Orangeblossom,

From the look of your inventory of V-12 XJS' when you made the statement : " As I also have a V12 it makes it easy to compare the two and the V12 is the better Car, by a Country Mile ". Did you mean I am collecting enough V-12 XJS' that they can be parked end to end over a country mile or maybe I have enough V-12 XJS' I can make it down a country mile-LOL.

I have driven both and I prefer the AJ16 for many reasons. It feels lighter and easier to drive around town, the gas mileage is much better then the thirsty V-12, you can actually get to every thing under the hood and is quicker from 0 to 60 then the V-12. Since I do not often drive above 75 Mph I see no upside to the V-12 and lets be honest the Jaguar V-12 just does not put out enough horse power to make it worth all the hassle for many of us.




I have nothing against the Jaguar V-12 but have no desire to have one. The AJ16 is quiet and smooth as silk and after buying just 6 spark plugs instead of 12 I can still afford to go out and enjoy the car.

 

As I suffer from OCD in the XJS department, there was a time when I had 10 of them!

So I could drive a different Coloured one on every day of the Week, plus a Couple of Spare one's, just 'Because'

You know you've got too many, when you get the lawn mower out and suddenly find there is no grass left to cut.

But as for the 4.0L AJ16 XJS being the better Car. There is always going to be a difference of opinion.

Apart from the Fuel Consumption, as horrendous as it is on the V12, I have no doubt which Car I would rather be driving!

 

Each to their own but as for myself, nothing comes close to the pleasure of driving a V12.

Of course they are not without their faults and when they go wrong they can be a PIA but that has got to be the same with any Supercar.

 

Orangeblossom,

I am just impressed that someone on this forum owned 10 XJS' at the same time. I have saved this to show my wife anytime she thinks I am getting out of line-LOL!!!!!

No matter whether you prefer the V-12 or in line 6 or both for different reasons, the bottom line is we love or XJS' and do our best to be good caretakers of this great car.

I know I have never regretted my decision to own the 1995 XJS with the AJ16 set up. It has been super reliable but no doubt I would be happy with the V-12 also. I do like the fact that the '95 AJ16 came with chrome mirrors and headlamp bezels etc. I would have thought that Jaguar would have done this just the opposite with the V-12 getting the exterior chrome treatment and the 6 getting the painted treatment but since I have the 6 I could not be happier with that decision by Jaguar.

 

The v12 is also a smoother ride from what I hear (I had a V12 and it was smooth but never owned a 4.0cyl to compare).

 

Thanks to everybody. I bought it, for better or for worse, but I think I'm going to be very happy with it. I think you are all right about it being (mainly) an issue with the filter, and come this Wednesday, I'll be doing a little tinkering with it.

 

First of all I'm very glad that you are very happy with your 95 4.0L XJS

Though if you have never driven an XJS V12 Then you do not know what you are missing! apart from the horrendous fuel consumption.

 

LuvmyXJS'

"I do like the fact that the '95 AJ16 came with chrome mirrors and headlamp bezels etc. I would have thought that Jaguar would have done this just the opposite with the V-12 getting the exterior chrome treatment and the 6 getting the painted treatment but since I have the 6 I could not be happier with that decision by Jaguar."


Your presumption is correct. Jaguar did in fact produce the 1994.75 XJS (its proper model name) in April 1994 with the 4 litre getting body-coloured mirror and headlight bezels, and the 6 litre maintaining the chrome. This reflected the more sporting nature of the 4 litre as they describe in the UK brochure (even though the 6 litre is a faster car). I have one of the 4 litre cars like this.

However, according to a guy that I know who worked in Jaguar marketing, Americans wanted more shiny bling (hence the introduction of the chromed wheels!) and because they were going to sell more 4 litre than 6 litre in the US, they had to compromise their principles and fit the chrome to the 4 litre cars destined for the US instead. To maintain the distinction between the models they then had to fit the body-coloured stuff to the 6 litre cars for the US.

Cheers

Paul

 

Thanks Paul for that insight. I have always felt Jaguar did the chrome thing backwards but suspected they put the chrome accents on the 4.0L because of the sheer numbers they were selling compared to the V-12 at the end of the run. Good to confirm the thinking on that.

 

Welcome to this club of wacky people with the obsessive love of old Jags. I hope you are as happy a year from now as you are today.

 

MattB731....pleased for you and the car....it looked like a fair deal.

Keep us in the loop.

Best,

Rob.
2006 X Type Sport Wagon.
1987 XJ6 Daily driver.

 

My 94 xjs v12 was just delivered Thursday night. Congrats