Video: 2010 Jaguar XF

Our videos of the 2009 model concentrate on the interior and certain technological elements. This year's car gets a bigger V8. So we're gonna talk about what it's like to drive. Our test car has a new five liter V8. Last year's 4.2 liter V8 serves as the base engine. The five liter, obviously optional. There's also a supercharged five liter available. When you get in a luxury car, you expect effortless passing power. The 4.2 delivered that most of the time, sometimes it did feel a bit more like a V6 than a V8. No such problems with the five liter. Passing power is effortless. The transmission doesn't have to shift gears as much. Definitely a burlier exhaust note. Just a lot of fun to drive, generally speaking. Gas mileage, so-so. The car's EPA rated 16 miles per gallon city, 23 highway. That's competitive in this segment, although we were getting something like 17, 18 miles per gallon in mostly highway driving over the weekend, not so great. It's also a pretty good balance between ride comfort and handling. In less expensive cars you often have to sacrifice the one for the other, not the case here. Supercharged XF's do have an available adaptive suspension, but even the non-adaptive sort of base setup in our test car delivers pretty good handling. Keeps the body roll in check and keeps you comfortable over rough roads. Road noise on the highway is pretty low, but we did notice a bit of wind noise overhead. We've also noted that the brake pedal is kind of grabby. A little bit difficult to iron out smooth stops, even after you get the hang of it. Overall, the XF delivers what we'd expect for a 50, $60,000 luxury car. It's capable. It's quiet. It's well appointed on the inside. But you'll want to know a good mechanic. Consumer Reports surveys for the first year peg the XF's reliability as worst among luxury cars. Another study at Jaguar on the upswing for reliability as it's historically been a brand that hasn't done so well there. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the XF really improves on this. (upbeat music) <v Announcer>For more car related news go to cars.com, or our blog, KickingTires.net.