MOTORING REVIEW - Jaguar XJL Portfolio
THE CHAIRMAN’S BEST FRIEND The Jaguar XJ Portfolio LWB is a bit of a mouthful but in short, Jaguar have harked back to the days when the XJ6 was a staple on our roads but there is little comparison today, notwithstanding a stunning and lavish interior. I have been known to overuse the word ‘lickable’ but just look at it – don’t you want to - lick it. Or is that just me? Although the long wheel base version is not strictly aimed at the driver but rather the chauffeured passengers, it doesn’t matter where you sit as it’s pretty gorgeous everywhere and not a place you are really tempted to get out of. And why would you when it’s better equipped than most offices. On first encounter, the XJ looks like a triumph for Jaguar and its siblings have been pleasing customers for several years. The XJ’s styling and lush interior provide such a special experience that it may just take the British luxury car right back to the top of the market. Prices start at around £59,980 and the LWB adds an extra 60│ Issue 4 � 2014
£3000 and there are three trim levels – Luxury, Premium and Portfolio with a matching engine line-up with the 271bhp turbo diesel V6, a 380bhp 5.0 litre petrol V8 and a monster 503bhp V8. My review car was the Portfolio LWB 3.0-litre V6 diesel with a base of £70,975, but with all the bells and whistles l had, there’s little change from £87,000. It feels instantly as Jaguars of old; smooth, quiet, and soft-riding. In recent times the company has made an issue of replacing limousine bounce with relatively firm body control plus accurate and perfectly weighted steering. The refinement stays, but the uncontrolled softness is gone. This is a spacious, serious highperformance car for drivers and passengers alike and the longer wheelbase makes it sit flatter than the others but the same alertness is there, along with the same threelevel driver control system (snow, comfort or dynamic), and the same quick-reacting paddle-shift system that can give you manuallike control of the conventional sixspeed ZF automatic gearbox. You can drive this car very, very fast without ever straying over 3500rpm. The 0-60mph sprint
“Feet up, massager on, TV blaring and drink in hand, they barked orders at me and kept calling me Parker! Never mind, I have a Fiat 500 coming next week and that’ll teach em.”
- Motoring|review -
Motoring Editor – Maarten Hoffmann
takes just 6.0sec, the top speed is limited at 155mph, but the real gauge of performance is how the car accelerates from 70mph to 100mph; it’s quiet and swift enough to undermine the case for buying any of the V8s, especially since the combined fuel consumption of 44.8mpg promises an easy range of 650 miles. The 3.0D is strong but subtle, with an instant shove in the kidneys courtesy of its twin sequential turbos. The result is prodigious power and long legs. Its closest rivals would have to be the Mercedes S Class and the Audi A8. The Audi LWB starts at £63,000 but that will fly north when you start adding the clothes that the Jag is already dressed in and the interior is no match. The S Class is a serious competitor and better in many ways and slightly more expensive, all the way up to £119,000, but the sheer character of the Jaguar really shines through. The diesel model can manage a healthy 44mpg, but you’ll need to be an oil baron if you plan to use