Probably a stupid question, but how do I figure out if my 2004 XJ8 4.2l is short or long wheelbase?

 

not 100% sure, but I think on the back it will say XJ8L vs XJ8.

I know the XJ8L's came with about 7" of extra backseat room, but I don't know how to judge this as a comparison between the two just by sitting in the back seat.

or, if you can find one, park it next to standard wheelbase model and compare it - if it's longer, you have yourself the long wheelbase model.

 

Lol! Thanks esloser.

I was looking into custom interior mats and they are asking if it's long or short wheel base. I don't have the "L" designation so I'm assuming it's short. Story of my life

 

If the front and back doors look approximately the same size, then it is short, if the back door looks substantially longer then it is LWB.

Hope this helps,

 

I believe you can plug your VIN into the Jaguar website somewhere and find out all sorts of info, including if it's LWB or SWB.

 

2004 model can only be SWB, the LWB came out in 2005 (2006MY)

 

I wonder, chuckling a bit, how many more decades Jaguar is gonna do this :-)

The Ser I XJ6 was introduced in '68 and in '72-73 a very few were built with a "long" wheelbase.

When the Ser II was introduced in'73/74 they were originally SWB cars but after a few months or a year a "LWB" version was re-introduced and the SWB car was dropped.

The Ser III kept the "long" wheelbase of the LWB Ser IIs.

The XJ40 was sold for a few years with a handful of "LWB" cars being built towards the end.

The X300 was introduced with the same short WB as the XJ40s. After a year or so a LWB version was offered ans the SWB car dropped.

AFAIK all X308s were the same wheelbase...but Jaguar may have slipped something in there that I'm not aware of!

Not sure what the rationale is behind this little game


Cheers
DD

 

Well.....I'm pretty sure you can tell just by sitting in the back! Then again I've owned plenty sedans. And the long wheelbase is way longer in the back! It's pretty impressive!

As said earlier, check for an L on the xj8 badge.

 

Our XJ has an L at the end of the designation, and it's SWB.

 

You can tell from the VIN

X350_en_Final_US.pdf 2003 to 2010
X350_en_US.pdf 2003 to 2006 rough road markets

Check the position 6 & 7 in the VIN, the numbers 79-86, 89, 90, 94, 95 are LWB

Oh and Doug, there were LWB X308's as well. The majority were SWB, but a few LWB Sovereigns, Daimlers & Super V8's were produced, but mostly sold in Europe.