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[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [jag-news] Jag-lovers Exclusive - Paul Skilleter drives the new XJ
We are proud to offer the first true ** expert hands-on evaluation ** of the new XJ (X350) range available exclusively here on Jag-lovers for all our users! Along with other motoring correspondents and dealer representatives, well known and respected Jaguar Historian and author/editor Paul Skilleter very recently spent some time at a secret location in Spain on an in-depth assignment driving and evaluating the X350 range that goes on sale in the UK very soon. Now, Paul has kindly supplied Jag-lovers with an exclusive review of his experiences with the new XJ saloons! This review is also being posted to appropriate Jag-lovers Discussion lists and Forums (membership or list subscription required) for your comments. == >From Paul Skilleter. March 5 2003. Having just returned from driving the new XJ in Seville, southern Spain, I can now relate the car's advanced and exciting specification released in Jaguar's usual drip-by-drip way over the past year - to how it actually performs on the road. This isn't the first alloy-bodied Jaguar saloon I've driven: the first was back in the 1970s when I got behind the wheel of the ex-Bob Berry Mk VII. This Bob had fitted with a light alloy body which had been commissioned by Jaguar for possible use on the works racing Mk VIIs in the mid-1950s, but never used for such. Anyway, the stock Mk VII was of course a landmark saloon as it was the first Jaguar to have a bought out, fully-tooled pressed-steel body (quite apart from the XK engine). Previous Jaguar bodies had been assembled patchwork-quilt style at the factory. The next big break-through was when the Mk X arrived in 1961 and the separate chassis frame was ditched in favour of unit construction. Is the latest Jaguar saloon equally significant? Yes, because the ambitious adoption of all-alloy bodywork represents an equal leap forward for Jaguar. It also points the way ahead - for future Jaguar models (the replacement S- and X-TYPEs for example) and for other cars within the Ford empire. So it's more important even that 'just' a new flagship Jaguar saloon. But so much for the theory: in Spain I could see how this advance works in practice. Visually, the car is higher and bulkier than the outgoing X308, and if you analyse the shape it has very different proportions from that car (and therefore departs from the classic low-roof, long bonnet XJ formula). But cleverly, the net result is still very Jaguar and graceful, if in a slightly more assertive way. A return more towards the imperious looks of the Mk IX, perhaps. Any thoughts that the car's road behaviour would echo its heavier looks are soon laid to rest, however. Just as we've been led to believe, this new XJ is phenomenally nimble, more so than an S-TYPE - and it makes the old 308 seem like a lumbering dinosaur. Much of the improvement comes from the 60 per cent stiffer shell. The whole car moves as one now, so there is none of that wriggle and twist feeling that occurs when you push the old-style XJ8 hard over indifferent surfaces.. The ride qualities are better although the air suspension somehow gives a different feedback. It is not exactly harsher, but there's a different quality about it. As for handling, with a modern car of this nature the terms oversteer and understeer hardly apply, because unless you're going at a ridiculous rate for public roads, hardly any slip angles are generated. The new XJ simply feels extremely well-balanced, with the XJR of course having the greater grip courtesy of its wider rubber. Surprise of the bunch for me was the 3.0 litre, as it gave a more than adequate performance, thus breaking the dreary mould set by previous small-engined XJs - be they 2.8, 2.9 or 3.2 (straight six and V8). It has the all-important 'performance feel' lacking in these earlier cars, though its progress is hastened by use of the J-gate. The 4.2 really flies and the XJR and Super V9 offer extraordinary levels of acceleration. I wouldn't want one of those - I'd loose my licence within four days. The Super V8 is, by the way, a sort of non-crinkly grille Daimler, although I'm told that if you ask your dealer nicely, you can order a new XJ with Daimler grille and badging even though that illustrious marque is not officially catalogued. In the USA, there will be the usual Vanden Plas version. It goes without saying that refinement is superb throughout the range, just a little A-post wind noise being audible, but then usually only under cross-winds. There is genuinely much more room in the rear, while the range of adjustment available for the driver is vast - quite apart from the seats and steering, the pedals can be adjusted for reach too, a first for Jaguar. The trunk is huge - though still short of the room available in a Mk X (I measured them both!). If this short summary for Jag-lovers appears over-enthusiastic, I don't apologise for it. This car is so much better than the old XJ series, and if you don't want to take my word for it, some of the independent press is rating the new XJ above the M-B S-Class in all round competence. As far as I'm concerned, the new car has emulated what the original XJ6 of 1968 achieved (and which I witnessed at the time, as I was in on the launch of that too): it sets genuine world standards in several key areas. Only now, it won't fall to bits while doing so. Paul Skilleter Hampshire, England == This article is Copyright (c) 2003 Jag-lovers.Org and Paul Skilleter. All rights reserved. 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