RE: Jaguar XE: Driven
Discussion
bertie said:
Im not a BMW fan but knowing how much my mate 328i was, I thought that unlikely.
Sure enough, a 335i Luxury auto is £41,170 before any options.
I'm sure the Jag will be competitive on price, Merc, BMW, Audi....they all know exactly what each other are doing.
Apologies, you are correct and the 335i Luxury Touring is indeed £41k, not £38k. I was looking at an out of date price list.Sure enough, a 335i Luxury auto is £41,170 before any options.
I'm sure the Jag will be competitive on price, Merc, BMW, Audi....they all know exactly what each other are doing.
Evens things up a bit. The Jag has more power I guess to account for its higher price.
Limpet said:
JonnyVTEC said:
Limpet said:
I can't understand how they could screw up the infotainment system. Isn't stuff like this simply bought off the shelf and branded/skinned as appropriate?
Didnt you like it when you used it? Maldini35 said:
A lot of comments about the dull, generic styling.
I found this on the Jag website - a interesting Freudian slip from Ian Callum when asked about Jaguars approach to design.
Lord March: "Is Jaguar is a design led company?"
Ian Callum: "It was....... still is" (followed by nervous laughter)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GZdkYqSOjs
(2mins 58 secs)
I would argue that JLR (Land Rover as well as Jaguar) is a design led company - the Evoque and F-Type are evidence of that. The difference between the two parts is that their designs need to respect the engineering needs of the different markets are which they are aimed - on and off road performance for Land Rovers and sporty on road performance for Jaguar. I found this on the Jag website - a interesting Freudian slip from Ian Callum when asked about Jaguars approach to design.
Lord March: "Is Jaguar is a design led company?"
Ian Callum: "It was....... still is" (followed by nervous laughter)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GZdkYqSOjs
(2mins 58 secs)
Maldini35 said:
Jaguar had the opportunity to make something special and instead they just made something that looks like everything else (well, everything else 10 years ago).
Lots of hype follow and then we see a car which looks utterly generic and features outdated infotainment tech.
It just goes to show that even a motoring specific website, there are people who know bugger all about what sells other than "Ooh shiny shiny"Lots of hype follow and then we see a car which looks utterly generic and features outdated infotainment tech.
Maybe if Jaguar dug out the flanks with a giant ice-cream scoop and then added some random slashes here and there it might look a bit more "modern".
Limpet said:
I can't understand how they could screw up the infotainment system. Isn't stuff like this simply bought off the shelf and branded/skinned as appropriate?
Nope, not at all.The current JLR system is shocking, it's used across the brands.
JLR have invested a lot in a new JV with Intel in Portland, Oregon to develop Infotainment.
I believe the XE is the first fruit of this....
http://www.automotiveit.com/jlr-intel-to-jointly-d...
I will reserve my judgement on the XE until I have seen it in the metal, on the road, and have had a chance to drive it.
No doubt it is a key product for the Jaguar brand. Jaguar has only survived because Tata has backed it and the team, including Ian Callum, to produce the goods. So far it appears that the F-Type has worked out well for them - I think it will do even better (in sales terms) if they add a 4 cylinder Inegenium to the range in due course.
On the XE the jury is out. Matt Prior commented in the Autocar thet they were driving a prototype model and had been asked to judge the ride and handling as other aspects were work-in-progress. This is unusual for a manufacturer. I conclude they have done this to generate interest and visibility in the long run up to launch in competition with the endless torrent of new product launches from the competition. I would be surprised to see an estate car - JLR has too many other more important product launches to get right in the next few years. But on the matter of ride and handling (including the EPAS) MP "gives it a position at the very sharpest end of the class".
No doubt it is a key product for the Jaguar brand. Jaguar has only survived because Tata has backed it and the team, including Ian Callum, to produce the goods. So far it appears that the F-Type has worked out well for them - I think it will do even better (in sales terms) if they add a 4 cylinder Inegenium to the range in due course.
On the XE the jury is out. Matt Prior commented in the Autocar thet they were driving a prototype model and had been asked to judge the ride and handling as other aspects were work-in-progress. This is unusual for a manufacturer. I conclude they have done this to generate interest and visibility in the long run up to launch in competition with the endless torrent of new product launches from the competition. I would be surprised to see an estate car - JLR has too many other more important product launches to get right in the next few years. But on the matter of ride and handling (including the EPAS) MP "gives it a position at the very sharpest end of the class".
bertie said:
Nope, not at all.
The current JLR system is shocking, it's used across the brands.
JLR have invested a lot in a new JV with Intel in Portland, Oregon to develop Infotainment.
I believe the XE is the first fruit of this....
http://www.automotiveit.com/jlr-intel-to-jointly-d...
No the XE hasn't got the Genivi system (open-source Intel developed one). That's coming within a year, in what model I don't know. It SHOULD be leagues ahead, given how long it's taken to developThe current JLR system is shocking, it's used across the brands.
JLR have invested a lot in a new JV with Intel in Portland, Oregon to develop Infotainment.
I believe the XE is the first fruit of this....
http://www.automotiveit.com/jlr-intel-to-jointly-d...
stanza said:
If all your bothered about in a new car is the infotainment system, rather than how it drives perhaps your in the wrong forum.
PH is pretty high on grammar as well, so maybe you're the one on the wrong forum. All said and done, in a track oriented race car I would agree with you, but this is a family saloon. Things like practicality, entertainment come in play when you're doing 15k miles /year.
ZesPak said:
stanza said:
If all your bothered about in a new car is the infotainment system, rather than how it drives perhaps your in the wrong forum.
PH is pretty high on grammar as well, so maybe you're the one on the wrong forum. All said and done, in a track oriented race car I would agree with you, but this is a family saloon. Things like practicality, entertainment come in play when you're doing 15k miles /year.
Personally I don't give a monkey's about stuff like that.
ZesPak said:
stanza said:
If all your bothered about in a new car is the infotainment system, rather than how it drives perhaps your in the wrong forum.
PH is pretty high on grammar as well, so maybe you're the one on the wrong forum. All said and done, in a track oriented race car I would agree with you, but this is a family saloon. Things like practicality, entertainment come in play when you're doing 15k miles /year.
On and on he would drone about torque curves, weight distribution and the physics of camber on decreasing-radius curves. For what seemed like decades, he seldom had a girlfriend.
His intransigence became a kind of signature and resulted in much p***-taking by the other guys and me. We had him driving an open-wheeled, open-cockpit fuselage while sending his future wife and kids by public transport. We imagined that, if given an exec saloon, he would take a blow torch to the entire greenhouse -- no roof, no pillars, no windscreen. Instead, he would affix a tonneau.
Probably nobody here is as hilariously single-minded as my mate was for many years. I mean: as performance enthusiasts, there's a lot to be said for discussing the business case behind any given car. And there's a lot to discuss in terms of the experiences -- many of them enabled by technology -- that are bringing more depth and diversity to motoring.
Apologies if I've put anybody to sleep.
If handling balance and all that jazz matter to you more than all else, why buy a saloon car anyway? As I said earlier, buy a Passat diesel for family s
t and work, and then a two-seater (Elise? MX5? Boxster? Caterfield?) for the weekend.
In other words, when I'm schlepping round the M25 with the family on board, the infotainment system is hugely more important to me than handling balance. That said, I quite like the look of it - certainly as much as I do a 3-series or C-Class, so I'd look at one.
t and work, and then a two-seater (Elise? MX5? Boxster? Caterfield?) for the weekend. In other words, when I'm schlepping round the M25 with the family on board, the infotainment system is hugely more important to me than handling balance. That said, I quite like the look of it - certainly as much as I do a 3-series or C-Class, so I'd look at one.
I take your point, but can you really have fun in modern Britain with the family on board on the way to the shops? I can't - cameras, traffic, concern that my wife doesn't like long-powerslides off roundabouts... Thus my ultimate aim is well-built and reliable daily driver that can eat up miles, and then something truly fun for weekends - I've tried the compromise car route, and I just don't think it works as well as having two separate motors.
That of course is just me - perhaps I've hit my middle age and just given up.
That of course is just me - perhaps I've hit my middle age and just given up.
SidewaysSi said:
Maybe they "come into play", however if the steering and chassis is as good as early indications suggest, does the quality of stuff like the entertainment system really matter to the average PH'er?
Of course it does - if you only care about chassis and steering then you don't buy a diesel powered saloon car anyway. You buy a sports car.An XE is an all round do everything car - therefore pretty much everything matters and that includes the infotainment.
I don't think there is one car that can do it all but I will always go for the best driving car whenever possible. I do have a Caterham and Elise for the weekends but I can still appreciate a great chassis and steering in a "normal" car full of people at 50mph. It's what keeps me interested in driving.
If the press do place the Jag above the Germans in this respect, personally I wouldn't look at them and it would be a great achievement for Jaguar.
Besides, I can categorically say that any infotainment system in 2015 is more than capable for me!
If the press do place the Jag above the Germans in this respect, personally I wouldn't look at them and it would be a great achievement for Jaguar.
Besides, I can categorically say that any infotainment system in 2015 is more than capable for me!
Edited by SidewaysSi on Wednesday 28th January 19:36
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