Jan 18 2012

Jaguar will sell cheaper diesel for XF

Jaguar may be in no rush to bring diesel variants to the United States for anything more than a cross-country demo run. But overseas the marque’s oil-burning selection keeps growing. The XF is already available in its home market with a 190-horsepower 2.2-liter diesel four, not to mention a 3.0-liter diesel V6 with 240 or 275 horsepower. But if those weren’t frugal enough, Jaguar has now introduced an even more cost-effective alternative.

The same 2.2-liter diesel four can now be had in a cheaper 163-horsepower trim for a grand less, at £29,950 on-the-road price (OTR, inclusive of the 20% Value Added Tax). Considering, however, that – at 9.8 seconds – the new version takes more than a second longer to reach 62 mph from a standstill (compared to the 190hp’s 8.5-second run), yet returns the same 52.3 mpg combined rating on the UK scale, we’re not sure the cheaper price makes this a good value.

What the new diesel spec does offer, however, is an intriguing id to the XFR’s ego: Compared to the top-of-the-line supercharged model’s £65,350 OTR price, 22.5 mpg UK combined rating and 4.9 second sprint to 62, the bottom of the range is now less than half the price off the top, gets more than twice the fuel economy, and takes twice as long to reach highway speeds.

Source: Jaguar