By Frank S. Washington
MONT TREMBLANT, Quebec, Canada – The weather was awful here. There was snow on the ground and it was raining with the temperature just above freezing. That meant ice, slush and slippery roads. But this ski resort 130 kilometers (81 miles) northwest of Montreal was an awesome place to experience the big news from Jaguar.
With three words, all-wheel-drive, and the technology to back them up, Jaguar is now competitive not only in this north of our border country but it now has products that will better appeal to luxury sedan buyers who live in the northern half of the United States.
This cannot be understated. Jaguar can now compete with German luxury brands from the slush filled avenues of New York City to the rain slickened streets of Seattle and in every inclement city between them.
Jaguar called it instinctive all-wheel-drive.
Here’s the deal, in normal driving conditions 90 percent of the torque is sent to the rear wheels, thus, it is a rear wheel bias full time AWD system. That means the system is geared toward performance and handling.
Set in winter mode, the system sends 70 percent of the torque to the rear wheels. That’s still a performance bias. Depending on wheel slip it can send up to 50 percent of the car’s torque to the front wheels. It gets better. The system can also send torque from side-to-side.
Instinctive all-wheel-drive is available on Jaguar’s 2013 XF and XJ sedans equipped with its new direct injected supercharged V6 engine. And this engine also makes news. It generates 340 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque.
The supercharged V6 replaces the normally aspirated V8 in the XF lineup. It will propel the XF to 60 mph from a standing start in 5.7 seconds. That’s downright fast by any standards. That same engine is also available in the larger XJ sedan but the engine adds to the full size sedan’s power lineup. In other words, the 385 horsepower normally aspirated V8 remains.
A new eight speed automatic transmission is now standard on all Jaguars. It helps boost fuel economy on the XF to 16/26 for the V6 powered all-wheel-drive model and 17/28 in city and highway driving for the rear-wheel-drive model.
The XF also gets Jaguar’s 2.0 liter direct injected turbocharged four cylinder engine that makes 240 horsepower. But since that engine does not come with the all-wheel-drive system, it wasn’t here. I’ll write more on that power package when it becomes available in the press fleet.
But let’s be clear, all-wheel-drive does not mean let it all hang out on slippery slush and snow cover streets. I forgot that the speed limit signs here are in kilometers per hour not miles per hour. Once, I was going too fast for conditions and my supercharged V6 powered short wheel base XJ started to slide – a bit – but it was nothing serious. My driving partner did the same thing on the way back to Montreal.
Other than those two miscues which were driver induced, our XJ all-wheel-drive Jaguar had absolutely no trouble getting to Mecaglisse for a coffee break and lunch. One road in particular had a street sign that cautioned drivers that they were traveling at their own risk. It inflicted flats on a couple of test cars because of rather large snow covered pot holes. Still, our XJ got through the rural route and to the track without any trouble.
Once there, we did slaloms, quick lane changes and hill climbing. This was done in all-wheel-drive XF sedans. Then we moved back into XJ all-wheel-drive sedans for drifting on an ice track. This was a lot of fun but it was also evidence of the confidence that Jaguar has in its new all-wheel-drive system.
Although there were some flats because of unseen potholes, I didn’t hear of anyone getting stuck, or slipping and sliding into trouble or worse, an accident, because the new AWD system failed. Jaguar’s instinctive all-wheel-drive system did what it was supposed to do; power its luxury sedans down some awfully slippery and potentially dangerous roads.
And though the all-wheel-drive system, as well as the new supercharged V6, was the primary reason for coming this far north for some winter testing, the underground agenda to me was to show off Jaguar’s expanding lineup.
The XF and XJ lineups now have 14 models between them. For 2013, Jaguar’s XF prices start at $47,850 and for the 2013 XJ flagship, prices start at $74,075.
I expect Jaguar sales to increase because of the new all-wheel drive system, the new supercharged V6 and the new eight speed automatic transmission. And don’t forget the turbocharged four-cylinder engine. The British marque finally has what it needs, the deep pockets of Tata Motors, to invest in the technology laden products to reassert itself as one of the world’s premier luxury performance brands.
Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com.
This was printed in the March 10, 2013 – March 23, 2013 Edition
