Sporty Jag

Come to think of it, every person who feels he or she has arrived in life wants to own at least a few up market products, be it Gucci shoes, Rolex watches, Montblanc pens, Roberto Cavalli clothes or Moschino luggage.

-  P. THARYAN

Besides owning these, one would also love to drive a car from a royal lineage that offers a heavenly experience. Now there’s a catch here. Cars of royal lineage like the Rolls Royce, Bentley and others cost a bomb. But what about decent upmarket brands like Jaguars and Land Rovers? Surprisingly these are getting more and more affordable. What is Rs 40 lakh or Rs 50 lakh in today’s world? With money to be made in start ups, stock markets and well paid jobs, decent up market cars are up for grabs.

So when I got to test drive a Jaguar XE, the first thing I told myself was, “Wow, good cars are getting affordable by the day”. The new jaguar XE sports saloon was launched at the Auto Expo early this year. It came in two variants, the Pure and Portfolio. Recently the company added a Prestige variant. All these are powered by a 1999cc 4 cylinder turbo charged petrol engine but the Portfolio model I drove is the most powerful of the lot, producing 237 horse power @ 5500 rpm and a peak torque of 340Nm at around 2000 to 4500rpm.

When test cars are given to some of us journalists, they are given for very limited time and we have to review them come what may-- hail, rain or storm. It was pouring in Delhi when we got the car and it continued pouring even when we were driving it around. Slush, pot holes, water logged roads, traffic jams, all of these greeted us as we drove this car. In Delhi’s monsoon weather, the car moved without complaining. Test passed with flying colours. The Jaguar XE is a very practical car to drive even in India’s tough road conditions.