When I was reading evaluations of the '04 XJ8 on Automobile websites like Edmunds, Car and Driver and such, the evaluations almost always criticized the J gate shifter. Personally I really like it.

You never have to worry about putting the car in the wrong gear since the transmission won't shift if it would cause damage at any particular speed. You do not have that zig zag slot to work through as many cars do. Drive is fine most of the time, and when you are going downhill or wish to wind it up a little, you just pull the shifter to the left, (USA). What is not to like?

My only criticism is that Jaguar did not put a gear indicator light on the instrument panel, but that is not the J gate itself.

I do not like the look of the little dial setup recent Jag's have gone to. Seems to me there should be a shifter there between the seats, not a volume dial.

Just my .02

Tom

 

Yes, I would like an indicator on the dash by the speedo; my previous car, a Rover 75 had one, as does my wife's New Beetle. I also find the J-gate a bit clonky, but it seems robust enough. Again, the Rover 75 was ace.

 

Another thing I like about my Jag's shifter is when you need to downshift. I have a pretty steep hill on the way from to the town center. It curves a little, and there is frequently a m/c cop with a radar gun just around the curve.

So...shifting down is one way to avoid a ticket. Speed limit is 45 mph and you can get up to 55 or 60 quite quickly. So, I shift down rather than wear out brake pads.

In my F-150 truck with a column mounted shifter it is very easy to shift two notches instead of one. Suddenly you are in 3rd gear (out of 6) at 55 or 60 mph and the motor is roaring at high rpm. To avoid this you must look at the shifter and take your eyes off the road.

But with the J gate when you are going along in drive all you have to do is move the shifter over to the left (driver's side) and you are in 5th. Then it is easy to go down one or two gears, as appropriate, simply by feel.

Love it.

Tom

 

Today I ran into a completely new, (to me) issue with the J gate shifter.

I started down a hill and decided to shift down. I pushed the lever one notch up from drive...and a strong STOP! impulse went off in my head. I had forgotten to push the lever to the left and had shifted into "N". The next stop was "R".

I did that several years ago in a rented Chevy Impala. That car had some kind of override in it and therefore did not shift into reverse. In fact, it did not shift into anything at all until I had turned the motor off and restarted it to get the thing to reset itself.

My question is, Would I have damaged the ZF transmission if I had pushed that lever up to the "R" setting? What would have happened in such a case?

Tom

 

I don't know about the new Jags, but I would doubt it would shift into reverse since it is computer controlled...just guessing, though. Most cars physically lock the shifter from moving to reverse, but who knows with Jag. I can say the "J" gate got me in trouble with my '95 XJS. I usually drive the XJS, which has the traditional pull for a lower gear shift lever. I drove the XJ8 with the push for lower gear lever for a few weeks and then went back to the XJS. You probably guessed what's coming next.

I had to downshift the XJS in a hurry to pass a car, and out of "J" gate habit, I pushed!! The '95 tranny went into reverse...locking the wheels and stalling the big V12.

Luckily nothing was damaged except my pride. I have no problem with the operation of the "J" gate, except it works backwards to EVERY other shifter out there. That's just dumb engineering in my book.

 

The J gate is fine for what the car is, relaxing. But for the sport side of things I wish there was an option for some kind of paddle shifters.

 

I actually did it at about 30mph ... and it doesn't select REVERSE ! (Phew !)

Afterwards I read the Owner's Manual and (p135) it says:

"Reverse inhibit

Reverse is inhibited when the vehicle is
moving forward at speeds above 8 km/h
(5 mph).

Note: Reverse inhibit will not function in
limp home mode."