Jaguar XF Diesel S news - Return of the S - 2009

Jaguar is bringing back the ‘S’ badge. But fear not, it’s not a return of the retro-styled saloon, but instead a lovely new diesel for the XF.

The XF Diesel S gets a new three-litre twin-turbo V6 with a seriously impressive set of vital statistics: 271bhp, 442lb ft of torque and 0-60mph in 5.9 seconds, with consumption of 42mpg and CO2 emissions of just 179g/km.

That’s good stuff – quicker and more powerful than a BMW 335d (one of the world’s great engines in its own right) and just as clean and economical. Put another way, it’s 61 per cent more torquey than the XF’s outgoing 2.7-litre V6 diesel… and 12 per cent more economical.

There’s also a detuned version of the same 3.0-litre engine putting out 237bhp – but you don’t want that, do you?

The XF diesel S also gets a few visual tweaks - 19-inch wheels, a boot lid spoiler and some smart badging – but really, it’s all about that engine: thanks to the sequential turbo system, Jag promises there’s no discernable lag. And almost no noise. We like.

The new diesel goes on sale in March, with prices starting at £36,900 for the 271bhp iteration.