By: Dave Abrahams
Whitley, West Midlands - so subtle are the exterior changes to the Jaguar's revised-for-2016 flagship XJ sedan that the company prefers to call it 'enhanced', rather than face-lifted or refreshed.
But there's plenty going on behind the slightly larger, more upright grille (which we think gives the car new presence) and full LED headlights with J-blade daytime running lights that flash orange to become the indicators.
There are more luxurious semi-aniline leather trim and wood veneer inlays, especially in the new, range-topping Autobiography spec, and new gizmotronics in the form of an uprated infotainment system to access door-to-door navigation, seamless iOS and Android connectivity, and a 26-speaker, 1300W Meridian digital audio system.
The home page of the eight-inch capacitive touchscreen can be customised with wallpapers and shortcut widgets. Like a smartphone, it understands 'pinch to zoom' and 'swipe to scroll' gestures. The satnav stores its maps on a solid-state hard drive and can determine its position by dead reckoning even when it has no GPS signal.
It features door-to-door guidance, preloadable from another device, can learn your daily commute and even direct you to the nearest available parking space - and you can also display it full-screen in the 12.3-inch instrument cluster.
The optional 16:9 high-definition 10.2-inch foldaway rear screens can show a different TV channel on each screen, store 100GB of media, or connect to external input via two USB, one HDMI and one MHL port.
Remote Essentials lets you check remotely from your smartphone how much fuel is in the tank, whether the doors are locked and if the windows were left open, while Remote Premium also lets you remotely lock or unlock the car, start the engine to heat or cool the interior to the desired temperature, alerts you if the alarm goes off - and if you forget where you parked your XJ, there's a map to lead you straight to it.
If you have a crash bad enough to trigger the airbags it'll automatically notify the emergency services and tell them where you are; there's also a panic button to trigger an emergency call.
MORE LUXURY
The previous top-spec Portfolio interior trim is now used in the mid-level Premium Luxury derivatives, while the new Portfolio goes upmarket with diamond-quilted soft-grain leather seats, embossed head restraints and figured ebony veneer.
The Autobiography model, new for 2016 and due in South Africa with the rest of the range towards the end of 2015, is only available in long-wheelbase format, because it has individual reclining rear seats, each with massage function and the option of a foldaway video screen.
It's finished in decadently soft quilted leather with contrast stitching, a leather headliner, oak veneer inlays and stainless-steel brightwork.
There's also a new R-Sport variant with gloss black grille mesh over a three-piece front splitter, side power vents and sills, 20-inch rims and a rear spoiler. It's tricked out inside with sports seats, R-Sport steering wheel, a black headliner and piano black or carbon-fibre trim.
UPRATED V6 DIESEL
The XJ's three-litre oil-burner has been revised with new 2000-bar, eight-hole piezo-electronic injectors and more efficient turbos (the primary turbo even has low-friction ceramic ball-bearings to reduce turbo lag). Power is up from 202kW to 220kW, torque from 650Nm to 700Nm, while emissions are down from 159g/km to 149g/km.\
The 177kW/340Nm two-litre turbopetrol four benefits from a low-inertia turbocharger, while the three-litre supercharged petrol V6 is unchanged at 250kW and 450Nm, as is the big-gun five-litre supercharged V8, available either in 375kW/625Nm or 405kW/680Nm tune.
Each of these drives the rear wheels via an eight-speed ZF auto transmission.
The XJ now also has Jaguar's all-surface progress control, preventing wheelspin on pull-away on slippery surfaces such as snow mud or wet grass by balancing the throttle and brake against each other rather than by reacting after wheelspin has begun.
Just press the ASPC button on the centre stack and steer; the car will do the rest, up to 30km/h.
The new electric power steering has also made possible for the first time a semi-autonomous parking function; all you have to is shift brake and accelerate; the car checks to see that it can get into the space you've chosen - and then does so.
A forward-facing camera reads speed-limit signs, while a long-range radar sensor enables the adaptive cruise control to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front - right down to a standstill, if necessary.
When you switch on the indicators to make a lane change or turn, rear radar sensors alert you to faster traffic coming up from behind. And when you put the car in reverse to back out of a driveway, they'll warn you of approaching traffic from either side.
The new Jaguar XJ range will consist of Luxury, Premium Luxury, Portfolio, R-Sport, XJR and Autobiography models in short and long-wheelbase format (except for the Autobiography, as mentioned). Prices, as usual, when they get here.