Review of the new Jaguar S-Type 2.7 Diesel - Long Term Test

Never underestimate the hidden reserves of deviousness possessed by your work colleagues. They may seem affable, easy-going types who would spot you a generous turn but dangle the prospect of a Jaguar S-TYPE long-term car in front of them and they can turn all Soprano on you. The keys to the big Jaguar are passed around under tables, in smoky rooms and on the basis of future favours. It's all very exciting.

Being naturally rather slow on the uptake it wasn't until a week after it had been delivered that I even realised we had a long term Jaguar S-TYPE 2.7 diesel. It's the sort of car you'll want to keep to yourself, to treat to a cross-country blast or to merely waft to work in. Sharing the joy is a far tougher ask. I must admit to a certain flush of schadenfreude when a colleague grudgingly asked if I wanted to drive the Jaguar that evening, knowing full well that the vehicle he was going to be lumped with was a rather unappetising van-based mini-MPV. I could picture him sitting in the rush hour traffic with no air conditioning, sweat trickling down his lower back as he cast his gaze across acres of elephant grey dashboard seemingly fabricated from reconstituted sandwich cartons. I, on the other hand, would be taking the back roads home, the big diesel roaring in a suitably Wagnerian fashion. As it transpired I also ended up in a traffic queue but at least I wasn't in a popemobile.

It's a handsome beast. Finished in black with beautiful 25-spoked alloy wheels it was gleaming upon delivery but after a heavy couple of weeks it's looking as if most of the road grime from the M1 has found its way into the wheels and the rear bumper assembly. Great streaks of water-borne muck trail down the rear three-quarter so it was an opportunity to give the car a thorough clean. The wheels themselves are almost impossible to clean without a pressure washer but otherwise the S-TYPE is a very pleasant car to run a sponge over and the interior - once divested of the typical detritus of motorway living - looks a treat.

"This S-TYPE is the sort of car you'll want to keep to yourself"

It's out on the open road that this car really shines. It's tough to get much less than 40mpg on a run and the engine is magnificently refined. In fact, I'd say it's more hushed than the big Audi A8 4.2-litre we had in alongside it with just a trace of wind noise and tyre rumble evident at typical motorway cruising speeds. Extend the engine a little further and you'll hear a distant bellow - more akin to a decent V6 petrol engine than what we've come to expect from a diesel.

In town, the Jaguar isn't quite so polished. The first thing to grate was the front parking sensor that beeps as you nose up to a car in a traffic queue. At first I tried to drown it out with the stereo, but after half an hour of bleeping and chiming I pulled to the side of the road and consulted the manual as to whether it could be disabled. Fortunately there's a rather obscure looking button mounted up near the dome light on the roof that does just this and I could continue my journey without being deafened by Jonathan Ross. The other issue that arose is the car's low speed tractability. Once rolling at a fair lick the S-TYPE feels great, but when starting from standstill - especially on a hill - it's a little reluctant to get going, being particularly easy to stall. For a car with a pair of turbochargers, there's quite a degree of turbo lag. Don't lazily attempt to pull out from a T-junction into moving traffic in second gear. You'll be faced with a good few seconds worth of opportunity to see the whites of the following driver's eyes as you wait for the Jaguar to get going. The electronic handbrake also takes a little getting used to.

Featuring second-generation common-rail fuel injection, this engine can crank out a hefty 435Nm of torque. A CO2 emissions figure of 189g/km will be extremely attractive to those corporate buyers looking for a car that will offer top-drawer prestige without the complementary kick in the current account. Performance is reasonably strong, the sprint to sixty taking a smidgeon over eight seconds and the maximum speed is comfortably in excess of 140mph. That performance isn't quite in the top bracket of executive diesels but is nevertheless enough to provide plenty of entertainment.

A great deal of thought has gone into the construction of the 2.7-litre diesel engine. Many diesel-engined cars are compromised by a powerplant slung way over the front axle that weighs about as much as a bullion train. This has some severe effects on the car's handling, the slightest glimpse of a deviation from the straight and narrow resulting in stodgy understeer. The S-TYPE's diesel engine is constructed from compacted graphite iron (CGI) to ensure outstanding strength, durability and above all low weight. Because less material is needed to build a CGI engine block, the engine can also be shorter. The result is that the 2.7-litre engine tips the scales at just 202kg - only 15kg more than the equivalent petrol V6.

You'll notice this nimbleness on the road. The S-TYPE really does feel like a compact car and it engenders plenty of confidence on twisty country roads. I remember driving one of the first S-TYPE models to arrive in the country back in early 1999 and wondering why anybody would possibly pay the premium over a Rover 75 for one. A number of revisions have completely changed the feel, if not the look, of the S-TYPE and it's now genuinely one of the front ranking executive choices when it comes to handling.

The long-term S-TYPE 2.7D has certainly got off on the right foot. Now all I need to do is to concoct some spurious fault with the car and convince the rest of my colleagues that it's gone back to Jaguar for a lengthy repair. That's if they haven't thought of that one first?

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