2012 Jaguar XF: Fuel Economy Update For June
July 2, 2013
Here is the fuel economy update for our long-term 2012 Jaguar XF during the month of June. Its final day in our fleet was June 3. So we accumulated just 216 miles during the month of June. A summary of its lifetime fuel economy follows.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Visibility Matters
June 11, 2013
Here's a typical weather scene in Southern California. See? Nothing's happening. It's perfectly pleasant and, look, somebody has a 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged to drive.
So it's easy to ignore warning messages like this.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Functional Louvers
June 10, 2013
When I was a kid, my father once referred to his Impala SS by saying, "Real hot rods have louvers, flames and five spokes."
If you follow our updates on the 2012 Jaguar XF, you've probably seen a dozen pictures of the Supercharged logo on its hood louvers. Many modern cars have bodywork masquerading as performance-enhancing improvements, but this small touch on the Jag appears to be functional.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Dead Front Tires
June 7, 2013
We made another discovery at last week's brake pad replacement: That the inside of the Jag's front Dunlops were worn to the cords.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Rear Brake Pad Replacement
June 5, 2013
Just as it's about to leave our care for good, our 2012 Jaguar XF began to intermittently display a brake pad warning light. Though it came and went for a few days, we took the car into the Jaguar store in Anaheim Hills, Calif. Our experience was good.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Fuel Economy Update for May
June 4, 2013
Our long-term 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged, in its last month in our fleet, didn't rack up that many miles in May. A total of 1,144 miles is all we tallied last month.
2012 Jaguar XF: A Few Creaks
May 29, 2013
As our time with our long-term 2012 Jaguar XF draws to a close, I decided to give the big cat another whirl. I'd not driven this car very much as I just never really warmed up to it. Okay, I definitely warmed up to its barnstorming power delivery, which, save for a minor delay in tip-in throttle response, is terrific. I think my indifference to it stems primarily from its tepid steering and touchy brake pedal response, areas that make the XF seem a bit incohesive or unresolved to me.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Comfortable Anywhere
May 23, 2013
I'm sure you've caught on by now that I am smitten with our long-term 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged. It works for me on so many levels.
2012 Jaguar XF: 10 Reasons I'll Miss It
May 20, 2013
Some long-term cars leave our garage and I won't even notice. I'm pretty sure it was a month and a half before I realized the Honda Crosstour was gone. There are others, however, where I'll wistfully stand at the driveway and wave as it departs for the last time, a wash of fond memories floating through my mind to the dulcet tones of Barbra Streisand and "The Way We Were."
The 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged fits into the latter category, and as its time with us is coming to a close, I thought I'd share those fond recollections in that age-old, time-tested Top 10 format...though sans Babs.
In no particular order...
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Great Steering Wheel
May 17, 2013
I really like the steering wheel in our long-term 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged, because it's not what you're expecting.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Favorite Trip Computer Display
May 16, 2013
I don't find the instrument panel in our long-term 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged unattractive. It looks nice enough. But the digits and markings are small. So whenever I get into the XF, the first change* I make is to the trip computer: I scroll past the default odometer /Trip A display and select the digital speedometer display.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: It's Like a Corvette
May 14, 2013
Our long-term 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged has way more personality that most of today's midsize luxury sedans. It's a more interesting car to drive than either our 2011 BMW 528i or 2013 Lexus GS 350.
Of course, the Jag's 470-horsepower, supercharged 5.0-liter V8 has a lot to do with this. The way this engine pulls the car along in traffic is always exciting and feels borderline illegal. You don't ease into the throttle in the XF. You grab great big gobs of it.
Granted, there are plenty of torque-rich turbocharged six- and eight-cylinder engines in this class right now, but many of them lack character. In contrast, this blown V8 makes the Jaguar XF feel and sound fast. Every V8 should do that, at least in this class.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: At the Ballet
May 8, 2013
I went to the ballet this weekend at Segerstrom Hall. I haven't been to something artistic in a long time. It was Rodin by the Boris Eifman Ballet out of St. Petersburg. It was titled after the sculptor Rodin but was really about Camille Claudel. Look her up; she's a very interesting woman.
2012 Jaguar XF: The XF-Wing
May 3, 2013
One of the main complaints heard from X-wing pilots around the galaxy is the starfighter's lack of space and creature comforts. Fortunately, Jaguar has stepped in with a luxury edition called the XF-Wing.
2012 Jaguar XF: Fuel Economy Update for April
May 2, 2013
Compared to its road-trip-latent history, our 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged didn't go too far in the month of April: just shy of 1,200 miles. The Jag got plenty of use over the last four weeks and over its lifetime with us, it continues to beat EPA-combined mileage estimates.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: A Certain Je Ne Sais Quois
April 26, 2013
When our long-term Jaguar XF sits in the sun for a while, like in my driveway at home, it develops a certain je ne sais quois, that intangible quality the French use to describe that which we cannot describe. That's my polite way of saying this car gets a little stinky.
There's a lot of leather in this car but leather has a pleasant aroma. I blame the alcantara, which is a polite way of saying fake suede. It gets a little ripe if you know what I mean. It's amazing how earthy an artificial substance can smell.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Last Man Standing
April 23, 2013
Our 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged is the only car in our long-term fleet that will still play my first-generation iPod Touch.
It's not just that it's an old device. I also "upgraded" its software and now even my iHome won't play it. So, congratulations to the Jaguar XF. I love you even more now.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Vanity Plates
April 19, 2013
This Jaguar XF was ahead of me on the 101 freeway. Not exactly the vanity plate I'd choose for our long-term XF test car, but to each, his own.
What specialized plate would you put on your black cat?
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: XF or 911?
April 18, 2013
The other day I was working from home and Tweeting. Yes, Twitter is part of my job. I had our long-term Porsche 911 and I could see on my Twitter feed that Magrath had the Jaguar XF Supercharged. I sometimes hog the Jaguar for a week at a time. I'm sure that makes me real popular around the office. But when the car sign-out board comes around, the 911 is usually spoken for. I rarely get a chance and I jumped on it.
So, here's our Twitter conversation, because an UnTwittered life is not worth living. I think Socrates said that.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Better Boot
April 11, 2013
Don't tell Ian Callum, but I think our 2012 Jaguar XF's rear end is much more attractive than the new 2013 XJ's boot.
Tell me, which Jag do you think has the better behind?
2012 Jaguar XF: Extravagant
April 9, 2013
Cars with Alcantara-wrapped A-pillars and headliners don't come through the fleet that often, so I always tend to slightly fixate on the Jag's roof supports after I've slipped behind the wheel. This faux-suede has a rich look and feel, such that its use on the pillars seems silly, extravagant and perfect.
2012 Jaguar XF: Fuel Economy Update for March
April 2, 2013
Our long-term 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged didn't rack up that many miles in March. A steady diet of commuting in Southern California held it to 1,353 miles. Our 470-horsepower luxury sedan broke 20,000 miles this month, though, and it might surprise you to learn that its lifetime average exactly matches its EPA combined fuel economy rating.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Dirty Boot
April 1, 2013
How many Jaguar XF owners are likely to use their cars to ferry a load of dirt and mulch?
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Noisy Volume
March 29, 2013
I've found something very un-Jaguaresque in our XF's cabin.
Although the wheel-like rocker switches on the Jaguar XF's steering wheel feel good and are nicely weighted, they make a loud thunk noise when you use them to adjust the stereo volume or channel. Not just a light click, but a thunk.
2012 Jaguar XF: Still Great With Half the Cylinders
March 28, 2013
After so much time spent in our Jaguar XF Supercharged, I was curious to see what it was like when you removed half its cylinders and nearly half the horsepower in the new base 2.0 model.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Split-Zone Heated Seats
March 27, 2013
Sometimes it's nice to have some heat on your back, especially during a long drive when things can get a little stiff. The downside with heated seats is that although you'd like some back heat, you most certainly do not need butt heat. With a vast majority of cars, that's the reality.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Cupholders Done Right
March 25, 2013
Sometimes I get shocked at the pathetic excuses for cupholders manufacturers put in their cars. Case in point, the 2013 Ford Focus ST, which I complained about in an update recently. Take any turn, at any speed, and your water bottle is going for a ride across the car.
Then you get into the 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged. And you realize, this is how cupholders are done right. It all comes down to anti-tip technology, also known as those flexible but very grippy rubber protrusions.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Kumbaya! XF 2.0 Spotted In The Wild
March 21, 2013
We had a kumbaya moment over the weekend when we came across this red 2013 Jaguar XF 2.0 Turbo while driving our 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged long-termer.
So of course we just had to park appropriately for a photo of the two cats together.
2012 Jaguar XF: Durable Interior
March 19, 2013
Light-colored leather tends to age faster than a party girl with a tanning addiction. However, though our Jag's been with us for roughly 10 months now (its year ends this June), the pale-brown hide that sheaths its handsomely sculpted seats are none the worse for wear. In fact, it's no exaggeration to say that they look pretty much as good as new.
The same can be said for the rest of the car's interior, which has held up admirably under the challenges of accommodating our editorial team. The best kind of luxury is luxury that lasts.
Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Daylight Savings Time
March 12, 2013
In my last report, I told you how easy it was to update the time in our 2012 Jaguar XF. Our clock was off by a few minutes.
Over the weekend, we lost an hour due to Daylight Savings Time but our Jaguar didn't. So, I manually took it back by using the same method as before.
Just press the time and adjust the hour.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor @ 19,563 miles
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Time Check
March 11, 2013
Our Jaguar XF is running a few minutes behind real time. I can't have the clock telling me I have three more minutes than I actually have. Time is important.
So, I looked in the manual to see if there was some super special premium Jaguar way to adjust the clock. But the only mention of the clock was how to clean the screen.
So, I touched the time with my finger and voila. The clock settings came right up.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Digital Speedometer
March 7, 2013
As you can see in the photo above, our Jaguar has a digital speedometer in the center of the instrument panel as well as the traditional dial on the left.
2012 Jaguar XF: Fuel Economy Update for February
March 4, 2013
We put 1,602 miles on our 2012 Jaguar XF in the month of February, mostly during Carroll's road trip to Phoenix. She earned an average of 17.6 mpg in February which exactly matches our average for the lifetime of this XF Supercharged. And is slightly better than the EPA estimate of 17 mpg for this car.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: In Six Seconds
March 1, 2013
Just playing with Vine. Do you think it's possible to review a car in six seconds?
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Road Trip Worthy
February 28, 2013
In our test fleet, there are cars that you can't wait to get out of, and cars you would drive every day if some other needy editor wasn't pushing you out of the way.
The Jaguar XF Supercharged definitely falls in the second category. Glancing at the odometer this morning, I noticed the XF was nearing 20,000 miles. That's a milestone in our business, and the minimum mileage we try to put on all our cars during a 12-month period.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Navigation Hiccups
February 27, 2013
Overall, the navigation system in the Jaguar was a big help during a road trip to Phoenix. There were some glitches, however. Once, the system wouldn't let us set a restaurant as the destination. It didn't recognize the address as existing on that street, and I have no idea why. We bailed out and used Google Maps on a smartphone. (The "unnamed road" message shown here was no big deal, by the way. As with most systems, it's indicating a parking lot or the odd connector ramp.)
On two other occasions, the system's turn-by-turn voice commands (hereafter known as Miss Guided) went haywire. The first time it happened, I was alone and headed to my first visit to the Desert Botanical Garden. It was a perfect navigation test: a solo traveler headed someplace she'd never been.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Valet Tales
February 26, 2013
The valets at the Arizona Biltmore really, really liked our 2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged. During our stay there, the Jaguar routinely got a front-row parking space, so we never had to wait more than a minute or two for it. I don't think it was just luxury-brand snob appeal, either. The car is beautiful in its own right and fits in with the Biltmore's theme of low-key elegance.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Subtle Design Statement
February 22, 2013
One of the outings we made in Phoenix was to Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home, studio and school of architecture. You can just see it in this photo, since Wright wanted it to blend into the desert landscape and only be visible when you were virtually on top of it.
The Jaguar is its own case study in the art of balancing subtlety and statement. Particularly in black, it's not at all showy from afar. But hit the self-leveling xenon HID headlamps and it shines. You can't miss the grill, which is distinctive and contemporary without being a gaping metal maw. And then there is its soundtrack: a growly V8, 470-hp engine. That's about all the statement you need, really.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Packed and Powering to AZ
February 21, 2013
We're bound for a long weekend in Phoenix. And on a two-lane stretch of Interstate 10, right about the time it begins its climb to Chiriaco Summit and the trucks start clogging the lanes, we really begin to appreciate the Jaguar's power plant.
The difficulty in this car is not getting the boost you need to pass. It's keeping yourself in check once the road opens up again. The Jaguar is content to lope along at about 90 mph, and it's all too easy to find yourself there without realizing it. Cruise control isn't a convenience in this car. It's a necessity, particularly if you want to avoid a speeding ticket. It doesn't ruin the fun. Too much.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: AZ Road Trip
February 15, 2013
It's been cool and drippy here. It's sunny there. There's work here. There's a spa there. Time for a road trip to Arizona. I've paired the phone and mapped the route in the Jaguar XF. (Though the directions are largely, "Drive for 379 miles and then stop," so I'm not sure that was totally necessary.)
I'll report back on the Jag's manners as a traveling companion in a few days.
Carroll Lachnit, Features Editor @ 18,073 miles
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Always Ready for Action
February 13, 2013
If you're not careful when you put your foot down on the accelerator in our long-term Jaguar XF you can take off like a jackrabbit. Its 5.0-liter supercharged V8 is always ready even when you're not.
It packs 470 horsepower @ 6,000 rpm and 424 pound-feet of torque at 2,500 rpm. There's also a lot of midrange muscle on standby for passing and merging onto highways. It's a pleasure to drive when you get a bit of open road. I think I'm obsessed. So much so that I've chosen it from our list of cars for more than a week now. I can't get enough of its smooth power delivery and luxuriously elegant interior.
2012 Jaguar XF Supercharged: Locked Fuel Door
February 11, 2013
The fuel door on the right side of the Jaguar XF is one of those push-it-to-pop-it-open types. But it won't open if the car is locked. It only pops open if you have pressed the unlock button on the keyfob.
I only notice these types of security issues because I grew up in a neighborhood where people fought over parking spots as if the sidewalk was their personal property. Some of the crazies would actually put sugar in your gas tank if you parked in front of their house.
2012 Jaguar XF: Uneven Interior Lighting
February 8, 2013
Probably just like you, I prefer an even spread of dashboard lighting at night. I also prefer to dim the nav screens so they don't distract me from the road. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any sort of lighting adjustment for the Jaguar's infotainment screen.
I searched multiple times through all the on-screen menus to no avail. All I could get was the typical Day/Night/Auto setting. I adjusted the main dashboard lighting dial, and that managed to dim the screen to acceptable levels, but then the rest of the controls were too dark to read. This seems like an odd oversight for a car that seems to have everything else.
Mark Takahashi, Automotive Editor @ 17,550 miles
2012 Jaguar XF: Open Air
February 7, 2013
Nifty as the Jag's rotating vent doors look on ignition, to me they just represent expensive repair bill for the second or third owner when those hidden servos give up. Fortunately, you can turn off the function and lock the doors open. The look isn't as modern cool or austere as when they're closed, but I'll take a busier dash-look than an austere wallet most times.
Dan Frio, Automotive Editor @ 17,000 miles