I took part in the Jaguar Art of Performance Tour that held it’s first leg in Hyderabad, India last weekend. Here is a first hand report.

I love driving. Every chance I get, every country I visit, I try and convince a car owner to let me have a go on their roads. I have said this before, whenever I have spoken about my road trips be it with no agenda or when test driving an MPV. But never, despite my trip to Great Britain, have I had the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a Jaguar.

And unexpectedly enough, that opportunity came knocking in India.

I captured the day on my YouTube Vlog :

Jaguar India, was organising an experience tour of their entire line-up at a track and I was invited. What I found rather funny, was the person on the phone asking me if I would be interested. I tried to contain my excitement as much as I could, mumbling “Of course, I would love it!”

This was no ordinary “test drive” that Jaguar had organised with the Performance Tour. It was an experience. The line up had the XE, XF, XJL, F-PACE (in 2.0 and 3.0 litre engine variants) and a grand finale like no other – the F-TYPE! To sweeten the deal, they had 2 variants of the F-TYPE, the convertible and coupé. The course involved sharp lane changes, slaloms and a drag strip. The F-TYPE was reserved for the straight line strip to experience their flat out high performance and power. While the rest of the line-up was to push these luxury machines to their limits of manoeuvrability. Every step of the event was well thought through. For instance, they encouraged us to push the vehicles to their limit and not hold back. These cars took everything hurled at them on the track, in their stride.

The car that stole the show for me, was the XJL. With such a long wheel base and being a luxury limousine (if I can call it that), I honestly did not expect much from it when I chucked it around the track. It had unique wood interiors extending through the car (interestingly the entire bit is made from the bark of the same tree and hence there is uniformity of patterns) and had an analog clock. I thought it would be just about alright in the XJL. But when I hurled it at a corner, the car performed surprisingly well and the power as well as stance was aggressive and linear.

While the sound of the F-PACE with a 3.0 litre V6 engine and 221 horses under it’s hood was fun, the grunt on the 250 HP, supercharged V6 F-TYPE was a literal blast. The joy of listening to a car growl has never been more real.

I guess my favourite take-away at the event was that Jaguar encouraged us to experience these vehicles for the piece of art that they are, rather than being concerned with shooting images and videos. I promptly threw my camera and phone into the dash before I switched the jog dial into D. It ensured I enjoyed every bit of the machine and the experience it had to offer and loved every second of it.

This day on the track, is going to stay with me for a fair bit. And I can hardly wait for Round 2!

Which is your favourite Jaguar, from the line-up? Tell us why in the comments.

Shot by Vishal Dey for Bowties and Bones