2008 Jaguar XF: Autocar Spills The Beans

As much as Jaguar wanted to keep the all-new XF as a surprise until the official web presentation on Aug. 28, that won’t happen –click here to read more about the XF leaks. Brit magazine Autocar published all the info along with the official pictures on their web site today, so there’s no point in holding back anymore.

Jag’s new BMW 5-series, Mercedes E-class and Audi A6 adversary opens up a new page in the firm’s history as it breaks any design-ties with past. Ian Callum, Jag’s head designer and his team remained as close as possible to the Concept C-XF that premiered at the Detroit Show in January and the result is a beautiful, sleek sports sedan with a coupe-like profile. In all we like it a lot. It may hint a bit of a Mondeo, but we like it. Same goes for the interior which in our books is as refreshing as the BMW’s latest 5-Series –some might disagree with us, but ok. -Continued after the jump

Simple and yet a tad futuristic, the XF’s cabin combines plenty of wood with aluminum décor. Things worth checking out are the blue illumination on the dashboard and the centre console controls and the aluminum rotary knob that pops-up once you press the start button, becoming a rotary gear selector knob.

Underneath its stylish body the XF hides a more conventional high-strength steel chassis –unlike the aluminum XK and XJ. Sharing the same 2,909 mm wheelbase as the outgoing S-Type, the XF is equipped with coil-sprung, double wishbone front suspension and multi-link rear, both mounted on subframes.

The XF, which will go on sale early next year will be offered with four different engines: a 2.7-litre, 210 bhp turbodiesel V6; a 3.0-litre 240bhp petrol V6, a 4.2-litre, 300bhp petrol V8 and a 4.2-litre, 420bhp supercharged V8. The later sprints from zero to 60mph (96 km/h) in 5.1 sec while its top speed is limited to 155 mph (250 km/h). We’ll have the full press release on the new Jag on Tuesday, Aug. 28.

Via: Motorpasion , Source: Autocar