Jaguar XF Sportbrake Review (2013)

The XF Sportbrake was introduced in September 2012 and is the second official estate car from Jaguar, following on from the X-Type Estate.

With prices starting at £31,940 the XF Sportbrake commands a £2,500 premium over the equivalent saloon model, with which it shares the same platform and the majority of components. Although every panel from the ‘B’ pillar to the rear is new with the overall length only being extended by 5mm. The obvious advantage over the Saloon is the Sportbrake’s load carrying capabilities plus the addition of self-levelling rear air suspension and the additional 48mm of headroom in the rear.

The Sportbrake faces ferocious competition from the likes of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the BMW 5 Series Touring. At the time of testing there were only diesel models in the XF Sportbrake line-up, which since this review have now been joined by the mighty XFR-S.

We drove the 275PS Jaguar XF Sportbrake 3.0 V6 Diesel Portfolio, which at the time of testing cost £51,505 plus an array of options.� It was finished in Rhodium Silver Metallic with Warm Charcoal Leather Trim and a rather nice Jet Suede Cloth Premium Headlining.

Currently the diesel engines comprise of the 2.2 (163PS/400Nm), 2.2 (200PS/450Nm), 3.0 (240PS/500Nm) and 3.0 (275PS/600Nm) units. Where the 2.2 litre units might suit the company car user, the 3.0 litre engines are more suited to the car's dynamics and load carrying capabilities. -

We tested the higher output 3.0 V6 bi-turbo diesel which produces 275 PS @ 4,000 rpm, delivering 600Nm of torque from 2,000 rpm and delivers a 0-62 mph time of 6.6 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph.

We are big fans of the 3.0 bi-turbo diesel engine, which is used in the Land Rover Discovery. It is refined and quiet, you only really notice the tell tale diesel chatter at cold idle from inside the cabin. Power delivery is silky smooth and forceful - you do have to watch out when pulling out of road junctions especially in the wet, it predictably stepped out of line on number of occasions due to a heavy right foot, although it is perfectly controllable.

We found the eight-speed gearbox a joy to use with the option of manually shifting from the paddles behind the steering wheel. There is a sports mode, plus you have a dynamic driving mode which makes the whole car wake up, firming up the adaptive dampers and re-mapping the gearshifts - kind of makes me want to buy one.

The official fuel consumption figures are recorded as 37.7 mpg (urban), 54.3 mpg (extra-urban) and 46.3 mpg on the combined cycle. These are NEDC figures and come from laboratory test conditions, not real driving data. CO2 emissions for the 3.0 275PS engine are the same as the 3.0 240PS at 163 g/km.

On our mixed test route from Northumbria to Devon we achieved 38.3 mpg and on the motorway we saw this increase to 42.2 mpg.