Daily Driver: 2015 Jaguar XJL AWD
Mon, Jun 15 2015
You can watch the video above or read a transcript below. Watch more Autoblog videos at /videos.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
[00:00:00] Hey everybody, it's your old pal Seyth here with Autoblog. I am in the 2015 Jaguar XJL. That L is for a long-wheelbase. The engine powering this car is the 3.0-liter supercharged V6. My cameras inside probably didn't pick up a lot of that, but the supercharged 3.0-liter does have a nice little growl to it, especially in sport mode
[00:00:30] where I'm staying higher in the rev range. It doesn't have that same big, luxurious, meaty, whoofly V8 sound as the naturally aspirated 5.0-liter used to. At 340 horsepower, 332 lb-ft of torque, this engine has everything that you need. I think that they say the 0 to 60 time is around six seconds. Frankly, the car feels a little bit faster even that that. Again, we're talking about a large long-wheelbase car here. What's particularly interesting and
[00:01:00] relevant to the weather that you see behind me right now, is that this car is not rear-wheel drive. It is in fact all-wheel drive. Even going into this, knowing obviously that I was in an all-wheel drive car, the first drive really reveals it to handle a lot like a rear-wheel drive vehicle. That's appropriate. That's what you want in a car of this class. Something very luxurious and that has a reputation built on sporting dynamics as opposed to sort of just comfort and refinement.
[00:01:30] Jaguar's goal with an all-wheel drive system like this is to make the car still feel very much like a rear-wheel drive vehicle but give you just enough ability to be able to pull out of a corner smartly when the grip is a little bit lower than you'd expect it to be. Obviously if there's some snow on the ground, that's a helpful thing. Or on a day like today, when I'm coming out of a corner on a slightly slippery road, being able to put the power down is advantageous. To be honest, so far the application has been really seamless. The power seems to be
[00:02:00] flowing from the engine just to the rear wheels. I feel like I'm getting a little bit of assist, right now I'm entering a corner at a moderate speed and not really slipping at all. It feels like a rear-wheel drive car. I've always loved this XJ. The aluminum construction means that it's lightweight. It's always felt very nimble, despite the fact that it's a big car, especially in this long-wheelbase version. So far, turning four wheels instead of two hasn't altered that character at all.
[00:02:30] When it comes right down to it, this is a luxury car but it is also a driver's car. It's one of the reasons why myself, and I know a lot of other auto writers have always really enjoyed it. It might not be the full-sized luxury car that I would buy, but it probably is the one that I enjoy driving the most. Thanks for sticking out the rain storm with me guys. I'm Seyth for Autoblog and I will see you on the next one. [00:02:55]
By Seyth Miersma
See also: 2016 Jaguar XJ sedan revealed, Xcar experiences the 2015 Mille Miglia from a Jaguar C-Type, California adapts ZEV mandate with PHEVs for smaller automakers.