Test drive Jaguar XJ 2003 - 2007 Sedan

On soft paws

One scientist friend said that when Columbus first landed off the coast of America, the first thing he said was: Oh, God! Look, Jaguar! Nikolai Fomenko, Nikolai Fomenko, remembered this quote from an old domestic film about a poor horseman without a head. The Knight of Russian Motorsport, who tried on the skin of the silver Jaguar XJ 4.2 SuperchaRged, is very seriously believed that each buyer of this vehicle should experience almost Columbian delight and amazement. Unless, of course, this is a buyer with a developed taste, and not a typical horseman without a head.
Jaguars are a special Caste of cars. They cannot be brought to any class, family, species or subspecies. This is a special form of evolution. Not comparable with anything. With any Mercedes, with any Ferrari, not to mention the simplest Asian ciliates. These are jaguars. They are on their own. They are apart. Looking at the current Jaguar XJ, I am very happy to state the correctness of the course taken by the manufacturer. The fallacy of the overseas opportunists line has been corrected. This whole story with will give jaguars in the hands of a worker and a collective farmer behind.
 
Sitting in Jaguar was always a pleasure. I sit in this XJ and enjoy. The quality, despite the fact that this is the Ford line, returned to its circles. Attempts have been left into the system of mass automotive with high sales levels and low -grade materials. So I can’t even believe in the existence of this cheap, 35 thousand t/s, which did not hesitate to advertise Sting and in which the Ford inscriptions were smeared with oil paint, and on top were Jaguar signs. There, a plastic stuck out everywhere, from which it smelled of cheap rice. There is nothing like that here. Here everything, as it should be with Jaguar with its unique halo. Inside the car is unique. All materials, all objects of the situation are stunning with taste. An amazing design, in which I did not find anything radically new compared to the 70s-and thank God. Unless a very convenient display has been added, in which you can poke your finger, and it will not look like a moveton.
  
The convenience of the salon spreads even in the issue of landing. Despite the fact that inside XJ, like all jaguars, relatively small (some sports in it is specially left), is not felt. Everything is so functional. Everything is calm, in English set. Nothing extra. No flicker. He sat down, and you are fine right away, as in some cozy Inn.
CVO status. It is completely pointless to approach this machine with a practical person armed with a calculator, a meter roulette and callous palms. This car is not for such a practice. This is a toy car. A toy for big boys (although a girl of about thirty, behind the wheel of this car, will look quite appropriate and will be equal to the demigod). I see the image of the owner of the Jaguar car. Option one: it is gigolo. That is, a real gigolo, and not a provincial excrete boy on call from the club red cap. This is most likely gigolo with experience. He is 50-55 years old. He, of course, is a typical Italian working somewhere in San Tropez.
 
Option Second. The most organic. The driver is a typical Englishman, as we know him because of the books of literary classics such as stern, Dickens or Golsourcy to the end to the end. In short, the type on which the foggy albion is kept. A member of the House of Commons, who has established the authority of the year in 1988 for fundamental reasons. But he still has everything in order. Health - another 30 years in advance. Strong Family.
Only Jaguar XJ with his unique combination of the image of the carriage of the past, the celebration of high technology and the design of style is laid under the ass. A demonstration of financial power, internal culture, and a huge, at least centuries -old, and Buddhist calm. The concept of fuss to this car is not applicable.
According to the results of the annual sociological study among car owners Vehicle Satability Awards (it is conducted by the analytical company Autopacific) Jaguar XJ received the largest number of points in the Luxury Car category for 2005. Motorists evaluate their car according to 45 parameters that cover the technical characteristics, the level of comfort and safety, as well as a comprehensive impression of the process of acquiring or hiring a car.
Autopacific quote: the traditional and sensual style of the XJ model, characteristic of Jaguar cars, found a worthy reflective in the hearts of the owners, and the magnificent dynamic qualities of a chic car further enhanced the positive impressions of its appearance.
The Russians go out. That is why Jaguar XJ cannot, well, it should not have anything to do with the city of Moscow. Well, this car was not created in order to rush from the house to work, from one office to another with a jump on the road to the third, and in order to still have time to hit the Ryazan refinery, quickly agree there and come to the club to lose stress in the evening.
 
And the nervous system of compatriots is in a bare state. Compatriots living in cities are very nervous people. They are forced to live in these cities, and people are not adapted to this. They freak out on the roads, buzz for each other, in traffic jams they stand on the roof of their cars to see what happened there, although nothing can be changed. People with flashing lights are generally insane. They can climb into the thick of the traffic jams, do not move anywhere for 40 minutes and 40 minutes do not turn off all these flashing lights. And they themselves go crazy and drive others. So, as a tank, like a jaguar xj, our people do not need cars.
There is another argument against Jaguar sales in Russia. This car was created in order to go to the theater in the evening. With his wife. I emphasize: with my wife. If you put your mistress in it, Jaguar XJ will not understand this. It will skew it. As in the case, if you cram it, the box is complete - the namesake - mother -in -law, father -in -law, children, grandchildren, kumovsia. Summer scarb is also not here. This is a car in the garage at number 4. Before the Jaguar are x5 for ordinary life. Porsche Boxster-for hot-rod fights. Unimog - for a summer residence.
 
From here again it becomes clear that Jaguar XJ is not a machine for our people who are accustomed to mix everything and everything. Since Russian people do not have culture - no at all, and it makes no sense to find or vaccinate it - then, I think, the target audience of this car in Russia is extremely limited. Maybe two or three buyers-one in Moscow and two in St. Petersburg-Jaguar XJ and will be able to evaluate. The same ten more people who mistaken this car can not really understand anything. I call such people raven. They will drink with friends. Those will ask: how is the car? And the rastenok will answer: yes, garbage. The buzz of this car is hidden. It is possible that for this car he will immediately hire a student.
This should be one. And this machine is made only to control it itself. Jaguar XJ is a car for pleasure. Although, perhaps, she looks less driver than Bentley Continental GT: of which, I would probably choose a jaguar of two. In theory, this car can drive very quickly. But does it need a Jaguar XJ and, most importantly, its owner? Most likely no. Then, if the car is accelerated to 250 km/h (it will not give electronics further), then it should be a long-free straight line. On a dry highway, the car accelerates very quickly. Very fast. And stabilization stability is very good. She does not sausage in different directions. Computer science of the steering wheel, its ability to transfer messages about what is happening with the front axle, is designed for a solid gentleman. No physical costs, no titanic efforts that would make the driver recall the Kettler simulators or spilled by Sorman masters of two -pound weights will be needed. Everything is very soft, in a sparing mode - thank you, dear experts of ZF, which supplied XJ adequate amplifier. The cats cat suspension works great. In general, find such a balance between 400 hp. And comfort is hellish work for automobile designers and engineers. But this is Jaguar. This is a specific British machine. If you are Angloman, Anglophile and even just familiar with Britain a little wider than within the methods of Ilona Davydova, you buy a jaguar, not Porsche or Ferrari.
 
You need to go quickly, but not exhaust yourself with constant jerks and overloads - please. The engine has an English engine. That is, it is made in the best British traditions (we bring all these figs-migli with globalization by brackets). I, as a person who is closely related to Aston Martin, can easily notice the national character of the motor. Even if on it there is a label Made in Hin. In Jaguar XJ, it is long (despite the turbocation), it works evenly everywhere. Where he has the threshold of the top and the threshold of the bottom, it feels like to understand. The engine is steamed so smoothly that it is almost impossible to catch the transition from transmission to transmission.
 
It's funny that you can’t see anywhere. No matter how I searched, I could not find on any display of the indicator of the transfer number. That is, nowhere (neither in automatic mode, nor in manual) the driver will be able to use the cheat sheet and considerately say that he rolled well for the fifth. I admit that I did not press any secret buttons, but I tried those that are in the public domain. Along the way, I will note that even when you yourself move the lever along the intricate J-trajectory, you do not see what kind of transmission you put up. The manual regime of the box is not banal + and -, but a sucking, with five steps. So, it seems to me that the programs from the driver are intentionally hidden. Think about seconds down! - This is what the engineers wanted to say. “Nobody will catch up with you, because you are in no hurry.” The measurement of your existence is laid in this car.
The conclusion of another study conducted by the consulting company J.D. Power and Associates: Jaguar remains the best European automaker. So, in any case, 37,000 new car owners who were interviewed by sociologists and set Jaguar decided the highest quality and reliability rating.
One of the Moscow dealers found the original way to spur Jaguar cars. In the load on the models of Jaguar XJ and Jaguar XK, the dealer offers a test drive of the American helicopter manufactured by Robinson Helicopter.
Pop, Britain. If we talk about technical characteristics, then the most unique system in this jaguar, in my opinion, is DSC. If you turn it off, the car becomes absolutely uncontrollable. She flows into coma. She has a brain depression. Even for a trip, it is prepared. You put the lever on R, press the pedal on the floor, and the car instead of a jump-cut lazily stretches back.
The inclusion of DSC changes Jaguar radically. In an active state, it excludes the likelihood of not only errors behind the wheel, but also outside the limits of the car. This is a system that will not allow the former member of the House of Commons to rebel. So he suddenly decided that his measured monotonous life with a rise at 6 in the morning, half -hour jogging, a continental breakfast, reading the Financial Times, work, lunch, with a firec rover and rare Christmas sex. And suddenly in the matrix of this gentleman there was a crack. And he decided that life was lived in vain and that it was necessary to immediately break everything. Get drunk in a bar, take off a prostitute and do not come home. The DSC system will not allow him this. She will return him home. He will not allow him to shy away to any prostitute. No drunkenness, you went to hell. And he will wake up again at 6 in the morning, again he will eat his Continent Braexfast and again go to work, which is five minutes from the house. Such a story.
After the friendly Ford annexation, fans of the Jaguar brand survived several cultural shocks. For most of them, Jaguar with a cloth interior or Jaguar in the package of the station wagon belong to the type of creatures that are customary to talk about in the family, not without freaks. In the same ice cold, they should pour Jaguar XJ 2006 with a model year with a 2.7 V6 turbodiesel of joint development of Ford and Peugeot specialists. Before that, flagship jaguars were produced exclusively with gasoline engines. Although the manager of the company Jaguar Cars Bibiana Boerio considers the appearance of a solar jaguar in a stroke row a real breakthrough. A car with a 2.7-liter diesel engine (207 hp) disperses XJ from a place to 100 km/h in 7.8 seconds.

Text Nikolay Fomenko, photo Andrey Danilov

We thank for help in organizing the shooting of CJSC FORD Motor of the Company, (495) 777-8500, House of Fashion Chapurin, (495) 708-3218, and the Russian Automobile Association.
 
Jaguar XJ 4.2 SuperchaRged
 
Gasoline engine, v8
Working volume (cubic cub) 4196
Power (L.S. at rpm) 395 at 6100
 
Moment (nm at rpm) 541 at 3500
The rear drive
Gearbox 6-speed automatic
Length/width/height (mm) 5090/1860/1448
Wheel base (mm) 3034
Equipped mass (kg) 1665
Maximum speed (km/h) 250 (limited by electronics)
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 5.3
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 18.6/9.0
The cost of the tested car in Moscow is $ 156,000

 

A source: "Autopilot"