Jag's given its XF all-wheel drive for 2013, available only with the supercharged petrol V6 that'll eventually appear in the F-Type, albeit in a unique state of tune.

The XF uses the same AWD technology as the XJ, the parts of which were conceived under the watchful eyes of Land Rover engineers. And the results are similarly phenomenal. It'll yomp down icy mountain roads in weather in which you'd struggle to get a standard XF off the drive.

Its lack of mass compared with the XJ gives a lithe, sporty edge to its AWD character. And probably a few furrowed brows at Audi, whose A6 quattro's 40/60 front/rear torque split isn't quite as compelling as the XF's 100 per cent rear-drive bias when it's warm enough to have some fun. That said, BMW's xDrive system offers the same variable set-up on all saloons from the 3 up to the 7.

But, like its XJ brother, the XF AWD will be absent from our showrooms. One saving grace is it's likely future generations of Jag saloons will be built with AWD in mind for both left and right-hand-drive markets. Shame, though - we're struggling to think of cooler winter wheels than an AWD Sportbrake.

The numbers
2995cc, V6, 4WD, 335bhp, 450Nm, 8.07kpl, 229g/km CO2, 0-100kph in 6.1secs, 250kph

The verdict
Lithe, sporty take on all-new AWD Jag tech. Shame it won't be available here.

Tags: jaguar, xf, xf awd