Jaguar has launched the second generation XF in India, at a starting price which is under the Rs 50 lakh mark, beating the rest of the Germans in this segment by a couple of lakhs.
The XF gets a petrol and a diesel engine from the launch itself, with the much vaunted Ingenium diesel finally making its way into India, under the XF’s hood. There are no V6s this time around, at least for now, with both
engines being 2.0-litre turbocharged inline fours. But don’t let the lack of cylinders put you off, because the 2.0-litre petrol, especially, promises to be quite an interesting drive, with 237 bhp on the tap.
However, it will be the 2.0-litre diesel unit which will be the more popular one, because unlike the petrol, which is available only in the more expensive Prestige and Portfolio (with the cheapest one available at Rs 55 lakh), the 2.0-litre diesel comes in the lower ‘Pure’ variant, and that is one which dips below the 50 lakh mark. Jaguar has spent a fair bit of time building the ‘Ingenium’ brand name, because these new generation engines are said to be lighter (by almost 20 kg), more fuel efficient and spew out less greenhouse gases than the ones they replace. Thankfully, Jaguar has bought to India the more powerful of the two engine tunes, the one which produces 177 bhp and 43.8 kgm. Power from the engines goes only to the rear wheels, through an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
These fairly powerful engines, together with the RWD layout and a suspension which borrows a lot of the design and components from the F-type, like the