The New Jaguar XE Wants To Beat Up Your BMW 3 Series

The Jaguar XE is more than just a new Jaguar. It's the new Jaguar on which the company's pinning its hopes of competing directly with BMW, Audi, Mercedes, and Lexus in the range of cars you can actually afford to drive every day.

With 340 hp and lines like these, you're probably going to want it. Take a look.

Under the hood of the sportier XE S guise, they've thrown the same 340 hp supercharged six cylinder from the F Type. That means 60 mph can happen in just 4.9 seconds, while the top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph.

You can get it in either rear or all wheel drive, and the bodywork is so slick that the drag coefficient is just 0.26. That's almost as good as a Prius without looking like, well, a Prius.

It uses a lot aluminum in the chassis to keep weight down, and it comes in at just 3250 lbs, which is a helluva lot less than some of its competitors.

Inside, of course, it's a Jag. That means plenty of leather to go around, but also a sportiness in line with Jaguar's new "it's good to be bad" image.

So is it better than the 3 Series? Until we drive it, we can't say, but it certainly looks the part, doesn't it?


Aaron Miller is the Rides editor for Supercompressor. He's probably the only automotive journalist in the world who liked the old X Type, because it was great in snow. Follow him to a love of Jag-u-ars on Twitter.