Goodwood Test: 2021 Jaguar XE D200 Review

What the Jaguar XF is to the BMW 5 Series, the XE is to the 3 Series. It’s pretty much that simple. Although it also isn’t. The XE was basically Jaguar’s second attempt at a small saloon since the Mark II, way back in the 1960s. The first of course was the X-Type, which is gaining something of a cult following in some circles now, mostly because of the big 3.0-litre V6 that was available, but it was a failure for Jaguar. Plans to build 100,000 a year fell to just 350,000 being made in an eight-year lifetime and Jaguar abandoned the compact-exec market at the end of the 2010s. But, after the success of the XF, just five years later, it decided to have another go, and the XE was born in 2015. Now its refreshed, with mild-hybrid power available.

The XE spawned from Ian Callum’s XF, which itself, certainly after the first facelift fixed those rather unfortunate bubbled lights, was and remains a handsome car. The refreshed face of the Jaguar XE has done nothing to diminish that advantage the Jaguar has over its rivals. The XE’s styling is unfussy in a world of metal crimping madness, with slim, aggressive headlights sliding into the now-traditional proud Jaguar grille. A single design line runs along the XE’s shoulder from front light to rear haunch, and is joined by  a sharp crease down the base of the door, which feels perhaps a little unnecessary.

The stubby rear has slim lights to match the front and a pair of exhaust tips reaching out of the base. Altogether it’s a handsome car with very little to complain about. Stood next to the current BMW 3 Series the Jag will definitely win a beauty contest.

Jaguar (and Land Rover)’s model naming system these days makes identifying what’s beneath the bonnet wonderfully easy. This is a D200, which means a diesel engine and 204PS (150kW). That engine is one of Jaguar’s wonderful, but rapidly losing favour, Ingenium diesels, a turbocharged inline-four with smooth power delivery and an impressive 430Nm (317lb ft) of torque. Coupled with Jaguar’s mild-hybrid system that means 0-62mph in just 6.9 seconds, impressive for a pretty mid-range saloon.

Peak torque comes from 1,750rpm, giving a nice punch as you floor it, but does taper out just 750rpm later at 2,500. That’s where the hybridisation helps, adding some extra oomph into the mix when peak power is still half the rev range away at 4,500. The gearbox, an eight-speed ZF automatic, is smooth on the change, but liable to hold gears for a little too long, especially when you need it to kick down, which doesn’t help find that low torque band. It can be annoying if you need to overtake someone or change lanes, but there are paddles to overcome the issue should you need them.

At cruise the XE is as good as anything around, easily munching motorway miles with very little fuss other than slight kickdown issues. The hybrid system does help just to punch you up the range when you do get the ZF ‘box to respond though, which helps ease tensions greatly. Suspension and damping are smooth without being wallowing and on our near 750-mile round trip to Le Mans it can’t be said that neither we, or the Jaguar, broke sweat once.

Get off the motorway and the XE is still more of a cruiser than a speed merchant, but what would you expect from a diesel saloon? Stick it in dynamic mode and the engine response does get sharper and the gearbox chooses lower gears for better traction. It does make the XE enjoyable to slot between a few B-road corners, but never in danger of becoming an absolute hoot.

The XE hasn’t moved up to the latest Jaguar interior, the one found on the new XF and F-Pace, but that’s not to say it’s a poor place to spend time. The infotainment system is set on a 10-inch touchscreen mounted into the dash, rather than the new models on which the screen stands proud. But it is still fitted with the latest JLR PIVI Pro system, one of the easiest to use around. There is no rotary gear change here, instead the XE has the standard JLR gearstick found on almost everything from the Midlands for half a decade.

Seating is comfortable and there is a decent amount of room in the rear for passengers of almost any size. The wraparound nature of the dash is also very comforting and the digital displays on the still-physical rotary dials for seat heating and fan control are a nice touch. The downside is that Jaguar has updated the XE to include some of its non-button buttons. The ones that are set on a single piece of plastic and touch controlled. There’s very little satisfaction in using these, much like the ones on newer Volkswagen products, and the ones on the steering wheel fair no better. Our car didn’t come with a heated wheel, but the logo is still visible on the wheel, even though not illuminated. The boot is not particularly capacious, and with no folding seats won’t take your flat pack furniture very far, but should carry golf clubs. Small gripes aside the XE’s interior is a very nice place to spend a few hours.

A traditional bugbear for JLR buyers, the company has managed to step up its game in recent years, at least when it comes to the quality of the interface. We’ve spoken at length about the PIVI Pro system in drives of the XF, F-Pace and Defender, and it remains one of the easiest to use around. The 10-inch touchscreen is clear and responsive, although not quite as large as that found in the XF, making the system look a bit squashed. That said it still works very well. The digital dash (complete with analogue dials either side) is full of info but mightily complicated to navigate, in a vast contrast to the central system. There’s also a small 5.5-inch screen for the climate control controls.

During our test we did come across a traditional issue for JLR systems, a complete crash, which left us without any sat-nav or climate control for a relatively meagre journey, but after a short stop everything came back with no issues.

Our test car was in R-Dynamic spec, which adds some exterior touches (red Jag badges for example) as well as the 16-way adjustable front seats, keyless entry, auto high-beams and auto dipping headlights, heated, folding door mirrors, and adaptive cruise control, but the XE is very well-specced as standard. PIVI Pro, heated rear window, auto-sensing windscreen wipers, auto headlights, two-zone climate control, stop/start, DAB radio, lane-keep assist and sat-nav are all standard items.

There’s very little case to be made to tell you to buy a 3 Series or a C-Class over the XE. The interior of current Jaguars is arguably a nicer place to be than a Mercedes and the looks of the XE are undeniably more pleasing than the current BMW. Interior quality is no lower in most areas for the Jaguar than the Germans and perhaps just the odd tech glitch might sway you away.

I think that PIVI pro is at least as good a system to use as BMW’s current iDrive, which is saying a lot considering how good iDrive is, and the Jag altogether feels like a very pleasant place to spend time. Motorway cruising is on a par with anything else available although perhaps it isn’t as dynamically engaging as its rivals on more interesting roads. But in the lower diesel segment that feels a little irrelevant.

It’s also competitively priced, even at top spec with some extras our test car was just tipping over the £41k mark with the top-spec SE R-Dynamic starting at £35,700. We could never tell you not to consider the Germans, but definitely consider the handsome Brit.