Good comparison test in this month's Road & Track between the XJL SC, A8L, 750Li, and Equus (?). The Jag came in a close 2nd to the A8L and they both creamed the other two, but the article rated it best in exterior styling, performance, driving excitement, ride, engine, and brakes--everything that is important in my book. The only real shortcoming was the touchscreen--they really raved about the A8L's MMI system and panned the Jag's. That ended up being the major point difference between the two. I guess I'm just not a big enough geek to care, but apparently I'm in the minority. If Jag makes some improvements here there would be no doubt who's the champ.

The LS460 and S550 were noticeably absent because they wanted to compare the latest and greatest with the 750Li class standard (and it came in a distant 3rd).

 

Here's the link:Long Wheelbase Luxury Sedan Comparison Test on RoadandTrack.com

 

I loved the Audi until I drove the Jag. Personal preference but the 8 seemed a bit cramped and the MMI is very gimmicky to me.

 

Well I am a geek and think the Audi MMI is the reference standard. Also as much as I like the B&W sound system the B&O system is sick. And Mercedes is putting it in its upper range vehicles as well. It will become the new high-end standard. I saw it all over the place at the Frankfurt Car Show. And Lexus had its new LS 600h there so watch out Lexus is not going anywhere soon.

 

"And Lexus had its new LS 600h there so watch out Lexus is not going anywhere soon"

Sorry XPatJag but that car still looks like a morphed copy of an S class and 750. Boring is putting it casually. That car is not a head turner by any stretch of the imagination.....

 

Absolutely, and none of them turn heads like the XJ. I do like the A8L interior though--very understated and elegant.

The B&W sound system is definitely better than my ears, so any improvement would be lost on me!

 

I am also a geek at heart and have used the Audi MMI system and it is pretty cool, however there is something about the rotary knob system used by mercedes, Audi, BMW and others that I just don't like and can't get used to. I hate having to scroll through screens and icons to get what I want, I much rather have a touch screen IMO.


I was recently at a local chrysler SRT division event and drove a 2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 among others and the UConnect system in that car was awesome it was very fast with large icons and lots of features including cover art from your iPod on the screen as well as virtual gauges that tell you voltage, intake temperature, oil pressure, oil temperature and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember now. It also has weather, gas prices, movie times and even a built in G-Timer that tells you 0-60, 1/4 mile times, steering angle, braking distances pretty cool stuff. I know this stuff is not important to some of you but if chrysler who was bankrupt and 1 step away from shutting down forever is able to offer this in a car costing 50k, jaguar should be able to offer something similar in our 85k+ cars.

By the way I still love my XJ but I have to admit I was very impressed with 300SRT8 at 54k fully loaded including glass panel roof 470 hp V8, and pretty much every feature in the XJ IT'S A BARGAIN!

 

I agree and that wasn't my point. My point was for all the reason people like Lexus' they have a bigger better one coming their way.

 

I agree about the exterior and interior of the A8 as well. For me the B&O system is the reference standard for car sound systems now. I have heard it and nothing compares. The subwoofer is bigger which gives it more low in oomph. 1400 watts, 19 speakers, DSP processing, though not Audessey, Speakers are mounted in closed cabinets to optimize the sound performance.

Now with all that said the B&W sound system is a close second. I have B&W speakers in my home media room and when I found out they were in the Jag I was a little kid jumping for joy. With that said the center speaker tends to clicp at too high a volume and depending on what I am playing the door mid-ranges can resonate which pisses me off but over all there ain't too much else out there that can compare.

I would like to see the harddrive be able to play flac files and SACD would have been a nice addition as well. Also not a Jag issue but I am not understanding the Gracenote database that can't be updated. Do they assume nobody would buy new cd's? I would like to see either an update by your phones data plan or just use the phone's data plan to retrieve cd information altogether.

On another note when I went to the Frankfurt Car show on Tuesday I was driven in a 2012 XJ diesel with the rear executive pack. The new headrest are nice as is the ability to recline the seat though I was confused as why it was in a XJ and not XJL. Europe is weird like that. In the U.S. you have to have a SS to even think about getting that. Over here it seems as you can get what you want regardless of the model. Also, I saw an XJ on the road on the way back that had just its signature lights on as daytime running lamps without the low beam. I don't know if that is exclusive to Europe, 2012 models or a software update. I am inquiring now.

The comparison video is on youtube as well for all of you that either have an apple tv, tv with internet apps, or some other system that allows you to watch youtube on your television. Just go to the Road and Track channel.

Love my Jag. Wouldn't trade it for anything else in it's category. And other than the couple of Bentley's, or Aston's I may see in town I am still the hottest thing on the road. I would just like to see Jag step it up a notch. Alot of the geek issues I have complaints with can be fixed with software updates so here is keeping fingers crossed.

One last thing. Jag is working with some company that will allow you to see your iphone screen on the 8 inch screen and control it there. Below is the link of them showing a blackberry demo at blackberry world.

Demo - Jaguar integrates BlackBerry Bold 9900 smartphone into dashboard system - YouTube

 

When you saw the XJ with the signature lights on without the low beams did you notice if the tail lights were on as well? If you put the switch in "park" that's what you get.

 

Now that I think about it that may have been the case. I am just going to go to the dealer when I pick up my car and check.

 

Will you also check on this new fix for the roof coming out on Oct. 1........ Is it really coming and is it the fix all they say? I have been holding out taking my car in for the roof until Oct. Thanks!!