|
Jaguar XJ8 3.6. A highly
significant car?
Jaguar has been having some tempestuous
times in the past couple of years. ‘New’ master, Ford
Motor Company has told Jaguar it has to perform, both on the
race track in Eff Wun, and also in the showrooms. It appears
that in both regards, the company has had mixed results.
 This
week, our down-under correspondent John Weinthal had his
backside in one of the new, all-alloy Jaguars. Here is his
report.
“The all-new Jaguar XJ8 is a
revolutionary car, notwithstanding that few will recognize its
ultimate significance from its appearance. To my eye at least,
it looks disappointingly similar to its immediate
predecessors. (I could not agree more - Dr. Iain.)
 Jaguar
XJ8
“That is where any disappointment ends
for me, apart from rather vague speedo markings on a car which
can be deceptively rapid. This could be nothing but a Jag. It
reeks class. It is stylish, sumptuously furnished and eerily
hushed. It can stir the emotions - a car to be bought with
both heart and mind. It can deliver transport of great
serenity or deceptive sportiness.
“The deeper story is more remarkable than
this description, which applies equally to almost every car
which has borne the Jaguar name. The XJ8 has an all-aluminium
shell; not a skin like most cars, but a shell - like a crab.
Its great bodily strength comes from the outside, there being
no conventional frame or skeletal structure.
“The benefits are manifold. It is a
lightweight for such a lavish sedan. At 1615kg it falls about
midway between Commodore (Lumina in Thailand) and Ford Falcon.
“The XJ8 body is 60% stiffer and 40%
lighter than its predecessor. This contributes to the
substantial acceleration available from even the entry level,
high-tech, quad cam, 3.55 litre V8. It will also give better
than 10 litres per 100 km fuel economy - or more than 30 mpg.
“More important, the alloy shell has
great torsional strength. This is a substantial factor in the
car’s uncanny agility and dead flat ride, almost regardless
of speed or driver indiscretion. Repairability is claimed to
be simpler than for conventional cars.
“We drove the 196 kW AUD 170,000 3.5
litre model. (You can order one of these in Thailand, but be
sure you have a spare 7.2 million bath left to pay for it -
Dr. Iain.) This Jaguar is unusually user-friendly. While it
matches or surpasses its prime competitors in virtually every
area, the owner will not require a PhD in electronics or
expertise in sophisticated computer games to get the best from
it. The car unobtrusively delivers whatever its driver and
passengers demand, to total effect. It even boasts an
impressively small turning circle for easy U-turns in most
suburban streets.
“Noteworthy features beyond the
revolutionary build method, include a six-speed automatic
transmission, full air suspension, dynamic stability control,
electronic brake force distribution and switchable traction
control.
“Standard gear includes everything from
climate control air conditioning to automatic lights and
wipers, memory seats/steering wheel and mirror positioning and
steering wheel mounted buttons for the cruise control and 12
speaker sound system. This Jag also has split fold rear seats,
parking distance warning, a trip computer, satellite
navigation and TV.
“While the new XJ looks much like others
before it, there is substantially more passenger space and the
boot is a real hold-all at last.
Even though it wears 18 inch alloy wheels
with 55 aspect low profile tyres it still manages to raise
Jaguar’s traditional quiet, bump absorbent and flat ride
standards. Only over coarse bitumen does some road noise
intrude. Wind noise is absent. The engine is heard only as a
distant, joyous sound under firm acceleration.
“In sum, the XJ8 is a car which embraces
everything Jaguar has always stood for, updated appropriately
for the 21st Century. Beyond that we have a vision of a major
manufacturing breakthrough - one which is currently under
investigation by almost every world manufacturer bar, I hear,
General Motors.
“This is a highly significant car. It is
also one which will delight all who desire some emotional
involvement in their motoring above and beyond mere luxury
passage.”
(Thank you John, but can somebody at Jaguar
do something about the looks? Dr. Iain.)
|
Ferrari
Team
Also
in the building was a semi-dismantled trike which featured a
VW transaxle and there was a VeeDub shaped lump under a
tarpaulin close by. Perhaps the engine from Super Bug going
in? Whatever, two interesting vehicles from the North.