Jaguar XF 3.0 V6

The 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine is as compatible with the Jaguar XF as Hillary Clinton is with Barack Obama. Hoping they'll work together for the common good is simply folly. The 238bhp V6 is underpowered and overstressed, and has the unhappy knack of making the car feel heavy and slovenly which, in both its diesel and V8 guises, it surely isn't. Choose wisely.

But like most drivers, my first XF experience is centred around the interior packaging, which has been touted (and in places lauded) as a modern, sassy lurch away from Jaguar's fusty wood veneers towards the alloy modernity so beloved of BMW and Audi customers.

Sorry, but I fear it is mostly trinketry. The automatically folding air vents, strange self-raising gear-selector knob and disappointingly flat mouldings of aluminium-coloured plastic do little to mask a fairly ordinary feeling inside. The XF is no more special than a Mondeo - maybe less so.

I recognise that the gaudy central control screen (backed up by manual buttons because it's too complicated to be used without crashing) and the lack of an ignition key (which means you need a big fat warning light to remind you the engine's running when you park up) are only as useless and annoying as those of the Jag's rivals.

But the optional 'blind spot monitor' - which is basically a form of parking radar offering randomly flashing orange lights in your wing mirrors - is my nomination for the most pointless gadget of the year. It is utterly without merit, plunging us yet further into a world where the driver doesn't have to bother to stay alert.

I really fancied the XF, but I think it's fair to say we've had a fairly disastrous first date. It was the automotive equivalent of not being asked in for coffee. I hope when we meet again she'll at least be wearing her best engine.

© Source: topgear
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