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-   -   Review: 2020 Jaguar XE (Facelift) (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/218976-review-2020-jaguar-xe-facelift.html)

Likes;

- Exterior Looks (A Very handsome looking car)
- Driving Dynamics (Chassis has potential, no wonder the v8 engined SV Project 8 is the fastest Saloon/Sedan on the Nurburging)
- Ride Quality (May be the best in the segment)
- Well modernised for a mid-life facelift (New tech such as wireless charging, larger display, full digital dash, auto parking, Lane Keep Assist etc have been added & the price gets a cut too. IIRC the top end 25t was priced @ INR 46.99L ex-showroom, but now the top end is priced @ INR 46.33L)
- Exclusivity (Yes, they sell less so will be exclusive but this may have a flipside during resale)

Dislikes;

- HUD is still missing (Global models have it + if Jaguar India is positioning itself as a premium alternative to the Germans then they shouldn't have omitted this feature)
- Rear Seat Space is still a compromise.
- Same Alloy Wheels (No Change in Alloy Wheel Design or higher trims needed 18" rims)
- Top trim deserved the R-Dynamic treatment (Both Exteriors & Interiors) Particularly because the competition like BMW has the M Sport kit available on the 330i & Mercedes has the AMG Line for the C.
- Boot is the smallest in the segment irrespective of not offering a full size spare wheel (Space saver Available)

Video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z1eFZtCLME&t=309s

Exteriors;



- Restyled Bumpers (Front & Rear)
- Restyled Headlights & Tail Lights (Now LED)
- The front signature Jaguar Grille is now larger.
- Thanks to the above changes the car looks wider & squatter.
- Muffler Tips which were missing in the pre facelift model have now finally made it to this 2020 model.

Interiors;



- Steering Wheel is directly from the iPace & is extremely well designed. A joy to use.
- Paddle shifters are large/long made of Aluminium, overall enhancing the driver involvement.
- Instrument Cluster has gone completely digital, IIRC the Velar had the similar styled display & graphics
- Instrument cluster now has a leather stitched top, pre-facelift did not have this element.
- The Rotary knob / Jaguar handshake is replaced with F-Type's gear lever. Feels good to use while manually srick shifting (which wasn't possible earlier)
- New Key Fob design.
- A/C controls are new & have feather touch operation for some of its operation.
- Air Quality sensor is an addition.
- Engine Start Stop button has a new position, pre-facelift models had it on the dashboard next to the AC controls, now its positioned next to the gear lever.
- All Black Leather Seats are a new addition as previously in the portfolio trim it had the saddle brown shade.
- Toggle Switch for the Drive Modes is a new addition & feels very sporty- Wireless Charging is a addition.
- Apple Car Play & Android Auto now available.
- Camera Quality has improved, but the 360 Degree Cam & Front Side Intersection Cameras have been omitted.

Driving the XE;



- There are no mechanical changes in the facelift.
- The last time i drove the XE the engine had been sourced from Ford, the 2L EcoBoost. But now in this video it has the 2L Ingenium producing aprox 250 HP & 365 NM.
- Note Ingenium petrol upgrade was introduced in the pre-facelift version too around March 2018.- The paddle shifters
- Engine Note/Sound is OK but it does get better at higher revs
- Overall refinement is good enough.
- Gearbox is ZF sourced. The shifts could have been faster though.
- Lane Keep Assist is a new addition in this 2020 Refresh Model.
- Handling, Chassis Balance & Ride Quality remains very good.
- Dynamically very balanced, needs more power.
- P300 (same 2L Ingenium engine but 300 HP tune like the F-Type) should have been launched instead of the P250. That would have given Jaguar India the marketing edge by highlighting the fact that XE gets the same motor from the F-Type.

Great review, thanks for sharing!

I recently spent some time with the XE and absolutely loved its styling (as is usually the case with any Jaguar-Land Rover product). The suspension was also top-class; loved its maturity & ride quality. Only thing I hated (and I mean H-A-T-E-D) is the dumb tuning of the gearbox. It's just not done; it's the most dimwitted automatic gearbox I've experienced in any luxury car. They should feature the AT in the Dumb & Dumber 4 movie.

Other than the AT, this is a car I would genuinely consider against the sexy C-Class and sporty 3-Series. It's exudes style, class & aura. Can anyone comment on the XE's overall reliability record? Hope it's not bad like some other Jaguars (hoping as it's simpler).

:OT

I don't know why but I don't like this Black/Dark Alloys trend in Sports Variants.
Every one does it, be it AMG, //M or Jaguar.
IMHO alloys look best when they are in Silver or have polished surface (aka Diamond cut).
I feel with our road conditions and the dust & dirt the tyres are always somewhat grey/brown and that with black alloy gives a feeling as if the car wheels are not clean.
This effect is minimized in Polished/Silver Alloys because they kinda get in contrast with darker tyres.

So just out of curiosity, Do these black/sports alloys are somewhat lighter and helps in performance or its just for visual treat ?

Thanks GTO for your appreciation :thumbs up

Indeed !

lol:

Another observation about the gearbox is that when at a halt it doesn't downshift to the 1st gear but picks up from the 2nd gear. Observed this a few times & here's a pic for reference taken while at a Traffic Light;



The rims in the XE are the same hence the blackened rims are a welcome change as they visually hide the fact that they are small 17"ers (particularly) when in motion. I dont mind having black / dark / gun metal finish rims as OE but again depends on the rim design and the vehicle so its subjective.

Just Visual Treat !

Since it's a very similar gearbox to the one's seen on the BMW's (ZF 8 speed) with dumb tuning , was wondering if one could flash the xHP Gearbox tune to the Jaguar and obtain a perfect combo :uncontrol

These are the rims they show on TV advert :)

Doesn't JLR offer really affordable maintenance packages for 5 years? I was reading an ownership review of a Land Rover Discovery Sport on our forum, and I came across this:


+ 5 Year Maintenance @ 50% Discount is offered standard by JLR on all MY17 and MY18 vehicles free-of-charge.
This is something really cool as the first service of my Jaguar XF costed me only 11k all inclusive and a friend's first service of his Evoque costed 9.5k. Such an amount for a premium car service is something that one can only dream of with other brands unless they have a "paid package" sans BSI. Thumbs up to JLR for including this FOC.

Link here - https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-...namic-lux.html

If JLR can assure customers of a fuss-free ownership experience, I don't see why they won't find a lot of takers. (Absurd Land Rover pricing notwithstanding)

Fair Point, but wonder what stopped Jaguar engineers doing so.

Not only the rims but also the bodykit which in the ad they've have shown a R-Dynamic kitted variant which is missing in the Indian version :Frustrati

^ Thanks for sharing :thumbs up

Does it also have adaptive cruise control?

No, just the regular Cruise Control.

So essentially JLR is like "screw the Indian consumer and give everything nice overseas"?



Note from Support: Please avoid quoting large posts entirely. Quote only relevant portions of posts. Thanks!

Where will you use it India? I feel even the lane assist is useless in Indian conditions. What is useful would be the adaptive headlights with selective high beam feature. Auto dimming interior and exterior mirrors. Navigation system and nice audio system.

I travel from Bangalore to Chennai regularly for work (twice a month). I prefer to drive since for me door to door it takes the same time and driving gives me flexibility. I use cruise control (on the XUV). Out of the 350 km total drive, I can do at least 200k on cruise control. Of course you have to turn it off and then resume, or control the speed, but it is definitely a boon for the legs.

Given that prices of XE and XF have been slashed by 15 to 18% in UK, are the prices expected to be reduced in India as well?

Given the poor sales, they may even discontinue? Any thoughts. I will be in market for a luxury car later this year and XE is one of the shortlists though little apprehensive after reading and hearing about reliability issues.

I was on the market for a XE and called up JLR showroom. They mentioned XE and XF are discontinued now! :Frustrati