AMAZINGLY, Jaguar's marvelous XE executive saloon has been wowing drivers since 2015.

Lightweight aluminium construction plays a major role in the car's excellently agile handling, and also adds to safety and efficiency.

It combines with well-proven suspension to give the excellent roadholding and tremendous grip we look for in a Jaguar.

The XE was relaunched in 2019, and this smallest model in the company's stable came with an automatic gearbox as standard for the first time, plus the availability of four wheel drive.

This is a car that is a complete delight to drive on every road, with superb balance through the corners and marvelous performance from a wide range of engines.

I found there was plenty of urge for overtaking even in the lowliest 180bhp diesel, using the standard kickdown.

But although there are manual gearchange paddles behind the steering wheel on many models and they work better than many, very few owners are ever likely to use them because the automatic 'box does the job so well.

Even on fairly rough roads, the level of comfort is excellent too, only upset very occasionally at slow speeds.

And although the D180 is the least powerful option it's a sophisticated diesel offering very good performance combined with superb refinement and excellent economy.

It's available with rear or all wheel drive (AWD) and reaches 60 miles an hour from rest in just 7.6 seconds, while managing a best of 50 miles per gallon.

Moving up the diesel range, the next model is the D200 with 201bhp that cuts the 60 sprint down to 7.1 and has even better economy at 57mpg.

Top oil burner is the D240 - a 2 litre engine with twin turbochargers that boost power to 236bhp.

This brings the sprint time down to 6.1 seconds but economy is also down at 42mpg.

The main petrol range includes both turbocharged 2 litre and supercharged 3.0-litre V6 engines.

The least powerful P200 still boasts 197bhp and reaches 60 in 7.2 seconds while giving a best of 35mpg.

Next comes a 245bhp unit that cuts the sprint to 6.2 seconds and can still reach 36mpg, and that is followed by a 300bhp model that gets to 60 in 5.4 and can do 33mpg.

Finally come two 3.0-litre V6 powerplants with 335 and 380bhp respectively. These bring the sprint time down to 4.9 and 4.8 seconds and are both still capable of 34mpg.

There was also a 5.0-litre supercharged V8 called the SV8 available for a time, and this could keep up with many supercars, reaching 60 in no less than 3.3 seconds.

All of the higher powered models come with AWD as standard and since a 2019 facelift, all have the switchable eight speed automatic gearbox, with steering wheel paddles to make the changes manually.

The AWD and Jaguar's Intelligent Driveline Dynamics manage to keep the car's rear wheel drive handling feel and superb agility.

But of course, performance, traction and therefore driver confidence are enhanced tremendously in adverse conditions by the extra traction.

Upper models have a configurable dynamics system with a number of settings that can be chosen by the driver.

These include ice and snow, for maximum traction when the going gets really slippery, eco for best economy, comfort, which speaks for itself and dynamic to give a more sporting feel with faster gearshifts, weightier steering and a sharper accelerator response.

As you can imagine - this is a Jaguar after all - the interior is sumptuous, with leather and wood veneer in many models, and all the instruments and controls fall under the eye and the hand.

Mid-range Sport models come with sat nav, parking sensors, electrically adjusted and heated leather seats, alarm, quality stereo system and traction control.

But most original owners will have added items from the long extras list.

Pay about £12,200 for a '19 19-reg 2.0d 180bhp SE, or £25,000 for a '21 21-reg P250 R-Dynamic HSE.