Jaguar XJ vs Audi A4

What's the difference?

As a child, my parents - who aren't car people - would see a Jaguar and point. It didn't matter if it was an XJ, Daimler Double Six or a Mark II, there was a great deal of mystique around these bastions of Britishness. It also didn't matter that these weren't necessarily good cars. The Seventies and Eighties saw the brand slide into a funk while being passed between owners like hot potatoes.

Somehow, the brand survived its brush with Ford's useless Premier Automotive Group strategy which only came good towards the end as Jaguar's management woke up and put in place a change in direction that produced the Ian Callum-designed XF. Riding high on that design, Jaguar then promptly introduced the very pretty Jaguar XJ.

It has been on sale for ages, but with the addition of a few bits and bobs to stay competitive, it's as compelling as ever. Most importantly, the performance-focused R has kept its unique supercharged V8.

The Audi A4 allroad is the off-roader of the A4 line-up. I’m using the term ‘off-roader’ loosely here because this wagon is obviously best suited to daily duties in a city and suburbs, with perhaps an occasional foray into very light off-roading, i.e. driving on a well-maintained gravel or dirt road with few, if any, corrugations, and in dry weather only. 

But that’s not a negative factor because the great thing about adventures is that they can be scaled to suit you, your lifestyle and your vehicle of choice.

However, is this allroad your best option for a comfortable, nice-driving all-rounder? Read on.