[jag-news] Jag-lovers Exclusive - Paul Skilleter drives the new XJ

["Jag-lovers News" <owner-jag-news@jag-lovers.org>]

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. Reproduction in full or in part prohibited without
obtaining individual prior permission





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