2015 Jaguar XJL Portfolio Review AWD - In February 2013, speaking of the small opening luncheon of the Chicago Auto Show, Andy Goss, t...
In February 2013, speaking of the small opening luncheon of the Chicago Auto Show, Andy Goss, the head of Jaguar Land Rover North America, made some comments on the luxury market in the United States. He said that 0 percent of vehicles with luxury nameplates are sold with V6 engines and you can not sell a luxury car north of the Mason-Dixon line if you do not at least offer all wheels drive. The 2015 Jaguar XJL AWD portfolio is the result of the Goss perception of the layout of the luxury world.
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There are those who believe true luxury starts with eight cylinders, but the simple truth is most Jaguars ever made, including most cars that have made the plate XJ, were powered by six-cylinder, in particular the classic line DOHC six versions 3.8 and 4.2 liter. I own one of these XJs therefore the idea of driving the biggest, most luxurious Jaguar sedan with "only" six do not mind. Moreover, supercharged V6 current Jaguar is set to deliver 340 horsepower. Although this is 10-15% less than Jaguar naturally aspirated V8 puts out, by my standards, it was pretty fast. A friend and client of mine was driving rented Jaguar XJS for over a decade, and he told me he did not like the performance of the XJ with six. Another owner of XJ, the car has a six, told me that she loved him. Jaguar quotes a 0-60 time of 6.1 seconds. Whether it is fast enough for you, well, that's up to you.
The tin paint color was beautiful when clean, but got quite dirty in winter driving.
As I said, it is fast enough for me. In recent years I have reviewed a variety of Jaguar XF and XJ models. At the New York Auto Show 2015 Jaguar was the official introduction of its new XF, which is now based on the architecture and hundreds of pounds less than the XF I've driven in the past aluminum Jaguar. The reason for this change is the biggest XJ was actually lighter and had a better performance and handling than the previous XF when equipped with the same powertrain. Jaguar's head of design Ian Callum acknowledged at the New York show. Although the XJ is great, and the longer wheelbase XJL even greater, it is relatively light and agile, and I do not think many people will find the lack of an eight-cylinder engine to be at the expense of significant performance.
When the current XJ body style was introduced, the use of black trim Callum blend into the rear window to visually isolate the roof panel has been criticized by many. It seems that Callum is being validated by other designers, like the new Nissan Maxima and Lexus RX, presented earlier this month at the New York Auto Show, the two black panels have fairly similar.
In one area, the handling, the smallest and lightest six can help offset the extra weight of components necessary to drive the front wheels and the rear. Of course, without the drive back to back, I can not say for sure, but based on the memory of the AWD XJL also feels balanced and also manages although RWD V8 powered version I drove. As mentioned, the XJL feels agile. You do not get the feeling that you're driving one of the greatest cars on the road. It is the automotive equivalent of a gentleman or a well-equipped combination of the lady. While the sides of the XJ are considerable, visibility is exceptional thanks to a third side light glass pillar C.
If the 340 horsepower V6 seems to task power a full scale luxury sedan, that all-wheel drive, another Andy Goss benchmark for luxury cars available on the market? The AWD system, Jaguar is now available in all of their cars - XJ, the new XF XE and presented earlier this month at the show in New York. The AWD unit, developed with the expertise of the Land Rover side of the company, has worked very well. I specifically asked if they had a Jaguar AWD car for me to test this winter and, fortunately for this review, the Detroit area has got about two inches of snow on the morning of XJL filed. Ideal conditions to see how the AWD carried out under conditions of low grip. Well, almost ideal conditions. The test car was equipped with all-season tires.
In fact, however, the lack of true winter tires eventually demonstrate how AWD works Jaguar. While the XJL has an aluminum construction, it is still a big car and the full guidance on the scale of more than two tons. There is a certain mass combat and 340 hp is more than enough to spin the tires in poor traction conditions. I deliberately ham fisted with the car, trying to slide in and out of form in the corners. Due to the lack of all-season tires grip in the snow, it was indeed slippery, and it would start to get out of shape, but all-wheel drive, traction control and stability control intervene and keep the car travel in my destiny direction. It was not particularly subtle, and there were strange sounds are happening, but the systems did get the car under control. If you get a Jaguar AWD, you can afford a set of proper winter tires. Throw on your neighbors and Blizzak line Audi Quattro equipped to have nothing on you.
The rest of the car was as expected from Jaguar. Space, rhythm and grace. The cabin was first rate; very comfortable seats and all at hand. With the appointment of L in the name of the model comes substantial rear seat room. Six feet should easily be able to sit behind people as adults.
Although it is world class, the infotainment system is a huge improvement over the clunky interface Jaguar most reviewers dinged it a few years ago. I would say it was competitive with other systems if the head of the class. My Samsung Android phone worked seamlessly via Bluetooth. While inside leather light brown at first seemed a bit jarring visually, it was only because I'm so used to black and gray tones. During the week the aesthetics of brown leather grew on me
What is world class, I think, is the Meridian audio system brand -. A set of truly audiophile grade components. Car sound systems are becoming very, very good. A mark of a good sound system is the resolution and transparency, allowing you to hear the individual instruments instead of a blurry mess. You gain a new appreciation for what you thought familiar recordings. With this system, you can count how many acoustic guitars Jimmy multi-tracked on Over The Hills And Far Away page.
I'm cynical about the business of car audio branding system. Panasonic audio systems manufactured in Volkswagen cars have the mark Fender because these three companies believe US consumers are likely to associate the name Fender, more generally, with music and rock 'n' roll as a known company for his distinctive distorted guitar pickups and amplifiers. The audio system in the XJL was so good I could not believe the audio experts Meridian, a British audio brand elite, were not involved in its implementation.
Also first rate how Jaguar engineers have calibrated the ZF 8-speed automatic transmission. Upshifts are so smooth to be almost imperceptible, and how the work of transmission and ECU together to slow the car when coasting to a stop was very impressive. I do not think I could use engine braking and downshifting as efficiently myself with a clutch and manual transmission.
In addition to cede more than adequate performance, a result of the 8-speed transmission and six-cylinder is pretty impressive fuel economy. The XJL is about as big a car you will find on the American road and about 0 miles of mixed driving, half urban / suburban and half on highways, I saw 24.7 mpg. If I remember correctly, my old mid 1980 Jaguar XJ with inline 4.2-liter six got 14 mpg.
Speaking of fuel, why cars that require premium fuel typically call for 91 octane, while the vast majority of gasoline stations offer only 87, 89 and 93 octane? There is no need to pay for more octane than you need so I typically mix 89 and 93 of the half and half to save money.
Rear passengers in the long XJL wheelbase get their own climate controls, with heated and cooled seats, which I am sure will be appreciated when Shanghai becomes warm and wet.
not enjoy being a cheerleader, I wish I could find things to criticize about XJL AWD portfolio, but everything worked perfectly even down to the automatic adjustment of wipers. Although it is cliché to say that there are no bad cars sold today, it is no cliché to say that there are many large cars you can buy almost any price. I have no problem saying XJL AWD is a big car. When I am reduced to complain automatic temperature control seemed to be calibrated few degrees off from what I'm used to, how could I say otherwise?
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Jaguar Land Rover North America has provided car insurance and superior fuel tank.
Ronnie Schreiber edits cars in depth , a realistic perspective on cars and car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this article interesting, you can get a parallax Cars In Depth view. If the 3D thing freaks you, do not worry, all the photo and video players used on the site have mono options. Thank you for reading - RJS
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