Jaguar XJ Review
Published: 3rd August 2008
Jaguar XJ
Being made out of aluminium pays its dividends, with excellent fuel consumption figures; on a motorway cruise we saw 41.3 mpg over a distance of 80 miles, not bad at all. On a careful ‘B’ road run we achieved 52 mpg over a 14 mile route, which is remarkable from such a large executive saloon.
Our car ran on optional 20" Calisto Wheels / 255/35 tyres, even with the low profile tyres the XJ’s ride quality is impeccable; it glides over the poorest of British roads without complaint. We did wonder once or twice if the air suspension made use feel a little queasy, but we think it is something you get used to after a while.
The Jaguar XJ handles very well and is surprisingly agile for such a big car, the suspension is assisted by CATS, Jaguar’s Computer Active Technology Suspension which monitors the road conditions, making over 3,000 adjustments every second to the suspension settings via electronically controlled dampers. We were surprised by how far you could push the XJ, even on ‘B’ roads, the real limitation being the width of the car, sensibility and legalities.
Our test car had been fitted with the optional Adaptive Cruise Control and Forward Alert, which uses a radar to scan the road ahead, which when cruise control is set will match your speed to the vehicle in front, settling down behind it, adapting your speed to theirs. If they move out of the way your speed will increase back to your set cruise control limit, should they brake you will be warned to intervene. Sometimes, it can be caught out in heavy traffic but never worryingly.
We were driving the long wheel base version of the XJ which increases the wheel base by 125 mm over the standard model and extends the overall length from 5,091 mm to 5,216 mm, which means there is a lot more legroom in the rear, ideal for chauffeuring, yet it remains a driver’s car. An amazing fact is that the kerb weight in only increased by 24kgs due to the aluminium body work. Of course this extra length does increase the turning circle from 38' 5" to 39’ 6”, which can make parking in tight space a little awkward, but there are front and rear parking sensors to assist you.
The Jaguar XJ is fitted with an electronic parking brake, simply lift the lever on the central console and you apply the parking brake and push it down to release it - if you should pull off with it on, it automatically releases and if you take the key out of the ignition it locks on automatically.
The cabin remains peaceful even at motorway speeds, there is a faint hint of the diesel engine under hard acceleration but it is hardly worth mentioning, perhaps the only criticism is that it is too quiet, especially as the side windows are now laminated which certainly helps to keep unwanted noise out of the cabin. Too quiet I hear some of you, gasp, the XJ is very remote from the real world, you can travel great distances without even noticing, which can remove some of the fun from the drive - which of course could be a positive point depending on your point of view.
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