Jaguar is justifiably proud of the fact that the XE is the first car in its segment to
employ such a high content (over 70%) of aluminium in its construction.
This road has just about every feature that
us road-testers hold dear in terms of assessing a car’s dynamic behaviour: Fast
straight stretches, high speed sweeps,
twisty switch-backs, climbs, drop-offs and
a variety of surfaces.
Jaguar is justifiably proud of the fact that the
XE is the first car in its segment to employ such
a high content (over 70%) of aluminium in its
construction. Indeed, most of the body-shell
and floor-pan is of aluminium, except in safety-critical areas where high-strength steel is
used for occupant protection.
The roof frame is steel, but the roof panelling
is of aluminium, and this also applies to the
bonnet and boot-lid. But the doors are steel.
Jaguar says this is to aid the weight distribution and keep the heavier stuff in the centre
of the car. But an obvious benefit is that steel
doors are likely to withstand parking-lot nicks
a whole lot better than aluminium items.
XE Engine in raw state
The whole body shell weighs just over 300 kg
and that is light! The fact that the shell is also
very stiff proved to be the case over the R318,
as the car handled camber changes, dips in
the road and bums in exemplary fashion.
I loved the diesel’s power delivery. It has a
muted elegance totally in keeping with the
car. It’s 132 kW and 400 Nm is more than adequate for this car. Zero to 100 takes 7,8 seconds, while top speed is 230 km/h.
This is also the first car where Jaguar has employed electrical power assistance to the
steering, stating that it has eschewed this
system in place of the more conventional –
but less fuel-efficient – hydraulic system until
such systems could “mature”.
Last we tried the V6, all wonderfully vocal, )