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5 years ago

THE JAGUAR #05

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  • Jaguar
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Discover a different side to Eva Green | Will your next taxi be a self-driven Jaguar I-PACE? | What it takes to break a lap record at the Nürburgring Nordschleife | The petrolheads racing in Jaguar’s new all-electric race series | Up close with the latest special edition of the XE and XF: the 300 SPORT

European model

European model shown.

ROAD TEST JAGUAR XE 300 SPORT Looking fiery in Caldera Red, the XE 300 Sport takes to the hills outside Palermo. Journalist Henry Catchpole is all smiles as he lets the 296HP sedan loose It’s easy to dismiss the first one as an unfortunate oversight. The second can also be forgiven; after all, things often come in pairs. But after fifteen minutes of tumultuous asphalt that is riven with large fissures, potholes and apparently naturally-occurring speed humps, even a mind as slow as mine begins to suspect these road imperfections could be something of a Sicilian trend. In places, the road looks like an angry sea, whipped up into waves by the wind and then petrified by Medusa. And yet what the eye is seeing and what my body is feeling are almost disconcertingly distinct. Take this area of subsidence approaching now, for example. Without a drop in pace, with no lift of the throttle, instinct suggests that an anticipatory wince would be appropriate. Brace for impact, so to speak. But then the crater passes beneath my Jaguar XE 300 SPORT and there is barely a flutter. Impressive. No jolt through the hands, no uncomfortable compression of the spine, barely a da-dum as the wheels rise and fall in time with the suspension soaking up the impact. And this happens numerous times. The da-dums are constant enough that David Guetta could probably sample the irregular beat and have it playing in Ibiza within a week. But before long I learn not to wince before each one. I am currently somewhere between the Sicilian city of Palermo in the north and Catania on the eastern side of the Italian island. Setting off earlier this morning, I plunged into the maelstrom that is a southern Italian rush hour. From behind the digital dash and yellow-stitched steering wheel in the Jaguar’s calm and cool interior I felt cocooned from the mêlée. It was like viewing an immersive film as people switched lanes and traveled within millimeters of each other all around me. It’s no wonder that most vehicles over here seem to bear battle scars on their bodywork, although I suspect the indicator switches are factory fresh. Intent on keeping the XE 300 SPORT scuff-free and with a full complement of mirrors, I headed out of the city, THE JAGUAR 23

 

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THE JAGUAR MAGAZINE

 

JAGUAR MAGAZINE celebrates creativity in all its forms, with exclusive features that inspire sensory excitement, from seductive design to cutting-edge technology.

The latest issue features a range of inspiring people: from Luke Jennings, creator of Villanelle, one of the most interesting television characters in recent times, to Marcus Du Sautoy, who ponders whether artificial intelligence is on the brink of becoming creative. Out on the road, we visit the US to explore the foodie heaven of Portland in a Jaguar I-PACE, take a Jaguar XE to the south of France to get a photographer’s viewpoint of the charming town of Arles, and much more.

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