Had an eventful collection ... they forgot to take off "transport mode" during the PDI, so the car would not do more than 28mph !! Had to call our Jaguar Assist, who came and sorted it.
Only done 60 miles, so clearly don't know the car yet, but first impressions are thus.
Looks - love it. Just the right size. Compact Exec. A nice change after the barge XF. Really sharp lines. Love the DRL's that run on the front and the back (in the shape of F-TYPE).
Interior - leather feels a lower rent grain vs. the XF S, but still very nice. Nice shaped seats, and the Red / Black interior is done well, and probably better than in the XF in terms of a slightly darker shade of red and a tad less of it also which isn't a bad thing.
Cabin feels very snug, in a good way. It wraps around the driver. The dash has a riva hoop which is very nice. Nice chunky steering wheel.
The car has the new NGI infotainment with JLR InControl Apps (remote and secure) which allows various functions from your phone etc and overall is a big step up from the XF.
In terms of spec, its nice, has a large opening Pano roof. Lane departure assist, side assist, cruise, electric memory heated seats, speed limit sign recognition.
One downside is it only has the standard sound system, which in comparison to the beastly Meridan Surround system in the XF it is poor in comparison, but I'll live with it.
Start the engine and it has a horrible 4 pot diesel sound which is sad coming from the super smooth V6 3.0. but, on the move, it actually is just about ok in the power stakes.
The gearbox is just as sublime as in the XF, but interestingly, when in dynamic mode and then using the paddles, the gear changes give a proper thump as you go up them ... in a nice way, its a positive thump - but something that did not happen in the XF ... it does this in the F-TYPE by cutting ignition, in order to give a more mechanical feel to the gear change when in Dynamic - so I like that it has this.
So, to be honest, whilst I was liking the car, I wasn't blown away vs. the XF, mainly as the XF was such a good car.
That was until, I found some corners / roundabouts !!
wow!
The handling on this car is unreal! the turn in is so positive, and the car feels so neutral vs. the mass off understeer you would meet on the XF (unless you powered it into Oversteer) ... but the XE just feels so nimble and planted in the corners and you get great communication through the steering which really gives you confidence to push it hard and puts a large smile on your face.
Only 60 miles in, but really impressed with the handling and really looking forward to pushing it more, and especially the Alps trip.
but, I'm not sure the brakes will thank me for it. I found the XF S brakes to be superb and never really let me down, even on big late brakes ... but my initial feeling of these brakes are they are not as good, which is understandable as this is not the S version ... so we'll see if I can ignite them !
Overall - I think I will love the car. I may miss the silky smooth V6, but I think I will love the handling, the extra MPG, the extra tech, and also its nice to be in someone new on the road, something different and a little bit edgy vs. the cardboard Germans.
tl:dr - its awesome !
