04/11/09

• Price64,900
• We like...Looks, power
• We don't...Awkward boot shape

High-tone luxury sports tourer gets a new engine and new gears for the New Year. To drive, it's flowing - and fastThis is old-school. Even though the car we’ve just driven is spanking new, gets a new engine, gearbox and a tweaked ride, amidst other changes for the 2010 model year, it has the look and feel of Jaguars of yore. Slide into the deep, low-set seat and notice how, for a big car how snug it feels.

Provided you have the car’s keyfob in a pocket, its start button will be pulsing, backlit red, a little double-thump like a heartbeat. Thumb it and the 5.0 V8 petrol (which is new) roars before settling to an impatient, lumpy tick over. Meanwhile, the transmission control dial – newly installed and taken from the XF saloon - looks like one of those big ol’ chrome knobs you’d want on a 1970s stereogram. It rises on its own from the console between the seats. To select drive or reverse you twirl it, though there are also paddles just behind the wheel rim for semi-auto changes, should you want.

Response is immediate at the merest flick of your throttle foot. The bonnet lifts a touch as the car squats, the engine begins to bellow gloriously and it slingshots towards the distance. Its 380bhp means that 60mph comes up in 5.2sec from rest, making it only a little slower than a Porsche 911. But where the Porsche gives of its power in fierce bursts, the XK is more linear. It starts from low revs and just keeps going, grabbing another gear before it gets near to losing puff.

There’s delicacy, too, though in the way it rides and steers. It feels built for crossing long distances quickly and easily so it is relaxed where others costing as much and mustering similar power are buzzy and nervous. But if you press it through a series of bends it tucks in precisely and will follow a line inch-perfect, working that trick of, for a moment, making a big car feel much smaller.

The ride is now not as smooth as before but it remains comfortable and is now more precisely controlled. It feels like a quick Jag should: assured, grown-up and very capable.

The changes for 2010 focus on the car’s engineering, so elsewhere it’s as before. The cabin is superbly comfy if you’re perched up front – and even the seats’ side cushions are electrically adjustable. But the rear seats are next to useless because there’s little headroom and even less legroom. Storage space in the cabin isn’t especially generous, either, although it is classily decked out and features, too, the same touch screen controls for heating and sat-nav as you’ll find in the XF. They’re clear and easy to navigate.

Out back, the big tailgate hints that the XK could be a dandy luggage hauler. But no, the space is deep and shallow and those rear seats don’t fold because there’s a big bulkhead in the way. As it is, you’ll be pushed to stuff more than a couple of mid-sized suitcases aboard.

Should you buy one? If you want a Jag of the old school that’s comfy and quick, it’ll tick more boxes for you than any 911 could.

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• Engines5.0 V8 petrol
• Power380bhp
• 0-60 mph5.2secs
• Economy25.2mpg
• CO2g/km264
• Insurance groups20E
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags6
• Seats2+2

Motors.co.uk value verdict: