The New Jaguar XF Chequered Flag Is Sporty By Name, Not Nature

In our SUV-obsessed times, Jaguar’s XF and XF Sportbrake models are perhaps a little neglected. Now, though, there are spruced up versions of each to tempt you away from that F-Pace lease deal you’ve been eying up.

Each is now available as a ‘Chequered Flag’ edition, following on from a similarly-branded range of F-Types revealed late last year.

If you’re expecting dynamic changes to go with that sporty-sounding name, you’ll be disappointed - there aren’t any. Instead, Jaguar will fit each with a selection of some of the most popular bits and pieces from the XF options list along with some aesthetic tweaks.

On the outside, we have the ‘sport’ front bumper, a ‘Black Pack’, body-coloured side skirts, a boot spoiler, and 18-inch ‘Chalice’ gloss black alloy wheels. You can have it in either Yulong White, Santorini Black, and Eiger Grey, with Chequered Flag badges finishing of proceedings.

Open the door, and you’ll find Chequered Flag kick plates, a ‘Dark Hex’ aluminium finish for the instrument panel, and a full leather interior pinched from the R-Sport. From the factory, Chequered Flag cars get Jaguar’s Navigation Pro system, a 12.3-inch display-based instrument cluster, and keyless go.

Sound like your kind of trim level? You can spec it with one of several different engines, most of which come with a choice of rear or all-wheel drive layouts. There’s a 2.0-litre inline-four turbo petrol in either a 247bhp or 296bhp state of tune, an inline-four turbo diesel with either 178bhp or 237bhp, and finally a 296bhp V6 twin-turbo diesel. The latter is only available in rear-drive form, while the 237bhp can only be had with all-wheel drive.

You’re looking at £34,950 for the cheapest saloon, and £37,390 for the least expensive Sportbrake.