XE Launch party -thoughts
Discussion
just back from the Hepworth,
really wanted to love this car - and started well with the red 3.0S when you walked in to the gallery.
Purposeful, and quick - the presenter mentioned 4.8 to 60, well kitted across the range too - satnav as standard and cabin pre-heat as standard. Liked the look of the wheels though can imagine the 20" combination being harsh - though it was something they stressed was a strong point.
Sitting in the drivers seat - the steering wheel is offset by about 1.5" into the centre of the car - pedals felt ok though... The seats were comfortable but the cockpit was cramped, the rear legroom wasn't brilliant especially if you are of the taller persuasion - one gent in the driver seat had to stop sliding the seat back before my legs ran out of room... I'm only 5ft 8". Another bloke was 6ft4", he fitted comfortably but his car would be a definite 3 seater...
Boot opening wasn't brilliant, but looked a decent size.
The car was pre-production so there were a few rough edges - it definitely needs finishing - but not sure how they are going to overcome the lack of interior space - especially when compared to those key rivals. It felt more like say an A5 sportback than an a4 saloon.
have some decent photo's but on a mobile connection so can't upload them.
S.
really wanted to love this car - and started well with the red 3.0S when you walked in to the gallery.
Purposeful, and quick - the presenter mentioned 4.8 to 60, well kitted across the range too - satnav as standard and cabin pre-heat as standard. Liked the look of the wheels though can imagine the 20" combination being harsh - though it was something they stressed was a strong point.
Sitting in the drivers seat - the steering wheel is offset by about 1.5" into the centre of the car - pedals felt ok though... The seats were comfortable but the cockpit was cramped, the rear legroom wasn't brilliant especially if you are of the taller persuasion - one gent in the driver seat had to stop sliding the seat back before my legs ran out of room... I'm only 5ft 8". Another bloke was 6ft4", he fitted comfortably but his car would be a definite 3 seater...
Boot opening wasn't brilliant, but looked a decent size.
The car was pre-production so there were a few rough edges - it definitely needs finishing - but not sure how they are going to overcome the lack of interior space - especially when compared to those key rivals. It felt more like say an A5 sportback than an a4 saloon.
have some decent photo's but on a mobile connection so can't upload them.
S.
Edited by 51mes on Friday 7th November 20:45
I'm also just back from the Hepworth, I like it.
I was sat in the back of the white car with the front seat pushed as far back as it will go and there was room to move my feet around, not much admittedly, but I could move. Love the way the dash merges into the doors, that is really different and the dash in front of the passenger wasn't as plain looking as I expected it to be. Seats felt very comfortable but difficult to tell for long journeys on a quick sit down. I reckon the boot space is pretty reasonable and the opening as large as the design allows - it is a compromise, sure, but there isn't much length for it to be bigger due to the shape of the car.
I can agree with the comments made earlier about the average age in there, but there was a fair mix this evening but plenty of long term older Jaguar owners.
Food was good!
I was sat in the back of the white car with the front seat pushed as far back as it will go and there was room to move my feet around, not much admittedly, but I could move. Love the way the dash merges into the doors, that is really different and the dash in front of the passenger wasn't as plain looking as I expected it to be. Seats felt very comfortable but difficult to tell for long journeys on a quick sit down. I reckon the boot space is pretty reasonable and the opening as large as the design allows - it is a compromise, sure, but there isn't much length for it to be bigger due to the shape of the car.
I can agree with the comments made earlier about the average age in there, but there was a fair mix this evening but plenty of long term older Jaguar owners.
Food was good!
andyps said:
Food was good!
Wasn't it just - the mini roast beef/yorkies and the mini burgers particularly... all washed down with Peroni.Good mix of folks - yes the traditional Jag owners - and a fair number of XF owners too - car park looked varied - from Mondeo's to Xj's...
Enjoyed it - thanks Jaguar - would like to see one not with a black interior and in natural light - April for early demonstrators...
I went to the Nottingham Jaguar preview event for the new XE model. Excellent event and I strongly recommend anyone who is invited to go. One odd thing, the Jag reps kept insisting the models we were seeing were pre-production. (Why show potential buyers an unfinished product??)
As to the car, well - here are my views based on a couple of hours prodding and poking:
EXTERIOR
Front end is quite nice - very aggressive. Side profile similar to XF but blunter and less flowing. Rear dreadfully bland.
The car is certainly pleasant looking but very BMW / Audi in feel and detailing, especially in sportier trims. Closer inspection reveals that it sits quite flat on the suspension, not terribly dynamic. Exterior sculpting very angular and flat. No real curves.
It did look better in white though, so some colours seem to bring out the lines more than others.
INTERIOR
Space very poor. I am 6 foot and struggled to get a good driving position. Once I had, rear room was negligible. Headroom limited. You feel like you sit on top of the car, not in it, even with the seat on the lowest setting.
Very nice steering wheel and gauges from the F-Type.
Material quality underwhelming. Dash and top of doors is stitched vinyl (definitely not leather), lower areas are hard plastic. Headliner is rough material similar to what you'd find in a Vauxhall Astra. B and C pillars trimmed in hard plastic. Seat leather feels like PVC. Evidence of cost cutting including silly things like only one light for the vanity mirrors instead of two, no decorative trim on rear door cases, plastic centre console, no felt lining in glovebox etc.
Build quality generally good, but on the display models the centre console moved around with a small tug, sides of dashboard at the join with the doors deformed when pulled, creaky console plastics and at least an inch of flexibility in the headliner. Not great.
Generally very Germanic inside, feels mass market, not like a luxury car. Little Jag DNA in evidence. But a pleasant place to sit.
BOOT
Good size, electric bootlid (although the display models creaked when in operation) but area beneath the parcel shelf untrimmed with exposed metal and wiring. "Pre-production?"
OVERALL
The car is pleasant and most of the expected features are there. Some colours look better than others. In-car tech looks reasonably well implemented compared to competitors. Boot space good. Drive promises to be dynamic and possibly, brilliant on the S model.
Overall however, I was underwhelmed. The car doesn't have enough class, character and style to REALLY differentiate it from the Audi and BMW competition. Comments from Jag reps referring the the 3-series as the benchmark and even deriding the X-Type as a poor product gave the impression that they are slavishly copying the competition, almost as though they have no confidence in their own product.
For me, it's not a Jag and I wouldn't buy one over a C-Class with that bland interior but it's reasonably competent and it will certainly have a place in the market. Good luck to them.
As to the car, well - here are my views based on a couple of hours prodding and poking:
EXTERIOR
Front end is quite nice - very aggressive. Side profile similar to XF but blunter and less flowing. Rear dreadfully bland.
The car is certainly pleasant looking but very BMW / Audi in feel and detailing, especially in sportier trims. Closer inspection reveals that it sits quite flat on the suspension, not terribly dynamic. Exterior sculpting very angular and flat. No real curves.
It did look better in white though, so some colours seem to bring out the lines more than others.
INTERIOR
Space very poor. I am 6 foot and struggled to get a good driving position. Once I had, rear room was negligible. Headroom limited. You feel like you sit on top of the car, not in it, even with the seat on the lowest setting.
Very nice steering wheel and gauges from the F-Type.
Material quality underwhelming. Dash and top of doors is stitched vinyl (definitely not leather), lower areas are hard plastic. Headliner is rough material similar to what you'd find in a Vauxhall Astra. B and C pillars trimmed in hard plastic. Seat leather feels like PVC. Evidence of cost cutting including silly things like only one light for the vanity mirrors instead of two, no decorative trim on rear door cases, plastic centre console, no felt lining in glovebox etc.
Build quality generally good, but on the display models the centre console moved around with a small tug, sides of dashboard at the join with the doors deformed when pulled, creaky console plastics and at least an inch of flexibility in the headliner. Not great.
Generally very Germanic inside, feels mass market, not like a luxury car. Little Jag DNA in evidence. But a pleasant place to sit.
BOOT
Good size, electric bootlid (although the display models creaked when in operation) but area beneath the parcel shelf untrimmed with exposed metal and wiring. "Pre-production?"
OVERALL
The car is pleasant and most of the expected features are there. Some colours look better than others. In-car tech looks reasonably well implemented compared to competitors. Boot space good. Drive promises to be dynamic and possibly, brilliant on the S model.
Overall however, I was underwhelmed. The car doesn't have enough class, character and style to REALLY differentiate it from the Audi and BMW competition. Comments from Jag reps referring the the 3-series as the benchmark and even deriding the X-Type as a poor product gave the impression that they are slavishly copying the competition, almost as though they have no confidence in their own product.
For me, it's not a Jag and I wouldn't buy one over a C-Class with that bland interior but it's reasonably competent and it will certainly have a place in the market. Good luck to them.
I went to the London preview event last night. I know it wasn't a launch or anything & the food (sparse), booze plentiful was welcomed, but the lighting was horrendous. (Maybe to hide the rough edges of these pre-pro cars). Agree with everything that has been said. The face looks the biz (hate the shutline), then everything else is so dull, esp the rear. They have stolen all the key details from the XJ/XF/F-Type to sex it up, although this wasn't how it was told to us. All in all the BMW 3/4 series should be happy Jag have copied them. Although the Bimmer is better looking. Not sure I like the interior. Styling, head room great, but once again materials used, shiney and plastic. Didn't like the infotainment system at all. (Jag, please go look at a Porsche PCM interface, it use ability is excellent.)
Not really sure what JLR are doing. I think the senior management/design team are losing touch with the real world some what. I have tried unsuccessfully to convince myself to buy one of the new range, but can't justify the price, lack of quality or expected depreciation. All-in-all I've gone totally off Jaguar. I think I've out grown their target market as I think they are all show, but it only goes skin deep. Shame, but promised my wife never to go into another Jag dealership again.
Thank you for the invite Jaguar, London was lovely walking about last night.
Not really sure what JLR are doing. I think the senior management/design team are losing touch with the real world some what. I have tried unsuccessfully to convince myself to buy one of the new range, but can't justify the price, lack of quality or expected depreciation. All-in-all I've gone totally off Jaguar. I think I've out grown their target market as I think they are all show, but it only goes skin deep. Shame, but promised my wife never to go into another Jag dealership again.
Thank you for the invite Jaguar, London was lovely walking about last night.
Edited by Triple7 on Tuesday 18th November 10:02
Well 3 months on since the launch and this week attended my local dealer launch. I'm assuming the dealer cars are production and not pre-prod we saw late last year. There was only one car on display and it was White low spec. My wife came to this launch and made her own comments. No surprise on entry, "that sill is very wide and not easy to get in or out of the car and she's 5' 7''", shorter women and children may well have a problem. It's a saloon, but entry is like a low slung coupe (F type). I sat in the back and she sat in the front, when she pushed the seat back, the top of my shoes got a good clean/scrub as the front seat rear bottom is low and traps your foot. Has anyone noticed the dash side vents are so far back, all they can warm is your elbows! My wife likes Jag's but she wasn't wowed by the XE in fact she saw a XF RSPORT in deep blue and said that has Jag presence, so an 8 year old design impressed her more!
Went to Doncaster on Friday, and they sent a white base model. Not sure what engine it was, but it had no pipes visible. I wasn't really that interested, just went for the nibbles and champagne.
I think it looked pretty boring. The red S looks really well, but the base spec looks less desirable than equiv A4 or 3 series, which is what they're going after isn't it?
I'm sure its a good drive, and light, but you'll have to spec body kit and styling bits for it to look half decent. And the interior was a bit plastic?!
Might pop back when they get an S in to have another look.
I think it looked pretty boring. The red S looks really well, but the base spec looks less desirable than equiv A4 or 3 series, which is what they're going after isn't it?
I'm sure its a good drive, and light, but you'll have to spec body kit and styling bits for it to look half decent. And the interior was a bit plastic?!
Might pop back when they get an S in to have another look.
Specced one up. R-Sport admittedly had a few bits on, but it was £43k!
Much rather have a XF-S Portfolio for same money after discount.
Looks way to dumpy, was told they wanted to make the side window profile lower & coupe like, but it looks to slab sided & heavy & not sporty & lithe....
Much rather have a XF-S Portfolio for same money after discount.
Looks way to dumpy, was told they wanted to make the side window profile lower & coupe like, but it looks to slab sided & heavy & not sporty & lithe....
Gassing Station | Jaguar | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff