The New XJ - Not A Lot Of People Know That...
Published: 4th December 2002
- As Swallow Sidecars, the company that became Jaguar produced
its first aluminium ‘vehicle’ in 1922 –
a motorcycle sidecar.
- The aluminium bodyshell of the new XJ weighs just 220 kg –
the steel equivalent is 360 kg.
- Each new XJ is assembled using almost 3,200 rivets and more
than 120 metres of adhesives.
- The lightest XJ6 has a lower kerbweight than a top-specification
all-wheel drive X-TYPE.
- When you lock the doors of the new XJ, the door mirrors fold
in automatically. Unlock them and the mirrors fold back out,
at the same time illuminating on the underside to light your
way to the door.
- Prototypes of the new XJ underwent the equivalent of two lifetimes’
motoring in simulated testing.
- 88 robots apply the rivets and adhesives used in the construction
of the new XJ.
- The front door of a new XJ weighs 10.5 kg – that's 45
per cent less than the equivalent steel door.
- The new XJ underwent more than 500 computer-simulated crash
tests before its first physical barrier test. It performed
to the high standard expected.
- In the event of a side curtain airbag being activated, it
fills to 70 mm thick fully inflated capacity in less than
30 milliseconds.
- The doors and boot of the new XJ lock automatically when vehicle
speed exceeds 5 mph (8 km/h) after moving off.
- The ride height of the new XJ automatically lowers by 15 mm
at 100 mph (160 km/h) to improve stability and refinement.
- The Adaptive Cruise Control radar takes 40 measurements on
each horizontal scan.
- The XJ’s air suspension ‘wakes up’ every
24 hours and levels the vehicle when it is parked and not
in use.
- To support its electrical and electronic systems, the new
XJ has 28 wiring and fibre-optic assemblies and three fuse
boxes.
- The supercharger spins five per cent faster than in the previous XJR.
