Hi Guys:

Later in the year, I will be in the market for a new XJ.

Although I am in the USA, a friend in the UK spoke to a Jag dealer that he knows who said that they had heard whispers of a few possible changes for the new model year.

He told my friend that the XJ will have a 8 speed auto gearbox plus possible refinement to the rear of the car, such as changes on the trunk lid, new rear light clusters, etc.

Anyone know someone at Jag who can confirm or deny this??

Also, I contacted Jag to suggest that they should update the software (or whatever is required) to offer a user adjustable option of displaying the speed in digital format, rather than analog. With virtual instruments, it should be easy to do. Personally, I always prefer a digital speed readout. In an ideal world, I would like them to offer a 'heads up display' but I guess they won't go that route

My apologies if this has been discussed previously.

Regards,

Roger

 

I haven't heard anything official, but I imagine that Jag will eventually head to the ZF 8-speed and consider the emerging tech of its competitors in Germany, particularly the HUD and night vision. I have had the former and, while pretty sweet, wasn't a deal breaker for me. Jag has SOUL, an option not available on its German competition

 

As I still have my 2012 XJ SuperSport with Speed package on order since January I have been in contact with Jaguar on the holdup of my build. The build date has slowly slipped from April 29 to June 13. The reason that I have been given was that the Speed Package was not scheduled to be available to build till early June. As a result I have had a lot of contact with the Jaguar Executive offices in New Jersey. Last week I spoke to them and asked what changes were going to be made for 2013 as I might move my order to a 2013 if there was going to be any major change like an 8 speed transmission. What I have been told is that the 8 speed transmission will be in the V6s and not the V8s (strange as the Ultimate is advertised with the 510hp V8 engine and 8 speed transmission); I still have my doubts about this. The other changes are that Jaguar is dropping the Bowers and Wilkins for Meridian throughout the upper ranges (this makes sense as Land Rover went to Meridian this past year). Also, the rear emblem (and I do not have details here) will also change.

 

Updates, I now have it on good authority that all 2013 XJs will have the 8 speed ZF transmission. Also, new for the US will be the supercharged V6 as the entry level engine. As for the rear trim that will become busier. On the left will be the XJ(L), center under the Leaper will be the Jaguar “script” and on the right will be the engine size. 12 way seats will be standard on all XJ models except SuperSport and Ultimate (they retain the 20 way heated/cooled/massages seat) and the massage feature will be an option.

 

XJsss, are you now going to wait for the 2013 model ??

 

Hi Jayt2; just got off the phone with my area market manager and we are rolling this order over to 2013 as i think the tranny and audio updates are a big deal. According to him the initail dealer orders were opened yesterday and there are no SuperSport slots so will be a few weeks till they can give me a new build date. Thanks for asking

 

I wonder what the issue was with the Bowers and Wilkins sound system. I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be but its still a good system. Come to find out I have more issue of panels rattling that I do of speakers malfunctioning. I just got it back from them and they seemed to not be able to fix the problem.

 

The Jaguar advertising for the 2011 mentioned how the B & W people helped to design the interior for optimized sound. So if they change companies, do they have to re-design the interior?
(snark)

 

First as Jaguar is part of Land Rover Jaguar division of Tata and Land Rover has moved over to Meridian that makes sense to consolidate suppliers. From my limited experience, Meridian is a higher line audio company and according to what I have read they have done extensive testing on the configurations for Jaguar. From my perspective I think this will be an improvement on the audio experience.

 

I don't know why they would go with 8 speeds. My car has 8 speeds and I'm not a big fan of it. Too much indecision sometimes on which gear to stay in. As far as I know, the current XJ gear box is close to perfect, I think having 8 speeds just for the sake of bragging rights or fuel economy is not wise, unless the software is advanced enough to not go from 5th to 7th on an uphill at 1,900rpm when the sweet spot for such shift is at at least at 3,000rpm.

 

B&W make the worlds finest speakers, ask any recording studio who use predominately B&W. I'm a bit of an audiophile and use B&W in my home theater. These speakers are outstanding, and one of the primary reasons I purchase a Jaguar over an Audi or MB. I think it is a big mistake to switch away from B&W. I'm sure it was purely a cost saving decision.

 

I would reconsider not wanting to purchase another XJ if they put HUD or FLIR in it. This car has HUGE potential. Potential to be THE leading higher end sedan if they would just tweak it a little bit.

 

I don't think anyone that owns one would disagree that the new XJ is lacking in the electronic wizardry department compared to its competitors. In my case, it is far outweighed by the other great attributes of the car (styling and performance) but it sure seems like a no brainer for Jaguar to improve here for very little increase in cost. Hopefully they are listening.

 

Sure there are other cars with more wizardry and the all accursed multi movement input device that lets one fine tune the car. But, seriously, no other car offers the experience of true luxury teamed with cat like agility and performance that Jaguar drivers enjoy. I always think that the country that produces nearly all the Formula 1 cars and has the heritage of Sir William Lyons and Collin Chapman puts together a car that one can enjoy driving daily and is multi spirited (luxury and sporting performance and handling) with the least amount of driver confusion. This is why I have driven XJs for 15+ years. I have friends that have BMW M5s and it does not fill the bill of a daily drive like an XJ SuperSport does so they have a second daily driver like am Mercedes wagon. We have it all in our XJs!

 

I own B & W speakers as well in my media room and I am while I am a fan of them the car stereo is just ok in my book. I have had all the front speakers replaced. With that being said I have just released the biggest issue doesn't seem to coming from the speakers themselves and more from the headliner and door panels resonating. At certain frequencies it drives me mad even at lower volume levels. I took it to the dealership and them seem not to now how stop the vibrations. Anyways I think the subwoofer is underutilized and if you haven't seen the door woofer its really unremarkable. The B&O system in the new Audi A8 and being put in some other cars is the new reference standard. But is also has a reference price tag. I would be curious on how the Meridan system sounds.

 

I have some additional information on 2013XJ changes. The SWB Base XJ will now be available with ONLY the 340hp supercharged V6. This is the only model that will have the V6 all the other SWB and LWB cars use the current V8 variants. A new "compact" key will replace the old larger unit and is the same as is used by Land Rover.

 

XJ series will get optional AWD for 2013-14 model year.

 

My door panels are rattling too

 

If they're going V6 and 8 speed... They should offer a V-12 with 5 speed as well. A "muscle" XJ-L. I'd be all over it. People who buy +$80K cars could care less about gas prices. Even at $15/gal it's still a company write off. Ok fine, offer a V-12 hybrid for the tree huger, tax-deduction metrosexual "trendy" wise crowd as well

 

Anyone know when the AWD option will be available for the XJ?