2002 Jaguar X-type on 2040-cars

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Refreshed 2020 Jaguar XE gets upgraded interior

Jaguar said it listened to feedback — or complaints if you prefer, and want to be more blunt — from customers and even journalists to guide the first midcycle refresh of the XE sports sedan. While it made some exterior tweaks, the biggest changes are inside the cabin. There, Jaguar did away with hard plastics and added some new technology borrowed from the electric I-Pace, with XE's new door trims that will eventually serve as a template for all models, with improved ergonomics and more premium, soft-touch materials. "That was a really big job," says Ian Callum, Jaguar's director of design. "That's more than a normal facelift would normally get. What I think we've done with the interior is bring Jaguar back to its natural level of ambience and luxury. You sit in the car now, it's a great interior. We're really proud of it." Gone are the hard plastics in favor of new leather on the dash, door panels, seats, head rests and steering wheel. There are also carbon fiber panels around the front and rear door handles and the pistol shifter, which was borrowed from the F-Pace and replaces the previous version's dial shifter. The front-seat leather headrests are embossed with the Jaguar leaper logo, and the stitched-leather seats are a new design. The new front and rear door panels feature a more ergonomic 360-degree leather pull handle, replacing the previous design that had it as part of the door armrest. There's also a slot down low designed to securely stow reusable water bottles. Callum said the new door panels will appear on all future Jaguar models. The XE also features a redesigned center console with more storage, a pair of USB ports positioned inside the stowage bin along with an auxiliary power jack, and the second-generation heads-up display has improved graphics. Borrowed from the electric I-Pace is the optional InControl Touch Pro Duo touchscreen, which is kept separate from the climate control screen that retains two dial knobs. Also available is a wireless phone charging port, a first for Jaguar, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. "We've taken something from a much higher car into our small family car, which is the right thing to do," Callum said. "We've got to cascade all that good stuff into our affordable car and try to work around it. It was challenging, because it costs money, but it's what people expect.

Our 2018 Jaguar F-Pace has an infuriating shifter

Let me preface this by saying that I quite enjoy our long-term 2018 Jaguar F-Pace. Its quick, handsome and pretty good on a road trip. It handles well for a crossover, too. My biggest gripe with the F-Pace is the interior, and my biggest gripe with the interior is the damned rotary shifter. I've never fought a vehicle so much just to get it to shift into reverse and neutral. I have a tendency to rant, but usually offline, in the company of friends and under the influence of a few drinks. I've spent a lot of time behind the wheel of the F-Pace, and an incident this week in an automatic car wash this week prompted this post. Simply put, it took probably 10 seconds for me to get it to shift into neutral and another 10 seconds to get it back into drive. This is annoying in any situation, but when you're holding up a line of cars trying to wash off a thick layer of salt and ice, it's infuriating. The rotary shifter simply wouldn't rotate into either drive or reverse. This might be user error and it might be exclusive to our particular F-Pace, but I don't recall have the same issue in our XE (I admittedly drove it less) and I definitely have never had such problems with other shifters. Not even the BMW-style fixed rocker type or weird handle ones in the Toyota Prius. I even consulted the owner's manual to make sure I'm doing it properly. The only thing I can think of is that I'm not putting enough pressure on the brake pedal while turning the dial. Yet, even those editors who haven't experienced this problem admit that the design has lost its way. Jaguar introduced the rotary shifter in the original XF back in 2009. At the time, its housing was compact and offset, serving the functional purpose of freeing up space for center console storage (as you can see in the photo above). The same concept was later applied to the Jaguar XJ and copied in the Ram 1500. Now, compare that design to the shifter in the F-Pace (as well as the XE and current XF). It's right in the center with a bezel that takes up as much room as the shift boot on a manual transmission. There's no added storage benefit and the surrounding piano black trim collects dust and fingerprints like a forensics squad. In other words, instead of a space efficiency solution, it's a space-robbing novelty that drives me nuts at the car wash. Related Video: Image Credit: Jeremy Korzeniewski, Jaguar Design/Style Jaguar Long-Term Garage Crossover SUV Luxury Performance jaguar f-pace jaguar f-pace s

2014 Jaguar F-Type V8 S [w/video]

Withhold judgment on the world's greatest exhaust note until after you've heard the Jaguar F-Type V8 S (scroll down now for a sneak peek). Its cackle, boom and pop under deceleration will have you rifling through its glovebox looking for a tool to remove the stereo as an in-dash audio system.
Combining modern technology with age-old exhaust plumbing, Jaguar's British engineers have developed a way to propel spent combustion gases into the atmosphere in a manner that elevates the complete driving experience. At idle, it purrs. Under acceleration, it roars. During cruise, it soothes. Perhaps most compellingly, during deceleration, it titillates.
Thankfully, the newest two-place convertible from Jaguar isn't only defined by its mesmerizing soundtrack - the F-Type would be an impressive sports car even if the world went silent.