The jury has decided. The Jaguar XF (above) is The Straits Times Car of the Year.

Eleven panellists from The Straits Times and sister publication Torque deliberated for nearly a month to arrive at this year's winner, which beat its closest contender, the BMW M3, by only one vote.

Torque editor Lee Nian Tjoe said: "The XF is both different and traditional. It has taken Jaguar's core values and given them a thoroughly modern spin. It handles like a true sports sedan, at little expense of the sublime ride comfort that Jaguars are known for.

"The British car is brilliant enough to stand against the German giants while packing plenty of Jag qualities to make it a unique and attractive proposition."

Torque and Life! Motoring contributor Shreejit Changaroth described the new mid-range Jag as "modern, refined and stylish".

"It is a hugely desirable executive saloon for driver and passengers," he noted.

The XF charms with its revolutionary features. When its Start button is activated, a chrome gear-selector knob rises from a previously flush centre console. In equally dramatic fashion, the air- conditioning vents swivel open.

Many of its onboard functions are touch-controlled, including the reading lights, glove compartment lid and hi-fi. You can even opt for a car with radar- assisted adaptive cruise control.

And it has real performance.

The 4.2-litre supercharged speedster hurtles to 100kmh in 5.4 seconds, and in an utterly civilised manner, mind you.

Nearly just as many votes swung towards the BMW M3. This latest generation M car is brutal and yet relatively easy to handle.

For folks who want a family car and a track machine rolled into one, no other new model comes close to it.

Some on the panel felt the manual version (the only one available for test- drive) had a gearbox which fell short of perfection. Would the M-DCT dual- clutch version have garnered more votes for the BMW? I guess we will never know.

The other nominations on this year's shortlist include Volkswagen's Passat R36, Renault's Clio R27, Aston Martin's V8 Vantage and Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. The latter is even quicker than the M3 and has the benefit of a quick- acting autobox with steering-mounted paddle shifters.

Two Audis were also considered: the sexy A5 coupe and the everyday A4. The former stunned with its good looks while the latter impressed with its segment- leading quality.

The Mazda6 was the solitary Japanese car to make the final cut. Torque associate editor Tony Tan said it "made the other Asian offerings look downright shabby".

As with previous years, nominations were confined to all-new export models that were launched locally in the calendar year. Facelifts were not included.

Past-year winners included the Audi R8, Honda Civic, Honda Odyssey, Volkswagen Golf GTI and Volvo XC90.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Dec 20, 2008.

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