All new XJ is a Jaguarclassic

JAGUAR’S XJ has a “whoosh, what’s that?” shape. In its long wheelbase version with the glittering mesh grill, the aluminium super saloon is a real crowd-pleaser. It has Jaguar’s most potent engine, the 503bhp, five litre petrol V8 used in the smaller XFR and the lightweight XKR.

Prices for the XJ start at £55,515 for the 40mpg three-litre V6 diesel “Luxury” model, available with the longer body for £58,520. With 275bhp it is potent enough, reaching 60mph in six seconds. CO2 output is a respectable 184g/km. The unblown petrol V8 costs from £67,050 in Premium Luxury specification. Its thirst slumps to 25mpg and CO2 soars to 284g/km.

The big daddy is the Supercharged Supersport, from £91,050 for a fully equipped grand tourer. The LWB model as tested here is £94,040. The standard XJ is 202 inches long, the LWB is nudging 207 inches. Its weight gain is just over 50 lb (23kg). The steel XF is 195 inches long and weighs the same as the aluminium bigger car.

Comparisons of four-door sporting saloons must include the Porsche Panamera, the same length as the XF and costs from £62,783. Aston Martin’s Rapide is a couple of inches longer than the Porsche and is in a stellar price league at £149,995. In the 0-60mph sprint they’d be bunched around the five seconds mark, with an advantage to the ultimate Panamera with all-wheel-drive if the roads were wet.

The XJ is dramatically quick – reaching 60 in 4.7 seconds, not far off the pace of the 3.6 litre 911. Start-up is the now familiar push button, with gears selected using the knurled wheel which rises out of the transmission housing. The first time, the wheels spun with a syncopated V8 rasp from the tailpipes. The same embarrassment caught out my son, but the required throttle pressure for a demure departure is easily learnt.

Nick, the financier, was watching. He said a friend had the same car and complained about the fuel consumption. “I said what did he expect with a whatever litre supercharged V8”.

Well said. The official overall figure of 23.4 miles a gallon is not too shabby for such a potent car. In town you’ll be lucky to get 15mpg and the open-road average is 32.5mpg. The typical reading on the trip computer was 19 or 20 mpg. It is an expensive car to run and it will cost you well over £100 to fill the 85 litre fuel tank.

Its shape has brought praise and some adverse comments. One quip is that it looks like a stretched XF – much the same as a Panamera looks like a stretched 911. The XJ looks serene. I can envisage an improved shape, though, possibly softening the angle on the rear shoulders.

Inside, plenty of space. The interior of the central cubby and the gloves-box are trimmed in Bishop’s purple. There is a rather too shiny analogue clock. The door sills have the word Jaguar in lights. There are patterned inlays in the broad bands of straight-grain dark oak veneer along the doors. There is a glass roof, with an opening front section. The leather seats have both heaters and coolers.

The boot is not huge for such a car – not much more spacious than the XF and, unlike the XF, can’t be extended into the cabin because the rear seats do not fold down. There are some shapes – such as a large school trunk – which will not fit into the boot.

Despite its class-leading weight, in faster curves the XJ-L still feels what it is, a big car, and you can sense its length as you flick left and right. Its true role is as a luxury saloon, city-bound, stately or moving easily on the motorway or across the land. In any situation, the diesel model would be the commonsense choice.

This mighty petrol V8 is for the super-rich, oligarchs, bank-rolled bankers and, I suppose, petrol-heads per se. There is a glorious thrill in hearing and using the supercharged V8, but these are luxuries few of us can afford.

The XJ and XJ-L have great presence. The front is imperious, maybe even imperial, matching a Bentley with its profusion of real metal meshing. The bonnet is ridged and fluted. It carries Supercharged badging behind the wheel arches – confirming the ID of the Supersport to onlookers before the engine is fired.

This model has 20-inch wheels: the style is mataiva, presumably named after the Pacific atoll. Navigation is in the price, as is metallic paint. The shade here is liquid silver. There is special glass to isolate exterior noise – and the XJ is always a quiet car. It has self-levelling suspension, with three settings.