Jaguar wandered in the wilderness when owned by Ford but with current owners Tata they seem to have much more autonomy. Tata keep a low profile and have allowed Jaguar to return to their roots. A good thing.

The XF R-Sport 2.5t has very much the Jaguar tradional air with a little 60s/70s XJ feel about it. I owned an XJ6 and can relate that car to the XF.

Some specs - the road test car drove via a four cyclinder two litre turbo petrol engine. The motor pumps out 177Kw(237bhp) and 340Nm of torque. The car consumed fuel at 7.7l/100ks on my 1300 kilometre test. Jaguar claim a top speed of 248kKph. Power was transmitted to the road via an eight speed auto with paddle shifts. The car had four driving modes (dynamic, rain/ice/snow, economy and normal). In ‘dynamic mode’ the speedo and tacho swap positions. Centrallising the tacho.

The XF comes with rain-sensing wipers, auto headlights, dual-zone climate air, smart key entry and start, parking sensors front and rear, reversing camera, leather trim, alloy wheels, Intelligent stop/start and tyre pressurer monitors. Options on the test car included Active Safety Pack (Adaptive Cruise Control, Queue Assist, Lane Keeping Assist and Driver Condiion Monitor), Heads Up Display, 20” alloys, fourteen way electric front seats, sunroof and cooled glove box.

Safety is a strong suit.The XF earns a five-star ANCAP rating. There's auto emergency braking, as well as lane departure warning and six airbags.

The Jaguar drove as I would have expected a Jaguar to drive. Ride was firm but acceptable. Handling at road speed is confident and predictable. Driven through corners at speed the car neither under or oversteers - just goes where pointed. Engine performance is brisk in sports mode.

It looks great with angular purposeful lines.

This latest Jaguar incarnation more than matches it with its luxury German rivals and should be on buyers’ short lists.

RRP $89,515. The test car with options had a RRP $118,595.

My rating for the Jaguar XF R-Sport 25t 8.5/10.

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