2013 Jaguar XJ Reviews

The XJ Jaguar is a British sports saloon that can be divided into three quite different stages in its recent history. Those built until July 2003 had traditional styling that looked great and made a real statement both inside and out. These are getting on in years, but those who love Jags swear by them - though their age, combined with quality control that wasn't the best, could cause hassles. The 2003 restyle kept many of the established lines, but now moulded onto an aluminium body to significantly reduce weight and increase performance. As these are sports saloons this added performance was welcomed by those who liked to make good use of their right foot. However, in the eyes of many this combination of a high-tech body and a traditional shape wasn't appealing. The cars still sold reasonably well, but the murmurs about 'old-fashioned' styling became stronger over the years.The all-new 2010 model silenced the critics by taking an altogether different direction in styling with sleek futuristic lines. Externally, the ‘Jaguar grille' was the only major carry-over from the past, but the dash area has a few things carrying over. Naturally, its aluminium body retained the added performance and nimble(-ish) feel of the outgoing XJ.Die-hard Jaguar enthusiasts snapped up the last of the traditional leather-and-wood-cabin models, though even today there's a call for them so you may be asked to pay fairly big bucks to get into the best of them. Though the big emphasis on the 2010 series was its ultra-modern styling and the interior of most cars reflected this, there are traditional leather-and-wood options - the best of both worlds some say.A drawback in the older Jaguars is the lack of interior space in the standard-wheelbase car due to the fact it's a low-slung sports saloon, not as tall sedan. This is at its worst in the back seat, but even the front seats can prove cramped for foot-space due to the large transmission housing. The long-wheelbase variants (look for an ‘L' in the title) are much better for rear legroom, but can still be tight in headroom for taller occupants.Post-2010 XJs have more voluminous interiors, but check out the back seat if you are planning to carry tall adults on a routine basis.The number in a Jaguar XJ's title refers to the number of engine cylinders, thus XJ6 has six of them and XJ8 is a V8, the XJ12 … you've guessed it. Supercharged V8s of 4.2-litre and 5.0-litre capacity installed in the XJ R upmarket hotrods are intended for the keen driver who really wants to let off steam. Turbo-diesel would have been unthinkable in Jaguars prior to the revolutionary, new-design oil burners introduced towards the end of the 20th century. In April 2007 Jaguar introduced its first diesel passenger car to Australia. There's the seemingly inevitable diesel engine noise at idle, particularly when the engine's cold, but from inside it's virtually as smooth and quiet as a petrol unit. And has bags of torque.Reliability used to be a weak point in Jaguars, though after Ford in the USA bought the company in the early 1990s the Brits were given a major shake-up. By the launch of the 1994 XJ Jaguar there were major improvements. As of mid-2008 Jaguar has been controlled by Indian company Tata. The Indians have an excellent understanding of English tradition. Indeed, they can be more English than the English, so the traditional British marque looks in good hands, with the engineers and stylists being left alone to do what works best for their aluminium babies.Servicing, spare parts and insurance costs are all on the high side, so don't fall for the trap of putting all your money into buying the car and then finding yourself unable to keep it in the manner in which it is accustomed.Check that the brake fluid has been changed on schedule. Not doing so can lead to expensive troubles.On pre-2003 Jags be sure all electrical items are working properly. Intermittent as these can be they are frustratingly hard to track down, but if you suspect anything bear with it as repairs can be expensive.Watch out for an automatic transmission that's slow to go into gear and/or which hunts from gear to gear unnecessarily. Hill climbing for an extended distance usually brings out this fault.Jaguars used galvanised steel body panels until mid 2003 then switched to weight-saving aluminium. The galvanised steel variants should be rust free unless they have been incorrectly repaired after a crash. Damaged aluminium panels may have to be repaired by a specialist, so be sure to get a quote from an expert - even for the smallest of dents.Enthusiasts of a marque can be an excellent source of information on their cars' strong, weak and interesting points. Try to find a local owners' club and chat to members.

The cat has the cream as Jaguar updates its XJ flagship for 2013. The creaminess comes from two new engines, one the same as the EcoBoost motor in the Falcon four, as Jaguar looks for better efficiency and more friends for its global flagship.The four-cylinder XJ is still not confirmed for Australia even though it's a no-brainer at all levels, but a supercharged V6 takes over as the best bet for fans of the full-sized cat, thanks to a combination of classy performance and efficiency that trumps the V8 that's being dumped,The two new engines are also going into the XF that's the big mover for Jaguar, together with their eight-speed automatic gearbox, which shows the importance of the change. There are still lots of questions about the XJ update for Australia - with no news yet on the all-important prices for a car that currently starts at $253,600 - but the future is looking better.A preview drive in Britain shows the XJ rides a little nicer, as well as the potential for a four-cylinder engine that works just as well in the Jaguar as the Falcon. As for the supercharged V6, it's brilliant.VALUEWe'll have the full score at the opening of the Australian International Motor Show next month, when Jaguar plans to go public on prices. But the four-cylinder engine should set a new benchmark for the luxury class, not just Jaguar, and force Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz to re-assess their own cars."We are maintaining a strong value position," that's all I can say, Jaguar spokesman Kevin Goult tells Carsguide. "To be honest, we still haven't made a decision on the four-cylinder engine. We're waiting to see the reaction from the marketplace." The supercharged V6 takes over in the heart of XJ, where the 5-litre V8 model is currently set from $253,600, so there could be some extra value there.Any chance could be partly driven by the strength of the Australian dollar, with Jaguar disguising its move - and protecting resale values - by putting any change down to the new engines.TECHNOLOGYInstalling a four-cylinder engine in the XJ is an even more significant move than the similar change to the locally-made Falcon earlier this year. Even if they cannot tell the difference - and most people won't - there are a lot of snooty luxury buyers who would never consider a car without a luxury engine.But the EcoBoost four - even though Jaguar is not calling it that - makes a powerful case with everything from fuel economy of 9.3 litres/100km during our British preview drive to a useful 177 kiloWatts and 340 Newton-metres of torque. The outputs are not huge, but the 2-litre turbo four gets help in the XJ from the car's lightweight alloy structure and the brilliant eight-speed ZF automatic gearbox. That means it doesn't have as much heavy lifting to do, and there is always a gear to keep it in its best operating range.The new 3-litre V6 is effectively three-quarters of the outgoing naturally-aspirated V8 - a supercharged V8 continues - developed in-house by Jaguar engineers to produce 250 kiloWatts and 450 Newton-metres. It, too, has been tweaked to the eight-speed auto and to deliver a solid overtaking surge ahead of all-out punch. Impressively, it also returns 9.4 litres/100km in official testing. Both engines will go into the XF and promise even more impressive results there.So, what does this really mean for luxury cars, and the V8s that have always been so popular in Australia thanks to the Falcon and Commodore? "I don't think you're seeing the end of V8s, but they are downscaling. There will always be a market for top-end performance cars. But the mass volume will be moving down," says XJ program boss, Andy Dobson. The engine changes require a little fine tuning of the suspension, with Jaguar taking the chance to answer customer complaints with softening at the rear end.DESIGNNothing to see here. There is absolutely zero cosmetic change to the XJ, not even badges or paint colours. But Jaguar is working on a number of things for 2014 and beyond, including the three biggest Carsguide complaints in the cabin. They are the over-styled clock, a messy panel join in the centre of the dash, and digital instruments that read grey-on-grey instead of white on black.The clock goes first and the rest will be improved over time, designer Wayne Burgess tells me at the preview drive of the XJ. But now I'm recalling that Jaguar has had a change of sound system for 2013, switching from Bowers&Wilkins to Meridian. It's been made for financial reasons, although Burgess is talking-up the brand introduced in the brilliant Range Rover Evoque, and that does mean slightly different speakers in the cabin.Just in case you think Jaguar has gone soft of the styling, here's the official answer from Dobson. "We didn't ask for it. There's nothing that needs correcting. We made a very strong design statement with the car in the first place," he tells Carsguide.SAFETYOnce again, no change. There is no ANCAP score for the XJ but there is equally no reason not to expect a five-star standard. And it is loaded with all the high-tech stuff you expect in a flagship car to help with everything from parking to crash avoidance and driver mistakes.DRIVINGCreamy. That's the word that jumps into my head as I set off with the new V6 in the nose. The slow-speed response is creamy, the mid-range surge is creamy, and the suspension gives a creamy ride in both freeway conditions and narrow country lanes. The XJ is obviously familiar, and the downsized engine - although it's really only the number of cylinders, since the supercharger easily picks up the slack - does a brilliant job in all conditions. The eight-speed auto is a revelation, always picking the right gear for the conditions and - in paddle-shift manual use - shocking me at times. Once, overtaking from around 80km/h, I push on and then realise we're at 110km/h with five gears still to go. Now, about the 2-litre four. I'm a huge fan of the Falcon with the EcoBoost engine, which should be the only engine in the Aussie favourite, and it also works brilliantly in the big cat.It has more than enough performance for the job and, honestly, no-one who chooses an XJ is ever going to pick it. Until they get to the bowser. It provides easily enough performance to match the traffic, with reserves for overtaking, and the eight-speed also keeps it operating at maximum efficiency at all times and for all jobs.Turning away from the engines, the XJ update produces a slightly nicer ride but the car is still too bumpy and jumpy over acne-scarred roads and there is room for more improvement for local conditions. To be honest, XJ buyers should be looking at smaller wheels to get tyres with more compliance, instead of slavishly following the trend to the zero-compliance rubber that comes with 20-inch alloys.Looking around, the rest of the 2013 package is unchanged from the XJ's arrival around two years ago. I've come to accept, although not like, the car's plump rump and the rest of the deal has always worked well. Now we have to wait and see if Jaguar Australia has the bravery to bring the four-cylinder XJ and really give luxury shoppers a reason to move away from the German heavyweights.