Video: 2009 Jaguar XF

We already have a separate video giving you the overview. Now this is definitely a new Jaguar. When you get in, open the door, close it, you'll notice the start button for the engine, 'cause this is keyless, starts to pulsate red, almost like a heartbeat. You step on the brake, hold it down, and the car will come alive. You can see the knob rising out of the center console. This is not a multifunction controller. It is the gear selector knob. Now also, in terms of other drama, theater as we call it, when you turn on the air conditioning, the vents that are closed open up. Now, we recently noticed with the XJ full-size sedan from Jaguar, that it's kind of outdated. There's lots of regular old wood and kind of plain designs. This one is definitely updated, a new direction for them. There's lots of darker colors, more grays, though you can get regular wood toned wood, real aluminum on the dash. When you turn it on, you get nice blue light on the speedometer. It backlights all the buttons. There's some illumination of the door handles and window switches too. So I'll give you an idea of the ergonomics, some of the good things and bad things. The knob, it might seem gimmicky to have a gear selector knob, but I got to tell you, this is a great tactile way of changing gears. You just click it twice. You never have to look at the knob. If you're in reverse, you're backing up, then you're going forward, two clicks. Couldn't be easier. So overall I think the approach is a good one. You have what you really need the most. You have audio and climate control both down here in permanent buttons and both on the home screen here, climate on the left and stereo on the right. And basically everything that's hidden underneath menus is stuff that you don't need that often, unlike some cars where you need to go into menus just to change things like the radio. One thing that's not great is the way the menus slide in and out. It looks kind of nice, but at the same time, it takes time, and maybe you'd rather it just come up instantly. Now it's not all perfect, even though a lot of the menus are good, and the buttons, these are pretty small. This is seat cooling and heating. Same thing here. This is a button for the heated steering wheel, which is really nice. Now one last feature that's kind of neat is the way you open the glove compartment. There's this little bullseye, this target, and you just touch it, and the glove compartment opens up. And what's interesting is if you come at it from the side, like you're cleaning, you're wiping, it doesn't react, but when you go straight on it, then it opens up. Now, obviously this is a pretty small thing, but those little small things do matter. They kind of go together to make a car kind of interesting, something you can show off. Definitely a good move for Jaguar. I like what they're doing ergonomics wise. I'd like to see more of the Jaguars take this modernizing step. <v Announcer>For additional information on this car or any other, go to cars.com and our blog KickingTires.