Jaguar Magazine 03/2017 – English

XF SPORTBRAKE
IT‘S HARD TO
RECONCILE THAT
TYPICALLY JAGUAR
COUPÉ-LIKE SLEEK
PROFILE WITH
THE 565 LITRE
CAPACITY OF
THE LOADSPACE
Both sports require a lot of kit, so what better way to test the
load bay of the new Jaguar XF Sportbrake. We brought you
the first images of the new car last issue, but when you
actually see it in person it’s hard to reconcile that typically
Jaguar coupé-like sleek profile with the generous 565 litre (or
1,700 litres with the seats down) capacity of the loadspace.
Jaguar’s design team under Ian Callum has retained the
award-winning exterior of the XF saloon from the assertive
upright nose to the trailing edge of the front doors. From the
rear doors back, the new XF Sportbrake keeps the saloon’s
hallmark haunches and its ‘spear of light’ wraparound rear
lamps. Clever design like the subtle, integrated roof-rails and
spoiler let the new roofline taper elegantly to the rear.
Paraglider Phil Barron (left) is
an expert ‘cloud surfer’ and
the expansive space afforded
by the new XF Sportbrake
(above) is more than enough to
accommodate his extensive kit
MAGNIFICENT DRIVE
The car’s low drag figure of just 0.29 seems particularly
relevant as we drive into the breeze from Belfast along the
magnificent A2 coast road, part of the Causeway Coastal
Route. The area’s roads are varied, but always good: you’ve a
combination of fast, open stretches over the tops of the Glens
of Antrim, and tighter sections with hairpins and hair-raising
gradients which lead down to the shore. A sweeping part of
THE JAGUAR 61