Jaguar XJR and XJR R-Sport 2016 Review

Jaguar XJR and XJR R-Sport
Local Launch
Central Coast, NSW

Jaguar is well known for its iconic sports cars, but the British brand also boasts a long history of building large, luxury sedans. Don't be fooled by the XJ moniker for the updated flagship, the direct lineage can be traced back to the Mk7 from 1950. For 2016 the XJ has been updated with a revitalised diesel V6, new infotainment systems and a new range-topping level of trim, the long-wheelbase XJ Autobiography.

Jaguar sold just 47 units of the XJ sedan in Australia last year. The company's four-door flagship was comprehensively trounced by all its competitors in the segment other than Lexus, Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin.

It's a sign that the XJ in its current X351 generation has been in the local market for a long time – six years to date, and no end in sight.

But the XJ is still a nice car to drive, providing an experience that's more about charm and intimacy than its German rivals. An update for the XJ builds on the car's strengths, but doesn't mess much with a style that's been very well accepted since the launch of the current model in 2009. That means in essence that the XJ for the 2016 model year is visually challenging to pick from the superseded model.

For the local launch we sampled the XJR and XJR R-Sport. Both vehicles are built on the short-wheelbase platform and are sporty in character, but the former is powered by the formidable supercharged V8 and the latter gets by with the supercharged V6 – at a savings of over $70,000.

That doesn't make the R-Sport model affordable, however, not at nearly $230,000. But this is the segment in which the XJ plays. The XJ range starts from just over $200,000 – and there's precious little else that can even match that price, or the XJ's ambient packaging and refinement.

The outstanding quality of both variants tested during the undemanding drive programme was the NVH suppression. At 110km/h XJR and XJR R-Sport were right up there with their German prestige rivals for road and wind noise insulation. The engines, supercharged vee-configuration units the two of them, were key to the XJR's refinement – even when the accelerator was pressed all the way to the floor and held there until the tacho needle reached redline.

The V6 and V8 were always well-mannered – but fun – like a 21st birthday party with Mum and Dad in the kitchen. The V8 in particular was smooth but charismatic. All stops out at higher revs produces a mix of supercharger whine and stirring V8 drum beat.

There's no shortage of performance either, especially from the V8. For overtaking the XJR was abundantly suited to reducing the time spent on the wrong side of the road getting around slow-moving commercial vehicles.

On the open road between Sydney and the Central Coast the XJR returned an average fuel consumption figure below 10L/100km. Subsequently, the XJR R-Sport posted a figure of 11.4L/100km, but was being thrown around a bit on country roads.

Of the two models tested the XJR was heavier to steer, overall. Both cars now come with electrically-assisted power steering, which feels slightly anaemic after hydraulic systems, but is sufficiently communicative nonetheless.

Ride was firm but well controlled. It's probably right on the threshold between acceptable and unyielding for target buyers. Most of those buyers won't be punting an XJ over the neglected country roads encountered during the drive programme.

In corners the V6 impressed with its immediate steering response and tidy handling. Measured against a car like the Mercedes S-Class, the XJ corners like a vehicle one standard deviation smaller – only it's not. Frankly, the Jaguar is ultimately more a limousine for driving enthusiasts than the Mercedes is, and it shrinks around the driver as the speed rises.

Interior design follows the path of earlier Jaguar / Land Rover models, with plenty of leather, piano-black gloss décor and chrome. At a glance it's hard to pick the new model from the old, seated inside. That's not necessarily a bad outcome, considering the previous XJ was nicely appointed.

Behind the wheel, the seats were comfortable and well-shaped, with plenty of adjustment available for anyone to find the ideal driving position. The controls are not always straight-forward to use, and you would have to recall that JLR places the trip computer's scroll button in the end of the indicator stalk to find the information required quickly, as one example.

Similarly, seat warmers are actuated through a nondescript button situated in among other climate control switchgear in the centre stack. The temperature is adjusted from the touch screen. Most other companies run the seat-warming facility through hard-button toggles with built-in LEDs to indicate the temperature setting. Jaguar's system frees up a little real estate in the centre console, but that logic may elude first-time users.

And Jaguar's interior designers have stayed with a button in the centre console to run through different drive modes. The first mode displayed in the instrument binnacle is Winter, with Australians more likely to want the Dynamic mode, rather than press the button a second time.

Jaguar has yet to develop a single-point controller for its infotainment system, but would argue that much of the work done by such a device is offloaded to multifunction switchgear on the steering wheel and the indicator stalk in the XJ.

Furthermore, voice control is now available, integrated with InControl Touch Pro, which is Jaguar's marketing speak for a high-end infotainment system operated through the touchscreen. As with other touch screens offered by prestige rivals, the Jaguar screen will soon look low-rent with visible fingerprints everywhere.

Radar-based active cruise control isn't fitted as standard, but can be ordered as an option. This could be an oversight in a car costing at least $200,000, but active cruise control is a mixed blessing on congested Australian roads. Since Jaguar doesn't offer an active cruise control set-up that can default to a 'dumb' system, local product planners decided the active cruise control feature should be offered to Aussie buyers as an option, rather than a standard feature.

Even in the two short-wheelbase models, the XJ delivered generous rear-seat accommodation. There was plenty of kit back there too, including two of the four climate control zones.

While the drive programme was fairly brief, and with little opportunity for the XJ to really stretch its legs, there's next to no doubt that the big Jag remains an attractive, comfortable and appealing car. The changes for the new model year are subtle, but it's a classic case of not fixing what aint broke.

2016 Jaguar XJR R-Sport pricing and specifications:
Price: $229,875 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre supercharged petrol V6
Output: 250kW/450Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 9.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 211g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: TBA

2016 Jaguar XJR pricing and specifications:
Price: $300,275 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged petrol V8
Output: 404kW/680Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 11.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 270g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: TBA