Warren Henry Jaguar

"Jaguar XJ: The Hottest Cat on the Road"

I clearly remember the moment nearly one year ago when I first laid eyes on Jaguar's new XJ sedan, and felt as though I'd been impaled on some gorgeous aluminum tusk. What a fantastic looking automobile. On any aesthetic scale you'd care to calibrate-modernity, chic, formal grace, raw carnality-this thing simply obliterates the competition, just grinds their bones. Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of Bavarians.

From that moment until this week, when I finally slid behind the wheel of the company's flagship sedan, I sort of held my breath. Recent Jaguars- the XK coupe and XF sedan-have been very decent cars but always felt as if they missed greatness by a few millimeters. The 2011 XJ couldn't possibly, as a machine, live up to all this sculptured sin.

It does. Actually, it's a monster. Hugely civilized, desperately fast, drenched in high-tech amenities and executed with the kind of spirit and joie de vivre than makes the competitive German products look positively Amish, the new Jag is now the presumptive favorite in the full-size premium sedan category. Put another way: If you buy anything else you need a dog and a white cane. Of course, Jaguar-a relatively small firm and a veritable fountain of red ink, now owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata-does not have the engineering resources of Audi, BMW or Mercedes-
Benz. BMW probably has 100 engineers workin on coin holders and glove-box dampers. The Jag doesn't offer the tomorrow tech of the Lexus LS600h hybrid. The XJ's lusty 5.0-liter V8s- naturally aspirated (385 horsepower) or supercharged (470 hp or 510 hp)-are not quite as highly evolved as BMW's twin-turbo powerplants, nor does the car offer as many forward gears as the eight-speed 7-series (the Jag has only six gears). I suppose in a five-way geek-off comparing the cars' navigation and multimedia consoles, the Jag's might not be quite as intuitive and refined.

If these small, technical matters are dispositive for you, then I urge you to get out of the house more often. The new XJ-I particularly like the long-wheelbase version (206.6 inches overall length, 5 inches longer than the standard-wheelbase car)- is a brilliant automobile and the rare example of a consumer item that reaches beyond design into art.

Here's a quick styling walkaround. The most pronounced element of the car is its rakish, coupe-like silhouette, which is a function of where the roofline lands on the rear deck. The car is almost a four-door fastback. The blacked-out rear pillars also have the effect of making the backlight, aka the rear window, look like a wraparound piece. The roof of the car is likewise almost completely black glass, flowing into the black surround of the windshield. And all of this provides a contrasting backdrop for the body-colored roof rails and the car's most heroic design flourish, the elongated chrome ellipse reaching around the side windows, a dramatic teardrop of mercury. There were moments I wanted to kiss this section of the car, or take it home and throw it in bed with me.

Audacious taillights reach up over the rear fenders, on either side of the trunk opening. These are light-bar-style instruments, with a very cool
yellow element in them for emergency flashers. From the rear-quarter angle the car sort of looks like the grand touring limousine that Citroën dared not build.

The other styling element-though it's really nothing so trivial-is the car's massiveness, its devastating width and stance. Forget teardrops and chrome bows. From a low side angle this thing is a torpedo, a hollow-point bullet scattering shards of moonbeams, a blunt hypodermic of adrenaline. It's completely bad-ass.

Jag's design team, led by Ian Callum, aimed for a total reboot of the car and of the brand with the XJ. No more blathering about headlight eyebrows and leaper hood ornaments, elements of the XJ that reach back for decades. They wanted to create an utterly new visual idiom for Jaguar. Mission accomplished. Honestly, as I sit here now I can't even remember what the old XJ looked like. Not since the Cadillac CTS has a design team dared so much and won so much in the daring. The XJ's interior is just as persuasive. The first thing you'll notice is the outrageous and elegant demi-luna of wood veneer that encircles the forward cabin, reaching above the leather dash in what the designers call a "Riva" line, a reference to the Italian luxury boat builders. Spot in the center, just below the windshield, is a small badge that says "Jaguar." The badge is intended to be personalized by owners, with laser-engraved versions of their signatures-or their spouse's name. You can even have designer Ian Callum's autograph there. Better check with the spouse first, though.

In the center of the dash is a prominent leather binnacle where two plated-aluminum climate outlets live, a very old-school, analog touch. Meanwhile, the conventional three-gauge instrument cluster has been replaced by a wonderfully high-tech 12.3-inch TFT (thin-film transistor) display offering what might be called gauge avatars. This display is packed with useful graphics and no small sense of humor. When the car is in its Sport Dynamic mode-stiffer suspension, higher shift points, more direct- feeling steering and throttle response-the gauges display a rosy nimbus. The "red mist," the Jag designers call it.

Suede-like Alcantara trims the ceiling all the way down the roof pillars, where it meets a very handsome loop carpet. There's not a inch of plastic evident in the car. Everything is handsomely wrapped in French-stitched leather, plated aluminum (such as the distinctive rotary- style gear selector), a piano-black finish-yes, I know it's really plastic!-or wood.

Put it all together, put the key fob in your pocket and push the Start button. How's it drive? Well, to answer that we need to go back to the cabin a moment. You'll note that for a big car the cabin isn't wildly spacious, and there's a reason. The XJ is built on an aerospace-style glued and riveted aluminum chassis, not steel. The benefit of aluminum is that it's quite light; the downside is that to carry similar loads as steel, aluminum-alloy pieces need to be bigger, to have a larger cross section. That cheats on cabin space a bit.

But you won't miss a couple of square inches when you're throwing the XJ around on backroads. The car I tested-the long-wheelbase supercharged version-weighs a relatively feathery 4,323 pounds, nearly 250 pounds lighter than the BMW 750 Li and a startling 800 pounds lighter than the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG, which might be smuggling Fort Knox in the trunk.

And so, sure, while the Jag doesn't have four- corner air suspension (only in the rear) and lacks the BMW's ultra-smart multisetting chassis- control system, the Jag has something for which no amount of silicon can compensate: lightness. The lighter the car, the more honest the handling, the more predictable and secure its transitional behavior, the more satisfying it is to drive hard. The heavier the car, the more unappeasable mass there is to pivot around the roll axis, the more ugly rebound. Ugh. I hate heavy cars.
 
The XJ L S/C, on the other hand, is a howling riot to throw around, with tremendously assured cornering and high-speed grip, powerful and fade-free braking, and general willingness to answer the helm without a lot of intervening computers grabbing the wheel. "Yar," I think Katharine Hepburn called it. Jag figures the naturally aspirated V8 is enough to send the standard-wheelbase car to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds. The S/C can get there in under five seconds. Jag will also sell a few set-to-kill XJ's with a peakier supercharged engine-the SuperSport model-and that car will motor to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, on the strength of 510 hp.

It's no secret Jag is climbing back into this segment of the market after years of nearly criminal neglect. The XJ is a tremendous car, but it seems clear management isn't quite sure it can count on virtue alone. And so the seriously aggressive price: $72,500 for the base car (standard wheelbase, naturally aspirated). In the U. S. market, the volume car will be the long- wheelbase car, the XJ L, with the base V8. That goes out the door handsomely equipped at a mere $79,500-and Jag is getting it in the neck when it comes to currency exchange. The car I tested, the XJ L S/C, is grand theft auto at $90,500. There are plenty of options to be had, and a choice of 14 paint and 14 leather colors, as well as a selection of nine wood veneers and five headliner colors. I couldn't be happier. I was fully prepared to shovel dirt on the big cat but it seems, proverbially, another life has come round for Jaguar. Meow.


Write to Dan Neil at rumbleseat@wsj.com

2011 Jaguar XJ L Supercharged: The Hottest Cat on the Road | Rumble Seat by Dan Neil. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704302304575214043115581102.html?K

BEHIND THE WHEEL | 2011 JAGUAR XJ
They Liked It So Much They Bought the Brand
By JERRY GARRETT
"The New York Times" Article September 3, 2010

DO you believe in love at first sight? Consider this: One look was about all it took when executives of Tata Motors, who in late 2007 were deciding whether to buy Jaguar from Ford Motor, saw sketches of what would become the 2011 XJ.

"What we had coming to market," Gary Temple, president of Jaguar North America, said in a recent interview, "was what made them buy the company."

Developed largely before Tata, of India, took over, the new XJ is a bold, mold-breaking styling statement. The old XJ's long-running retro theme - traditional grille, quad headlamps, sculptured hood, low beltline and long tail - has finally been exorcized. While unmistakably a Jaguar, the new XJ is a thoroughly modern, flamboyant, unfettered expression of luxury.

Some loyalists feared that such a radical departure might alienate the typical Jaguar owner (known inside the company as the fictional "Mrs. Schwartz on Long Island").

But based on early sales figures, two things seem apparent. The Jaguar faithful (presumably including Mrs. Schwartz) are still happily on board. And the new car's wow factor has smitten those who thought the XJ had become too old-school.

For more than 40 years, the XJ has been Jaguar's flagship. When originally introduced in 1968, the company's founder, Sir William Lyons, appeared in grainy television commercials extolling it as "the greatest Jaguar - ever!"

Indeed, while the original XJ was a landmark car - it has been called the most beautiful sedan ever - the XJ's iconic status within the company has for decades cowed those who longed for a bold update. The previous three major redesigns hewed closely to the look of the original.

"We were almost afraid to mess with it," Mr. Temple said. "There was a limit to how far we wanted to take the design; we didn't want to lose the look we had nurtured for so long. But in doing that, to some degree, we will admit we lost our way."

Well, then, welcome back.

"We are trying to bring the word 'sleek' back to Jaguar styling," said Ian Callum, the chief designer. "It has not been easy."

As an example, Mr. Callum cited the new instrument panel: "It's nine inches lower than the previous car's dashboard. That wasn't just all hollow space behind there; it was full of components. All those things had to be relocated."

The lowered dash gives the entire cabin a feeling of spaciousness - the interior seems much larger than its predecessor. "It's not," Mr. Callum assured me. "We're talking about millimeters."

The new interior ranks among the most elegant in the auto industry, irrespective of price. I slipped into the cabin of a top-line Supersport XJL, which is offered only by special order at a starting price of $114,075; it was like being admitted to an exclusive English club.

The scent of glove-soft leather was intoxicating; the seats are a select "aniline" hide, with contrasting piping, and embossed headrests. (Could I replace the Jag logo with my family crest? Yes, there is a bespoke order department.) There is leather, leather and more leather - on the headliner, the door posts, the dashboard, the backs and sides of the seats, the center console.

My only wish was for a wood-trimmed steering wheel instead of one wrapped solely in leather.

The cabin is rimmed with choice wood - materials other than wood, like carbon fiber, are available - forming what Mr. Callum calls the "Riva line." It is meant to evoke the shape of a classic Riva Aquarama mahogany speedboat.

In the back seat, matching "business trays" fold down from the front seatbacks. In long-wheelbase versions, stretched by five inches, the rear legroom is positively limousine-like. The vast expanses of leather, especially in look-at-me combinations like the wine-and-cream "Bordeaux" trim, can border on the garish. But isn't owning a Jaguar supposed to be about standing out?

Outside, a tall shoulder - designers call it the "tornado line" - runs the length of the body. This subtle design element visually links the feline-inspired headlamps to "cat's claw" taillights that sweep up from the bumper onto the top of the fender. The wheel arches bulge gracefully but muscularly from this line. The side window frames are blacked out, so the sleek silver accent around them stands out.

Much of the roof, along with the rear pillars, appears to be dark glass. On black cars, this treatment blends nicely; in lighter colors the contrast looks like two-tone paint. The effect may not be appreciated by everyone.

Even as the new XJ thumbs its nose at the old car, it does so while continuing to use many components carried over - in the interest of cost savings - from the midrange XF sedan and even the sporty XK coupe and convertible.

Jaguar lacks the development resources of larger competitors like Audi, BMW, Lexus or Mercedes-Benz. So Jaguar economizes by doing what custom coachbuilders did until World War II: creating elegantly appointed new bodies for existing mechnical components.

The new XJ has basically the same running gear and chassis - with key refinements - as the car it replaces. This is far from an impediment. Jaguar's distinctive all-aluminum chassis (another legacy of the Ford era) significantly reduces the car's weight and gives it a performance advantage over the competition. "One of the hidden facts that many people are not aware of," Mr. Temple said, "is that we offer the only 500-horsepower car without a gas-guzzler tax."

The base XJ, with a 385-horsepower engine that breathes conventionally, has a fuel-economy rating of 16 miles per gallon in town, 23 on the highway. The Supercharged version is rated 15/22, and the more powerful Supersport, which is also supercharged, is 15/21.

The 385-horsepower base model hustles to 60 m.p.h. in less than six seconds; the 470-horsepower Supercharged models can do it in less than 5. Jaguar says the 510-horse Supersport has an official 0-to-60 time of 4.6 seconds, but Mr. Temple said with a wink, "You can do better than that!"

Driving a Supersport on hilly roads near here, I found the off-the-line performance electrifying. In a straight line, the XJ tracked straight and true, although uneven pavement could unsettle it. Some body roll and suspension softness is expected in the land-yacht class, but in hairpin turns I appreciated the electronically self-adjusting shocks and competition-quick steering.

The car seemed rather tame in Standard driving mode, but the Dynamic setting imparts a more sporty feel. With firmer shock settings, more precise steering input, a torque curve that holds a gear longer and improved throttle response, the driving experience was richly improved.

But the 510-horsepower engine is so over-capable that it seemed bored on the highway. Even the 470-horsepower version burbled and stumbled when asked to obey speed limits. I preferred the efficient, direct response of the engine without the supercharger; when you punch the throttle in that car, the results are immediate, satisfying and much more than adequate.

All six XJ versions have a 6-speed automatic transmission and variants of a 5-liter V-8 from Ford, which remains Jaguar's powertrain supplier. (Because Jaguar sales are outstripping projections, Ford has been asked to exceed its contractual obligations and provide more engines.)

Jaguar does not currently have access to a V-6; the diesel engine it offers in Europe comes from Peugeot and is not the most modern design. "We need to develop new sources for V-6s and diesels," Mr. Temple said. In this area, Jaguar remains at a decided disadvantage to its European rivals.

But most XJ buyers seem to prefer a V-8; half opt for superchargers. The long-wheelbase versions are chosen by nearly 70 percent of buyers. There was some discussion about offering only long-wheelbase XJs, but executives decided that enough people want the shorter version. "We worried it might not fit in some garages," Mr. Temple said of the longer, more spacious variation. Mr. Callum says the shorter XJ looks sportier.

Prices start at $73,575 for the generously equipped base model; the long-wheelbase car is $7,000 more.

Jaguar claims a price advantage of some $10,000 over what it considers comparably equipped rivals like the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series and Audi A8, and an even greater edge over upper-crust competitors like the Maserati Quattroporte and Porsche Panamera. In addition, Jaguar has begun to offer free maintenance for all of its models for five years or 50,000 miles.

"We had quite an internal discussion about price," Mr. Callum, the designer, said with a wry smile. "I thought we should have charged more. It's meant to look like a more expensive car."

But Mike O'Driscoll, Jaguar's managing director, said: "We'd like to sell a few of these. We'd like to think we've priced them accordingly."

Supercharged versions, which start closer to $90,000, offer not only more power but options like a proprietary Bowers & Wilkins audio system. The six-figure Supersports are exquisite, anointed throughout with cut-above materials and entertaining extras like indirect mood lighting.

These are the kinds of charismatic, idiosyncratic features that once gave a Jaguars a personality unmatched by anything else on the road.

As recently as 20 years ago, Jaguar would have ranked high on any list of products epitomizing British luxury. Then it seemed to lose the recipe. Before handing the brand over to Tata, however, Ford seems to have rediscovered the missing ingredients.