Jaguar S-Type 2005 review

Pioneers Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot are still firmly in the game with quality offerings, but there are a couple of new kids in the sandpit who are about to change the rules.

BMW has finally lifted the blinkers with plans to have the brilliant 3.0-litre diesel from the X5 in 5 Series sedans by the end of the year. Then there is Jaguar.

Tucked away in select garages across Britain is one of the big cat's best kept secrets, a stunning V6 2.7-litre twin-turbo diesel wrapped in S-Type metal.

The engine is as good as it gets but does nothing to address the inherent packaging problems in the S-Type. However it does make it so much easier to forgive.

A couple of thousand kilometres spent in the company of the 2.7D Sport in England recently reaffirmed a oft-forgotten truism – it's what is in the heart that really counts.

This one is an out-and-out sweetie.

For those cold-hearted techos who measure worth by numbers: let the AJD-V6 2.7-litre twin-turbo diesel speak for itself.

The four-cam, 24-valve, twin-turbo V6 features second-generation, common-rail direct injection and super-fast piezo-electric injector operation. Maximum power is 153kW with peak torque touching 433Nm with 80 per cent of this urge on tap from just 1500rpm through to 4000rpm when it all takes a holiday.

By more aesthetic measures, the Jaguar diesel is an even more worthy piece of work.

It is quiet – eerily so. The isolation of engine noise, in fact, any external noise from the cabin, is class leading by any measure. Again, for those who must know why, the hush comes from a raft of engineering tricks and tweaks. Jaguar says graphite iron engine construction; dual isolated engine mounts; elastic cam-cover gaskets; double-skinned sump and a variable swirl intake system all play their part in making the Jaguar's growl a purr. A very slight lag – despite the use of a pair of small variable-geometry turbos in a bid to eliminate it entirely – at the very bottom of the rev range is more than compensated for by the 2.7's willingness to urge on through the mid-range like some lunatic traction engine.

On England's expansive motorways, when they are not jammed to walking pace, the 2.7's long, long legs eat up the distances. A mere 2500rpm converts to a comfortable 140km/h through the six-speed ZF auto as the Jag sits poised to leap further up the scale with any application of the right foot. Around town, the enormous spread of the torque curve equates to minimal gearshifts as the S-Type happily crawls along.

All this comes with a fuel consumption guaranteed to make a V8 driver green with envy. A solid mix of enthusiastic B-road blasting, high-speed motorways and city crawling returned 8.2L/100km.

Jaguar Australia boss David Blackhall has had his eye on this package for some time and it now looks almost certain that a few discerning Aussies will be able to get behind the wheel by early next year.

"We are still going through the process but it is ready to go to the highest echelon and I am hoping for January production and March introduction for the car," Blackhall said this week. "It is not certain yet but we would like to be able to offer price parity on the car. It would be great to be able to offer the diesel and petrol cars to buyers and let them make a choice not based on price."

That would see the diesel in showrooms at $99,900 in a luxury trim.

Blackall accepts there is likely to be a degree of substitution purchase from the V8 petrol to the diesel, but still believes there is good value in having the car on fleet.

"We may be being a little conservative, but if I can get 40 to 60 sales a year for the diesel then it makes business sense. It is going to take a little while for the idea to seep down but I am confident it will happen," he says.

There is also a little lateral thinking going on in regard to how the aluminium-bodied XJ6 would be accepted with the twin-turbo diesel. "We will have to have a think about whether that would suit the car here ... but it is certainly food for thought," Blackhall says.