Jaguar XE review

Indeed, our big concern about owning one of these we can’t really answer yet, but the past form of Jaguar Land Rover products on the Top Gear fleet doesn’t set our expectations for electronic reliability especially high. Fingers crossed Jag’s learned from previous mistakes and nailed it, because everything looks and feels good new. At least the three-year/unlimited-mileage warranty should cover the length of most people’s lease deals should anything prove dim-witted.

The competitiveness in this class of car – especially when it comes to tax and BIK rates – means each of the XE’s engines punches hard when it comes to balancing power output and CO2 emissions.

And such is the disparity between how fun the chassis is and how plain those engines feel, you’re might as well choose the one that makes the sums work best. With three tunes each of two different engines – all of them possessing four cylinders – there’s not going to be any great leap in character between choosing a base-spec petrol, top-spec diesel, or anything in between.

This new XE gets a simplified trim range, though numerous option packs do scupper that a bit if you’re trying to configure something lower down the range. If you want to take a punt on all the fancy screens, then you’ll want to add the handily titled Technology Pack (£1,820) which brings the clever rear-view mirror, twin touchscreens, wireless phone charging and a head-up display.