Not since the XK's 2006 South African launch have we been behind the wheel of a naturally-aspirated Coupe - 31 months on, a weekend as an interloper on the XK60 tour provided an opportunity to get reacquainted.

As a student, I well remember being on a biology field trip in a remote area of Wales when, along with a couple of friends, we received a rather chilly reception on our first evening visit to the local pub… Soon enough the regulars turned out to be very friendly, but the initial hushed stares were a tad unsettling.

The memory's come back to me now given that I'm about to drive to a rendezvous with 70 or so cars and their owners from the XK Club to take part in one of a 14-day long UK tour that will conclude in the XK60 weekend at Goodwood and Cowdray House. So why on earth am I thinking of frosty receptions in small Welsh pubs? Well, while everyone else on the tour will be driving classic XKs, I'm at the wheel of a new XK Coupe. And it's bright red. Remaining inconspicuous is going to be tricky.

In truth, of course, I'm expecting nothing other than a warm welcome from the tour participants - which I'm pleased to report does turn out to be the case - but I am intrigued to know what their thoughts will be regarding the latest Jaguar to be adorned by the letters 'XK', and also how the car will feel more than two and a half years since I last drove one.

The same, but different

We're heading to Broadway in the Cotswolds, and our starting point following an afternoon photoshoot is Halstead, Essex. With the 4.2-litre, 300bhp V8 idling quietly away, I tap in the destination postcode to the touch-screen sat-nav - a system that still seems delightfully intuitive to use - but am presented with a route that doesn't impress. It's approaching 4.30pm, and the sat-nav's suggestion of heading back down to the M25 and then anti-clockwise to the M40 sounds about as appealing as scraping away 30-year-old underseal with a teaspoon.

Having been instructed to avoid major roads, however, the next suggestion looks far better - a near due-west route taking in the A120, A507 and A421 before a stretch on the B4031 that would take us under the M40 (far more preferable than being on it) and into Cotswold country before the final dash to our destination. Much better. Journey start.

Coincidentally, it was only shortly before this trip that Jaguar unveiled the XK60 version of the new XK. Available in naturally-aspirated form only, the XK60 offers a few extras over the previous 'standard' XK, but at no extra cost - the coupe being priced at £60,995, the convertible at £66,995. The extra items in question are 20in Senta alloys, an alloy gearlever surround and a bodykit comprising new sills and front and rear valences.

Our test car is not to XK60 spec, although it does wear the Senta alloys and also has the alloy gearlever surround. The fact that it doesn't have the bodykit is, to my eye at least, no great loss. In this unadorned form - which you can continue to specify if you so choose - the XK still looks exceptional and though bright red (or 'Salsa' in official parlance) isn't exactly subtle, it certainly says 'sports car coming' to other road users. Apparently, it was a colour that Jaguar's chief designer, Ian Callum, insisted be available.

One trick that Jaguar's engineers achieved with the new XK and that was immediately apparent at its launch is the facet of it being so easy to drive whether you're in a hurry or not. Swooping along the surprisingly deserted route the sat-nav has chosen at the end of what has been a very busy week, that character trait is one that's very welcome. Driven swiftly but smoothly, the XK's CATs suspension remains supple affording a ride that, even on those 20in wheels, doesn't jar or jolt. When it was new, CATs was only optional on the XK, but customer take-up was so high that within a year it was standard. I've a feeling new XKs with standard dampers are as rare as XK 150s on steel wheels with drum brakes…

The interior is supremely comfortable too. The 16-way adjustable 'luxury' seats in our car with inflatable side bolsters were optional originally, but are standard today, and the support the seats offer is commendable. Fortunately, a memory function is also standard - I dread to think of the number of possible permutations 16-way adjustability could result in. The interior, though, has been upgraded very subtly in other ways. The original cars were criticised in some quarters for 'cheap' feeling switchgear, and this example features the revised 'tungsten' finish buttons on the centre console and window / door controls that were introduced with the 2009 Model Year. I never thought the original buttons felt 'cheap', but the new versions are definitely better, and overall I feel the interior to be a great success although, as you shall see, it still divides opinion.

One thing that hasn't changed, because it simply didn't need any alteration, is that fantastic ZF six-speed gearbox with the sequential shift facility. 30 months on from launch, I've still not driven an assisted-shift system that betters it. In full auto mode changes between ratios are seamless, and in sports mode the XK will flatter anyone's driving abilities via blips of the throttle on downshifts. Use the paddles - and it's hard to resist doing so on the numerous roundabouts we encounter - and the grin factor increases even further. The set-up in the supercharged XKR is slightly better as the blown engine's greater torque means even quicker throttle 'blips' and thus downshifts, but there's really not a lot in it.

In fact, on these relatively empty A-roads, there's not a lot to choose between the ability of this XK coupe and an XKR at all. Yes, should you get the opportunity to use its full performance the R is ultimately faster and requires less swapping of ratios to keep the engine on the boil (the naturally-aspirated 4.2-litre engine really coming on-song above 3,000rpm), but the XK is so lithe that, in real terms, it loses little on roads such as these. And it sounds glorious. The exhaust note isn't as loud as that of the supercharged car, but the induction noise intentionally fed into the cabin via a tuned-length trumpet is quite intoxicating, and that's something the R doesn't have. If it did, all you'd hear is supercharger whine.

Arriving at our destination suitably reacquainted with the pleasure of travelling by XK and feeling more relaxed than when we set off - a sure sign of a well set-up car - the trip computer also reveals that we've averaged 24mpg. That's a very reasonable figure at a time when petrol prices are very unreasonable.

A Jaguar journey

The following morning dawns bright, and ahead lays a day of Jaguar delights. The first stop on the tour's itinerary is Wappenbury Hall, former home of Sir William Lyons, followed by a trip to the visitor centre at Castle Bromwich - the plant where today's XK production takes place - and a stop at the former home of Jaguar chief engineer William Heynes, the man instrumental in bringing the six-cylinder XK engine to production.

There's only a guide start time, so we join the route and soon find ourselves at the gates of Wappenbury Hall at the back of a small queue of XKs - all of them classic, of course. The cars are waved though one-by-one for a photo stop outside the front door. Many a Jaguar has been through these gates before, including prototypes for Sir William to assess away from the factory, but will a new XK have been here? I don't know, nor, as I pause to take a picture, do I know or presume to guess what Sir William would make of it - but I do know that in such picturesque surroundings it looks mighty impressive and not at all out of place.

Leaving Wappenbury Hall behind en route to Castle Bromwich and now in convoy behind an XK 120 fixed-head and a 150 drop-head, what is soon made apparent is how much bigger the current car is than its spiritual forebears. On many occasions while navigating the narrow country lanes I'm forced almost to duck into the undergrowth to make room for oncoming traffic, while the older XKs barely have to deviate. In that respect, certainly, the current car is less sporting than its predecessors, but it seems not to have dulled its appeal. Arriving at Castle Bromwich presents an opportunity to chat to many of the owners, and it turns out that several of them also own a new XK, and all are full of praise for the car - proof indeed that the mix of ingredients that made the classic XKs appealing must still be present in the new car. In fact, when it comes to our test car, it's only the colour that seems to split the opinions of the classic XK drivers - the general response is either, love it, or loathe it…

Present at Castle Bromwich to deliver some perspective on how the current XK shape evolved is Giles Taylor, senior design manager, Jaguar Cars, and it is interesting to hear first-hand how the XKs of the past - and all previous Jaguars for that matter - are still considered by the current design team, without the noose of retro-design being around their necks. Said Giles, "We never tire of being inspired by the Jaguars of the past, but we don't look back to be beholden to the past. Ian Callum is very keen for the design team to do exactly what William Lyons did, which was to design progressive cars with innovations at their heart. So we use the heritage to inspire us and then look forward."

Part of his looking forward included the showing of some fascinating 'exercise' sketches by a design student for the next XK model. Though not part of the real design programme, the did serve to illustrate that the design team is already working on the very early stages of the next XK, even though the current model will likely be around for at least another five years. Designers clearly need to be very forward thinking indeed.

The heart of the matter

With Castle Bromwich behind us, the penultimate stop of the day lay ahead - a visit to the Heynes' family home. Though William Heynes passed away in 1989, his son Jonathan (formerly a Jaguar engineer himself for some 25 years) and his family still live in the house, and the welcome they gave us was warm.

As well as a very interesting array of Jaguars lined up on the drive to greet us, set in pride of place on the lawn in front of the house was a gleaming XK engine. Bereft of a car to call home, the engine looked impressive enough in its own right, which was something William Heynes valued immensely. In a paper that he wrote about the XK engine for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1953, after detailing the technical requirements considered when designing the engine, he made direct reference to its appearance.

"There was just one more requirement which had to be met - one which automobile designers (on both sides of the Atlantic) as a general rule ignore - and that is the styling of the external design of the engine so that it looks like the high-speed efficiency unit that it is, and conveys to the layman some idea of the thought and care which had been expended on the design and construction of the unseen functional parts."

Sadly, due to legislation regarding safety that necessitates the use of vast swathes of plastic under the bonnet of today's XK, its 4.2-litre V8 looks distinctly unimpressive to the eye. But what does Jonathan think his father would have made of the current XK as a whole? As Jonathan owns and drives one regularly he's well positioned to comment and, though he's highly critical of the interior "I think it needs work to make it more classical", and unconvinced of the car's frontal treatment, overall, he's impressed.

"It has extremely good performance," says Jonathan. "The gearbox is the probably the best in the business - it's absolutely superb on the paddles and the way that it's been set up is excellent… I hope it doesn't change shape too much - I think it will become a classic in time. I think overall Ian Callum has done a very good job. When I first saw it I wrote to him and said that William Lyons and William Heynes would be very proud of you old boy."

Amongst friends?

As the day draws to a close, only one stop remains - a visit to Compton Verney Gallery. Set in wonderful grounds, the gallery itself is also very impressive, and the sight once all the classic XKs have been lined up outside it more impressive still.

With the obligatory classic XK only photo-opportunity taken, I gingerly reverse the new XK down the line of cars for a final shot. Does the new car look out of place? I'll leave that to you to decide but for me, this most recent test of the new XK confirms that, just like their predecessors, Jaguar's current design and engineering teams have done a stunning job. Two and a half years on the new XK delights just as much as it did at launch and, despite tough times in the marketplace at present, its future classic status seems assured.

Words and pictures: Matt Skelton