lexus and Subaru (which has the better Diesel engine too)!

  3. Looks chavvy in white. In metallic grey though – very desirable. Better work hard and get promoted so I can get one as a company motor…….

  4. White was likely used to emphasise some of its detail features more coherantly, such as the rather neat black finish to the rear pillars.

    Aside from the colour, it is actually quite a handsome looking car.

  5. Put some stickers of a construction company on that white car and it will look very well on every site.
    But I think it will not be so cheap as it looks and so the people on the site have to drive with their Mondeos!

  6. I never liked the blacked out D-pillars of the XJ, but the XF Sportbrake pulls them off superbly. They really make the car look unique. Without them it would look like a Toyota Avensis or Vauxhall Insignia.

    I have some family in California who are looking to replace their old BMW E34. An XF Sportbrake with AWD and the new V6 petrol engine would be near the top of their shortlist.

  7. Everything that is great about the saloon is lost by the fact that the back end is shapeless blob. The doors and side profile just look absolutely plain and dull. This does not look like a £30k+ car whatsoever.

  8. no need to keep it a secrete, I guess if some car buyerdriver was looking to buy a BMW wagon, he might be prepared to wait a few months longer for the Jaguar to Arrive 🙂 alex

  9. btw it looks ok ,

    oh lord wont you buy me a jaguar sportbreak. my friends all have porcshes (and BMW’s) i must make a menz…

  10. Oliver – I think you need glasses! Lexies are rank ugly mobiles and the current Subby’s are not much better. This is an elegant looking motor, and when you compare against the Eclasse, with its stupid rear wheel bulge, it is certainly a looker. However the best looking estate car at the mo is the Honda Accrod Aerodeck – even if it has less space than most hatchbacks

  11. Remember the last gen Accord Aerodeck.

    It looked like they forgot to design an estate so just lobbed a hearse conversion on the back – the rear overhang seemed to go on for metres!

  12. I came close to buying a current E Class estate before getting the Freelander. One thing that I struggled with on the E Class were the looks; the Jaguar is so much nicer to look at and certainly a lot nicer inside.

    Don’t think I’d have it white though, but at least it isn’t grey!

  13. That is true, the Honda Accord looks good but it has the a big problem copaired to the Lexus and the Subaru!
    The building quality is missing! The car ist only looking good but if you drive the car in cold conditions the dashboard makes strange noise and if you drive over worse roads you can hear that the panels will not be mounted very well.
    Its like an Alfa. Looks good but it is cheap made.

    PS.: I had a three year old Accord in my woprkshop and the car was corroded so much that I thought it is a Jaguar X-Type which was build as bad!

  14. Looks a lot better in the flesh than in the press, but it looks complimentary rather than new if that makes sense.

  15. I’ve not seen a rusty X Type yet.

    In addition, a colleague has put 150,000 miles on his first X Type and his second has around 120,000 miles on it and will be taken to around 180,000 miles; neither have given any significant trouble.

  16. Its ok, still very Ford in concept, but when are they gonna lose that grill, or are they going to do the same as on the mk1 xj, on the mk2 almost cut it in half and raise the bumper, that wouold look better and sleeker, how about someone with photoshop producing an image, I would prefer a sleeker look!

  17. David O’neill – I agree the grill should be a bit sleeker and the crease line down the side needs to be more defined. However if still not as bad as the current Xj – that is just massive!

    Oliver – Well I have to say I am bit confused as my mate has the previous shape Accord saloon and has never had a prob, and the build quality is excellent, while my ex boss had an old shape IS200 and nothing but probs with it, he replaced it with a Saab 93 convertible which he has not had a single prob with other than it seems to attract loads of scratches and dings from idiots in carparks!

  18. “Everything that is great about the saloon is lost by the fact that the back end is shapeless blob.”

    Problem here is though, is it’s an estate. Plenty of manufacturers have tried to make more of a ‘fastback’ or styled estate, but i can’t think of one that didn’t end up sacrificing the purpose of an estate, which is a massive boot and load capacity. Little point buying an estate if you can’t fit anything through the rear aperture or the rear screen clouts what ever you put in the back when you shut the lid.

  19. Unless you only want to load things with a 45degree angle on them most of the boot space is sacrificed. Try putting something big and square in it (like a wardrobe) and the rear screen just whacks into whatever you’ve loaded in there.

    Look at the square booted Volvo estates of the time and they’ll hold a wardrobe with ease!

  20. Love it, can’t wait to see the XFR-S Sportbrake, will be a rival to the AMG Mercs and BMW M5 Tourings. I have a Jaguar X-Type AWD Estate and this will be the ideal car to upgrade to.

  21. Oliver: How can it look like a Mondeo and be a really ugly car at the same time? I don’t think anyone accused the Mondeo of being ugly.

    It looks like an XF estate.

    In some markets, white is THE colour to have.

  22. For me the problem is this: when I saw the Rover 75 Tourer I thought ‘wow’. I see this and I think ‘It’s ok’…

  23. the R75 tourer was rare in that the estate looked better than the saloon and it still had an uncompromised load space.

  24. Had to sell my beloved XJ to transport my dogs, Looks like they will soon be travelling in style. Cant wait

    Not a lover of white cars

  25. Although white with a yellow stripe down the side and blue lights on the roof could sell well to a certain buyer of fast estate cars….

  26. Oh no, not another car with a letter box sized rear windscreen and ‘floating’ roof to disguise vast pillars…

  27. I can’t wait until it hits the 2nd hand market. I’ve had an x-type estate for 7 years (fact) and have been waiting for a bigger more powerful model since I bought it.

  28. I just read a review of the sportbrake in Jaguar World magazine and it said in there that they used a ‘european sized fridge’ as the benchmark for what can fit in the boot without compromise.

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