Car Throttle

Wow! The new Jaguar XJ has been officially unveiled. James covered some of the leaked pictures of the car earlier, and now the official pictures are out. I’ve posted about the XJ endlessly as Jaguar leaked information about the car bit by bit over the months. Renderings, spy shots, you name it – the new XJ is a huge launch for Jaguar. And now, it’s finally here. Was it worth the wait? Let’s find out!

To me that answer is unequivocally yes! The XJ has lived up to all the expectations bestowed upon it, helping to usher in a new era for Jaguar.  The Jaguar renaissance started with the XK, followed with the XF and now is being completed with the new XJ.

As predicted, the car follows the front end styling of the C-XF Concept very closely. It looks more aggressive than the XF – while I like the production XF, to me this is better looking. An interesting fact about the C-XF Concept is that is was designed after the production XF was already signed off – in other words it’s a further evolution of the new Jaguar design style.

No one could have quite predicted what happened out in back though. I do see vibes of the Lancia Thesis like James commented, however the design is really unlike any other. Nothing  immediately identifies it as  ”Jaguar” and it doesn’t look copied, but yet it fits entirely with the rest of the design. Some say the rear view is the car’s most unflattering. I like it, and I think it stands out. It has a rakish roofline, accentuated by the blacked out pillar.

I’ve heard criticism of the blacked out pillar as a bad design element; I actually think it adds character and uniqueness to this design. This car is quite unlike any other – and for those that don’t like it, remember-  cars nearly always look better in person!

Welcome to the new Jaguar, enjoy your stay! The interior is perhaps the biggest surprise of the whole vehicle. The last Jaguar interior in the XF is excellent, with unique design features like pulsating “heartbeat” start button, and motorized rollover vents. I expected a similar interior to that one, just larger. That was Jaguar’s new interior template after all, wasn’t it?

That didn’t prove to be the case. The XF forges an entirely new direction, one more akin to Rolls-Royce and Bentley.Very British, and that is a good thing – British designs are some of my favorite. Classic and yet modern at the same time; it doesn’t manage to look out of place in contrast with the exterior. Jaguar really went above and beyond in here.

As for powering the ultimate cat, there will be three variants of Jaguar’s 5.0-liter direct-injected AJ-III V8 available, two of them with forced induction. The base engine is naturally aspirated, making 385 horsepower and 380 lb-ft. The midrange engine is supercharged and makes 470 horsepower and 424 lb-ft of torque.

There is no XJR in Jaguar’s future plans, but there will be a XJR-like model in terms performance capabilities. The top shelf engine for the XJ is the same supercharged, 510 horsepower engine that does duty in the XKR and XFR. The supercharged 510 horsepower XJ should be similar in performance to the XFR

With this, Jaguar has definitely secured a place for itself at the top of the full-size luxury sedan segment. The new XJ takes things to a whole new level. Unsurprisingly, Jaguar says it will command a higher asking price for the new model than the current (err, previous) XJ. It will be telling to see where they position it versus the competition. To me, from a design perspective this is the most compelling car in it’s market segment. Mark my words, the XJ will make big waves.