The cat's out of the bag

MANILA, Philippines – These darned veterans.

Back-to-back hot laps from racing vet Georges Ramirez and motoring writer vet James Deakin proved too much for me. As the car hugged the “red and whites,” piled on the Gs, and generally made a glowing recital at the Clark International Speedway, I fought to keep my innards – not to mention lunch – in place. Wave after wave of dizziness assaulted my forehead, even after Georges engaged the DSC (dynamic stability control) to control the skidding of the vehicle once James got behind the wheel (much to Deakin’s chagrin). This particular model, I later learn, has three settings related to DSC: Normal, Trac DSC (which allows some slip for a “more sporting driving experience for the skilled driver”), and off. Still, James pushed the car way beyond normal road conditions and it didn’t even flinch – again, quite unlike the hapless writer at the back.

So after a “spin cycle” I begged to be let off from the back of the car – even for just a couple of minutes – to regain my bearings. Because, heck – even if I wasn’t planning on missing my turn at the wheel of the Jaguar XF if I had to drag my entrails behind me in a bag – I wanted most of my wits with me when I did so.

Marc Louis Soong of Jaguar Philippines, Inc. (JPI) welcomed our contingent of press people to the very first Jaguar track day in the country. “We’ve come a long, long way from the cars we used to have. We’re blessed with beautiful, fast cars – cars that are desired the world over,” he said, and added that the brand turned 75 this year.

JPI underscored a desire to further grow and improve business with the hiring of new after-sales director Stephen Davis, a Brit who has 22 years of solid experience with Jaguar. Davis has been based in various locations such as Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Shanghai in China, the UK, Central America, and the Middle East. Needless to say, he is familiar with the needs of clients all over.

“We want to give the best service our customers, especially since we’re getting bigger now. We’re getting new staff, and moving into accessories sales. Generally, we want to build better relationships with our customers,” said Davis.

After lunch, we were turned over to the Ramirezes (look them in the thesaurus, synonymous with “motoring”): the aforementioned Georges, Menchie, and Stefan (son of the much missed Kookie). The trio helped us experience the XF by putting the beautiful car through its paces – and, quite frankly, putting us in our places.

And what better way to enjoy the machine than on the two-kilometer racetrack?

Georges said the afternoon’s set of exercises was designed to let us experience the abilities of the XF. We were turned over first to Menchie, who guided us as we experienced the acceleration of XF, its braking power, ABS, slalom capabilities, and a sundry of niceties. How often do you get a chance to push someone else’s vehicle that would set us mortals back some P6 million? Exactly.

The figures Jaguar gave us will give you an inkling of the performance we experienced: 275 horsepower from a V6, zero to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds, in-gear acceleration from 50 to 70 mph in 3.2 seconds. “Sporting luxury” is the term used by Jaguar to describe the XF, with core values “as a refined and luxurious sports saloon.”

The surprising part? We drove, pushed, and gunned the XF Diesel S. What? Yes, diesel.

“The best part is there’s no turbo-lag or power-step,” said Davis.

“The key feature of the new engine is its unique parallel sequential turbocharger system, the first of its type to be fitted to a V-engine anywhere in the world. The system helps deliver the high levels of power and torque seamlessly and with effortless flexibility. When the engine revs climb above 2800 rpm, the secondary turbo is brought on line within 300 milliseconds,” said JPI president and chairman Wellington Soong in a statement.

“But for most day-to-day driving, a responsive primary turbocharger does all the work, while the smaller secondary turbo is dormant, saving energy and improving efficiency.  The engine matches perfectly with Jaguar’s sophisticated six-speed ZF 6HP28 automatic transmission,” he added.

Total was the official petroleum partner of the Jaguar Track Day. It is a subsidiary of TOTAL S.A., one of the world’s largest integrated oil and gas companies.

As for me, I did get behind the wheel for a, well, possibly warm lap with Georges as patient mentor. The XF felt good and never out of control – suffering through my errors with class and ease even as it delivered power on tap. Life rarely gets any better than this.

Whatta cat.