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  1. Five of the best Le Mans round-trippers
  2. Porsche Cayenne Diesel, Perfect Porsche
  3. Peugeot 407 Coupé Sport HDI 136, Suave Gallic
  4. Audi A6 2.0 TDI Avant S-Line, Load-lugging loveliness
  5. Jaguar XF 3.0 V6 Diesel, Smooth sophisti-cat
  6. Mercedes-Benz E 250 CDI Coupé, Fuel-sipping Class

Jaguar XF 3.0 V6 Diesel, Smooth sophisti-cat

Jaguar's racing at Le Mans might stretch the memories of younger race fans, but many race goers remember Jaguar's wins in 1988 and 1990 very fondly. Prior to that Jaguars were a formidable force in the '50s with its C- and D-type racers, plenty replicas of which can be seen every year heading through north eastern France en-route to Le Mans. Fun as that sounds we'd rather be in Jaguar's latest car, the XF 3.0 Diesel. With a smooth 3.0-litre turbodiesel mated to an automatic transmission, beautiful poise, excellent comfort and plenty of space the XF is a very sophisticated way of getting yourself and some friends to Le Mans to watch some racing.

If you go via Calais you might struggle to get there and back on one thankful, but fret not, leave London and head for Portsmouth and you can get a ferry to Le Havre. That cuts off a chunk of driving, or at least enough to allow you to get to Le Mans and back on a single tank. Only just mind, the Jaguar's 42mpg and 69.5-litre fuel tank giving it a range of 642 miles, meaning on a 640-mile round trip you'll be nursing it home over the last few miles, much like many of the cars in the race itself.

Kyle Fortune