Jaguar XJR Review

Jaguar XJR

Ease of Use

Although stubbier than previous models the Jaguar XJ’s bonnet is quite long and you can find it compromising when pulling out of junctions with little vision. Once or twice I found myself over the white line, craning my neck to look around walls.

Although the boot is large (470 litres VDA), it is quite shallow which in our case meant we had to dismantle our son’s pram to fit it in. The access to the boot is very good and you can reach the back of the boot without disturbing your luggage. On shutting the boot it reassuring electronically pulls itself shut.

Headroom in both the front and rear is very good, and should accommodate even the most demanding of occupants. This extends to legroom and to shoulder room, although I did find my left leg whilst driving rubbed against the transmission tunnel.

Both front seats are electrically adjustable in all plains, and there is a 3 memory recall on the driver’s seat. The steering column and pedals, which are electronically adjustable are also memorised. The interior mirror has to be manually adjusted; it would have been nice if that adjusted electronically as well. The mirrors automatically ‘dip’ at night, so that you are not dazzled at night by traffic.

Not only are you able to heat the front seats (3 settings), you are also able cool them (3 settings), which was most welcome during our test week.

The two outer rear seats have three point isoFix mounting points for child seats, our seat was easy to fit and remove. There is an electronic rear window blind which can be lowered / raised from the front to protect rear sear occupants from the Sun’s glare.

Our test car was fitted with adaptive cruise control, which uses a forward facing radar beam, to measure the distance between you and the car in front automatically slowing the car or accelerating to maintain a safe distance from the car in front. You can choose the gap and speed you feel comfortable with from the steering wheel. It worked very well, especially when entering a 50 mph contra flow on the motorway, it was perfect at maintaining a safe gap in heavy traffic.