Junior saloon will soon be read the last rites, yet still seems in the best of health
MATT SAUNDERS
TESTED 24.1.24, OXFORDSHIRE ON SALE NOW
Now in its twilight years and looking like a tribute to a time when Jaguar still harboured dreams of a starkly different kind to those it has now, the XE has received one last model-year update.
It’s not a big one: a new set of wheels, a few interior detail tweaks and some further simplification and value-adding equipment additions. But, thanks to many years of cost amortisation, they bring entry-level versions of the XE roughly to price parity with mid-range VW Golfs.
A top-of-the-line XE like our test car is the price of an Audi S3 Saloon. Still pretty compelling, then.
There are only five XE variants left now: three rear-driven, mild-hybrid, four-pot D200 diesels; one rear-driven, four-pot petrol P250; and one four-pot petrol P300.
The P300 is alone in being offered with four-wheel drive and in getting adaptive dampers fitted as standard (‘configurable dynamics’ and better brakes are optional elsewhere).
Passenger space feels a shade more snug in both rows than is the executive class norm, but that is at least the ‘compact premium’ norm.
Jaguar has changed only a few details of the interior’s design and specification: the grade of leather on the steering wheel, for example (it’s now smooth, not perforated), and the style of the sill treadplates.
