Last week, Jaguar announced that it would embark upon a 2,884 mile journey across the U.S. in a European-market XF 2.2 diesel model. Eight days, 11 states and three time zones later, the British automaker has made it from New York to Los Angeles while managing some impressive fuel economy numbers in the XF.
Despite encountering road work, a host of elevation changes and a fair bit of city driving, the bone stock XF returned an overall average of 52.4 mpg (on the U.S. rating scale) at the hands of independent UK test drivers David and Alexander Madgwick. Only four fuel stops had to be made over the entire course course of the trip as the car averaged 721 miles for each tank of fuel.
“This project was designed primarily to test the potential economy of the XF 2.2,” said XF project manager Paul Alcock, who came along for the ride. “The incredible figures achieved by the car were accomplished through making every element of the new XF as efficient as possible – from its aerodynamics to its four-cylinder 2.2-litre diesel engine linked to an eight-speed gearbox.”
Jaguar has no current plans to bring an oil-burning car to the states, but this latest barometer of public interest…er, we mean cross-country trip…could be an indication that the automaker is thinking seriously about making diesel power available in its American offerings.
