Start the journey through Run to the Sun as we did, in the 2017 Jaguar XE 20d R-Sport.
This 4-door luxury sedan decked out in Italian Racing Red stole our heart during the first leg of Run to the Sun 2016.
Heading toward the XE, one gets the air of refinement with an aggressive attitude. The headlight look angry yet the body is sleek rather than muscular. It has presence without being outlandish.
Inside, one barely has to do anything if they don’t want to.
It took me 20 minutes of fiddling with all the buttons, though, before I took off. There was the 10-way seat adjustments, adjusting the radio, fiddling with the seat again, putting in navigation, putting heat on the seats,… you get the idea.
Over the next hour’s drive to our mountain resort we unleashed the 180-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0L diesel 4-cylinder onto Portland, Or., streets. The 8-speed automatic transmission made acceleration smooth and subtle in torque.
While not wanting to hot-rod, Jaguar’s assisted cruise control is superb and the lane keep assist does the trick in any kind of traffic. We barely used that at all during this, our longest trip of Run to the Sun.
Instead, we enjoyed some relaxing tunes, pressed the accelerator down and enjoyed the breeze in our hair as the heated seats ensured we were nice and cozy warm.
Few cars drive as effortlessly as the Jaguar XE, the other I also drove at Run to the Sun. However, you’ll have to stay tuned to see which one that was!
To enjoy the 2017 Jaguar XE 20d R-Sport, you’ll have to for over $47,495 (MSRP, as driven). Head over to www.jaguarusa.com for more information on the Jaguar XE.
