By
EWAN KENNEDY
22 May 2006
Jaguar was one of the last upmarket auto companies to join the push
to diesel engines. Fair enough, as the marque has long been associated
with sporting motoring, even in its saloon variants.
In 2004 Jaguar finally announced a
turbo-diesel, joining all the other major European makers in doing so.
The big advantage of being late into the market is that Jaguar has come
up with an ultra-modern design using all the latest in common-rail
technology. Technology that gives turbo-diesel engines real sporting
performance.
Australia is the latest market to receive
the new Jaguar powerplant, the S-Type going on sale here midway through
May. As yet we haven’t had an opportunity to carry out a full road
test on our home ground. We were able to do a lot of driving in England
last year to attend the launch of the new turbo-diesel models at
Jaguar's headquarters.
The turbo-diesel engine in the S-Type is
a 2.7-litre V6 with twin turbochargers. Its output is an impressive
torque of 435Nm at only 1900rpm, and a power peak of 153kW. That torque
figure is actually higher than that of the famed 4.2-litre Jaguar V8
petrol engine.
Tested to European standards, the new
Jaguar engine uses only 6.2 litres per hundred kilometres in country
driving, with a combined city/country figure of an impressively low 8.0
litres per hundred. These are the sort of fuel use numbers that you
would expect from a 2.0-litre petrol engine.
Given the luxurious nature of Jaguar
saloons, the company has gone to a lot of trouble to make the engine as
smooth and quiet as possible. This includes encapsulating it in what is
virtually a sound-proofed box under the bonnet. The result is an engine
that only really sounds like a diesel, a very muted diesel, when you
hear it from the outside, but which is all but inaudible from inside the
car.
There's minor turbo lag when you first
push the accelerator, once that has passed there's a strong surge as the
torque starts to comes on song at about 1500rpm. It then revs rapidly
until the torque starts to taper off at around 4000rpm. Jaguar tells us
that between these two numbers the engine is developing at least 80 per
cent of its maximum torque.
A turbo-diesel is quite different in
character to a petrol unit and any Aussie Jaguar lover driving one for
the first time may not be instantly enamoured with the way it feels.
Persist with your test drive and it may all start to make sense. There's
nothing quite like bucket loads of torque to give a car a feeling of
power and strength.
Though at one time Jaguar in Australia
was contemplating selling the S-Type turbo for exactly the same price as
the 3.0-litre petrol Luxury version, it has decided to add a small
premium of $1500. Thus the S-Type diesel is on sale now at $101,490.
Given the higher construction costs of
any diesel engine and the fact that it has twin turbochargers, this
still makes the turbo-diesel model a bargain in comparison with the
petrol unit.
Our Australian test of the new S-Type
diesel will be carried out late in July and will be published shortly
thereafter.
The local Jaguar importer is also
considering importing its top model, the XJ series, in diesel format,
but is holding off on doing so until it gauges buyer attitude to the new
S-Type diesel. We have also had an introductory drive of the XJ Jaguar.
Interestingly, though the XJ is larger than the S-Type it’s made from
aluminium and is therefore lighter. It feels even livelier on the road
and has real sporting flair.
