Skip advert
Advertisement
Long term tests

Jaguar XFR

A teeny fault with the Adaptive Dynamics doesn't tarnish the huge fun we get from Jaguar's XFR

There’s an orange screen between the Jag’s two dials. Well, it’s not actually, it’s black and white, but it glows orange whenever the car needs to tell me something that Just Can’t Wait. Of late this has been that the first service is due (in around 1100 miles), but there’s been another, less ignorable message: a warning that there’s a fault with the Adaptive Dynamics system. This one is less frequent, but it’s accompanied by the car jamming itself in the sportier of its two modes. This is my preferred setting anyway, so it’s not a huge problem, but I’ll get it looked at when the car goes for its service.

Advertisement - Article continues below

The screen also turns tangerine when fuel gets low. This doesn’t happen quite as often as you might expect – I tend to get about 300 miles from a tankful, averaging 22-23mpg on the trawl to work and back, although this drops dramatically if the Brackley roundabouts are quiet and I’ve remembered to press and h-o-l-d the DSC button.

The XFR drifts as effortlessly as snow; big lazy arcs, the car seemingly held at an angle by two-ton momentum alone and yet so controllable, so precise, so catchable. And so hard to resist nailing it all the way through second and third along the next straight. The XFR may find itself bathing in the soft orange glow of a petrol station forecourt sooner as a result, but it’s so worth it.

Running Costs

Date acquiredJune 2009
Total mileage13,917
Costs this month£0
Mileage this month3289
MPG this month21.3
Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

Ferrari Amalfi Spider review – the perfect foil for Aston Martin's Vantage S Roadster
Ferrari Amalfi Spider
Reviews

Ferrari Amalfi Spider review – the perfect foil for Aston Martin's Vantage S Roadster

Ferrari has listened to its customers, refining the Amalfi as a daily compared to the Roma, while rationalising its cabin. But it does have a muted vo…
5 Aug 2026
Lotus Elise (S3, 2010-2021) review – lithe, lightweight and extinct
Lotus Elise S3
In-depth reviews

Lotus Elise (S3, 2010-2021) review – lithe, lightweight and extinct

There was nothing like the Elise before it arrived in 1996 and surely, there will be nothing like it ever again
7 Aug 2026
Bugatti Destrier revealed as the ultimate one-off W16 hypercar (really, this time)
Bugatti Destrier
News

Bugatti Destrier revealed as the ultimate one-off W16 hypercar (really, this time)

The one-off Destrier is the latest creation from Bugatti’s Solitaire programme, and there’s no underlying Chiron hardware here
6 Aug 2026