Jaguar XE 2.0d R-sport - my review (short)
Discussion
Had one of these as a work hire car for a few days, with only 2,000 miles on the clock.
Why the hell does the XE get such good reviews? I was severely disappointed:
Bad:
Brakes; spongy feel, and have to push hard, then harder to get a grabby sort of stop.
Nav System; just rubbish, keeps resetting to 75m zoom even after zooming out and couldn't find any way to change this.
Seats; felt like the 10 year old knackered seats we have in conference room at work - thin, but saggy foam, no thigh support, no side support.
Gearbox; ok in Auto, but combination of peaky diesel and 8 (narrow) speed box meant using the paddles in manual felt like trying to play a platform game - on them all the time.
..and..
Why the hell can't I select "Sport" on the move? What's with that - you want to be able to cruise along, then bang it in Sport, overtake a bit, then back to Auto.
Info display between dials - tiny font, too much info.
Lots of stupid high gloss black bits at different angles all over the middles of the dash - something was always reflecting light from all angles.
Even on supposed R-sport model, it rolled a fair bit more than I'd like.
edit - I forgot about the decidedly cheap plastic on things like the base of seat (which you feel when adjusting the seat, so while out of sight, you know it's there) and the seat adjustment handle.
Good:
The economy was alright, I suppose - (57mpg average) up and down motorway.
It looked quite good.
XE was going to be on shortlist for next car, but not any more. Many, many better things driven recently - I would even take a 420d over this & I hate BMWs.
Why the hell does the XE get such good reviews? I was severely disappointed:
Bad:
Brakes; spongy feel, and have to push hard, then harder to get a grabby sort of stop.
Nav System; just rubbish, keeps resetting to 75m zoom even after zooming out and couldn't find any way to change this.
Seats; felt like the 10 year old knackered seats we have in conference room at work - thin, but saggy foam, no thigh support, no side support.
Gearbox; ok in Auto, but combination of peaky diesel and 8 (narrow) speed box meant using the paddles in manual felt like trying to play a platform game - on them all the time.
..and..
Why the hell can't I select "Sport" on the move? What's with that - you want to be able to cruise along, then bang it in Sport, overtake a bit, then back to Auto.
Info display between dials - tiny font, too much info.
Lots of stupid high gloss black bits at different angles all over the middles of the dash - something was always reflecting light from all angles.
Even on supposed R-sport model, it rolled a fair bit more than I'd like.
edit - I forgot about the decidedly cheap plastic on things like the base of seat (which you feel when adjusting the seat, so while out of sight, you know it's there) and the seat adjustment handle.
Good:
The economy was alright, I suppose - (57mpg average) up and down motorway.
It looked quite good.
XE was going to be on shortlist for next car, but not any more. Many, many better things driven recently - I would even take a 420d over this & I hate BMWs.
Edited by JonChalk on Saturday 25th February 16:21
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