After what seemed like a marathon 11 hour flight, we landed safely at Frankfurt International Airport. Just enough time for a “breath of fresh air” courtesy of a box of 20’s that had remained tantalisingly near in my hand luggage on the plane, before boarding a coach for another 2 hours journey to the revered home of motorsport – the Nurberg ring. This was to be a whirlwind visit to Germany, two days in fact; two days to experience the two tantalizing new offerings from Jaguar – namely the XKR-S on day one, thereafter the XF 2.2 Diesel.

We had an hour to refresh before heading into the classroom for some theory and training – ensuring that we as representatives of the Brand, were sufficiently up to speed on the product to present with absolute confidence to our prospective clients (passion an optional extra – available in vast excesses at Jaguar Umhlanga though!!). Then the main event, certainly in my book. Being driven around the full 21.7km  North Course by a professional race car driver. Thankfully the rain had cleared up and the track had had an opportunity to dry sufficiently to allow these talented men and women to drive us around at 70% of the capability of the new XKR-S. Well, all I can say, if that was 70%, I can only wait with bated breath for 100%. A video was made for each of the delegates and stored on a memory stick, displaying the G-Forces, constant display of the speedometer, the track and the delegate and driver in the cabin, courtesy of two cameras mounted inside the 10 vehicles utilized. The vehicle was outstanding as we screamed around the technical course, passing every exotic type of car imaginable at speeds in excess of 270km/h, the active exhaust and its exquisite note keeping us company as this new 404kw beast performed flawlessly and effortlessly. The enhancements made to the vehicle to ensure its safe operation at 300km/h very obvious, as it tackled the constant varying gradients and blind corners with ease. My only disappointment was that there are such limited quantities of the vehicle coming to South Africa – there will be no chance of a demonstration model. We have only two units for retail arriving from October of this year.

Day two dawned and we headed off to the Nurburg Jaguar Test facility, one of three that Jaguar have invested in, in Europe. More classroom sessions and competitor analysis (my goodness we fare so highly and favourably against the traditional German Marques) before we headed off on a Ride and Drive in the twisty, mountainous region surrounding the race track in the new 2.2 Diesel XF. It was hard to believe that the XF was powered by a four cylinder diesel motor. It was quiet, effortlessly powerful and responsive, and thanks partly to the new 8 speed ZF automatic gearbox, incredibly frugal. A little bit of the Autobahn thrown in for good measure and I had my co-driver taking photos as the vehicle quickly and confidently accelerated to 220km/h. We had ample opportunity to experience the Intelligent Stop/Start technology as we left the infamous German freeway (amazing, no road hogs here, everyone is so polite on the road) and passed through some unbelievably scenic and quaint villages and towns. The response time is 0.4 of a second for the engine to restart – before your foot is able to leave the brake pedal, the vehicle growls back into life. All in all, an extremely rewarding experience with me unable to fault the vehicle in any way. At 140kw, 450nm of torque and 0 – 100km/h acceleration of just 8.6 seconds, with emissions at 149g per km – we have an absolute winner on our hands. Retail of these brand new vehicles commences on the 1st October with almost all of our initial units pre-sold.

So it was back on the plane, nicotine patch firmly in place and return to South Africa to wait with impatient anticipation for the official release to Market of these two magnificent additions to our current line up. We hope to see you soon and be able to personally impart our impressions of these vehicles and welcome you to, or in some cases back to, the Jaguar Brand.