The current-generation Jaguar XJ was the first to depart from a basic styling language established over forty years earlier. A minor update took place in 2014. The XJ is unusual, but not unique, in being built on an aluminium structure whose lack of weight, compared with a steel bodyshell, provides benefits in terms of performance, handling and fuel economy. Half of the aluminium comes from recycled sources. There is a choice of normal and long-wheelbase body styles.

Most XJs have 3.0-litre V6 engines, either supercharged petrol or turbocharged diesel. There is also a 5.0-litre supercharged petrol V8 available in two forms, one for the Supersport and one for the XJR, but producing over 500bhp in each of them. Every version is fitted with the excellent ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox also supplied to several other manufacturers.

Performance

The V6 diesel produces a maximum of 271bhp and gives the car a 0-62mph time of 6.4 seconds. This is more than adequate for everyday use, and opting for any other engine is a question of desire rather than necessity. If you insist, the V6 petrol unit can muster 335bhp and accelerate from 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds, but you have to rev it quite hard to make it outperform the diesel.

The two versions of the supercharged V8 are in a different league from the other engines in the range. They produce 503bhp and 542bhp, and in each case they can make the car do the 0-62 dash in under five seconds.

Top speed is limited to 174mph in the XJR and 155mph in all other versions. All the engines sound good in their own way, the diesel being paradoxically the most refined while the V8s are thunderous when pushed hard. The automatic gearbox slides from one ratio to another incredibly smoothly and is probably best left to its own devices, though of course you can make decisions about which gear to go to next yourself if you prefer.

Ride and Handling

As long as it isn't fighting against inappropriate rubber, the suspension is very effectively set up for comfort.

If you value ride quality over external appearance it's important to avoid large wheels and low-profile tyres on the XJ. The non-performance models are simply not set up for this kind of arrangement, and ride quality suffers very badly. Long-wheelbase versions seem to suffer slightly less badly, but the problem is still there. As long as it isn't fighting against inappropriate rubber, the suspension is very effectively set up for comfort. But it's also sufficiently sporty to make the car seem to shrink round you as you tackle a country road. That does not apply to the V8-engined cars, which are dominated by their power outputs. Ride and handling are secondary issues to the business of getting all that power to the road at all. The driving experience is all about the fantastic acceleration and very little about getting round corners effectively.

Interior and Equipment

The XJ name has been used for production cars since 1968 but as an internal code for longer than that.

Long-wheelbase XJs score very well for rear passenger space, which is less than generous in the shorter cars. The interior is beautifully designed, though the graphics are not state-of-the-art. In particular, a sudden increase makes the virtual rev-counter needle judder up to a higher reading rather than sweeping smoothly to it. Build quality and legroom in the XJ’s cabin is top notch but headroom is tighter at the back then you might expect. On the other hand, the extra brightness of both the rev-counter and the speedometer numbers close to the needles, compared with the less relevant ones further away, is very clever and very useful. In each body style the boot volume is 520 litres, which compares well with 510 for the Mercedes S-Class, 500 for the BMW 7-Series and 490 for the Audi A8.

Cost

The 50kg weight penalty for the long-wheelbase body affects running costs slightly, but not nearly as much as opting for the V6 petrol engine instead.

The cheapest XJ to run is the short-wheelbase diesel, which has combined fuel economy of 46.3mpg and official CO2 emissions of 159g/km. Vehicle Excise Duty payments are £180 from year two onwards, and the Benefit In Kind rating will rise from 27% to 32% over the next five years. These do not seem like bad figures for a luxury saloon, but the equivalent German cars do better, particular the S-Class and 7-Series. The 50kg weight penalty for the long-wheelbase body affects running costs slightly, but not nearly as much as opting for the V6 petrol engine instead. This one can't beat 30mpg on the combined fuel cycle, while the V8s fall below 24mpg and are as expensive to tax as anything else on the road, though since they all cost over £90,000 to buy this probably isn't a major consideration.

Our Verdict

Opinions are still divided about the look of the XJ several years after its launch, but it's a good car, especially in diesel form, with an evocative badge and an interior ambiance that Jaguar does extremely well and few other manufacturers can match. The supercharged V6 engine is very good but also very thirsty, while the V8s, while undoubtedly exciting and no doubt fine things to be able to say you own, could become very wearing if you had to drive one every day. Overall, the XJ range deserves consideration if you’re interested in buying an S-Class alternative.