2010 Jaguar XJ debuts to much fanfare

After weeks of pointless teaser images to rile up naive automotive writers, the 2010 Jaguar XJ has finally been officially unveiled in a worldwide broadcast. Just like the midsize XF before it, the all-new fullsize XJ is a complete departure from the traditional Jaguar designs of old.

The overall exterior design is almost as attractive as that of its smaller brother, fixing the googly-eyed headlights of the XF, but adding extended glass areas around the rear-side windows, finished off with awkward gloss-black rear pillars.

The XJ’s chassis continues to feature aluminium construction, augmented with magnesium and composite alloy bits, making the body lighter than that of a Mini Cooper. It comes right out of your trash-can too, as 50% of the aluminium used in the XJ is composed of recycled metal, while 85% of the total car is further recyclable when it returns to the trash heap.

The interior features luxury-sized space, and borrows the rotary-dial gear selector from the XF, but not much else. Indeed, there is more going on in the XJ in terms of shapes and materials.

There a small insert on the wood panel above the a/c vents that says “Jaguar,” but customers will apparently be able to specify their own text label if they so choose. Even the wood panels itself can be switched with seven other types of wood, carbon-fibre or gloss-black. The hideaway a/c vents of the XF has not been included here.

The entire gauge cluster is just a big 12.3-inch LCD screen showing virtual “gauges” and other information. The central 8-inch touchscreen even has voice controls, with voice commands displayed as text so you can just read them out loud, instead of having to remember them. A 20-speaker 1200W Bowers & Wilkens 7.1 is optionally available, as are rear DVD screens and a dual-view front screen, where the driver and the front passenger see two different images on the same 8-inch screen.

All the engines are variations of the Jaguar-Land Rover 5.0-litre V8. The base engine is a naturally-aspirated V8 with 385 hp at 6,500 rpm and 515 Nm of torque at 3,500 rpm. The mid-range engine is a supercharged V8 with 470 hp at 6,000 rpm and 574 Nm at 2,500 rpm. The top engine, seen in the XKR and XFR, is the supercharged V8 with 510 hp at 6,000 rpm and 624 Nm of torque at 2,500 rpm, good for 0-100 kph sprints in less than 5 seconds. All rear-wheel-drive XJ models get a paddle-shifted 6-speed automatic gearbox. There will not be a sportier XJR model.

The new XJ, while not a complete styling success, marks a definite sporty direction for all current and future versions of the Indian-owned British company’s cars, once the small X-Type fully dies out. Expect the XJ to debut in the UAE and GCC early next year.