Jaguar XJMarch 2010

The new XJ finally escapes from the shadow of the 1968 original. Having made numerous attempts to re-interpret the Series 1, Jaguar has gone back to first principles: what would Jaguar's founder, Sir William Lyons, have come up with if he was designing a car today? The result is elegant, eye-catching and a world away from its German rivals. It is particularly striking in long wheelbase form, when it looks like a motor show concept car that has escaped on to the road.

Inside, it gets even better. The XF has the best interior in its class and the XJ carries on the good work. It has virtual instruments (a TFT screen which can display different instruments on command), subtle blue lighting, twin glass sunroof as standard and, for the first time in 40 years, lots of space. In the long wheelbase version a 6 ft 4 inch passenger can stretch his legs and have enough headroom, even with the standard rear sunroof.

The engine range is made up of 3.0 Diesel, 5.0 petrol and 5.0 Supercharged petrol. In the UK, the diesel is all-important as it will account for over 80% of sales. Thankfully it is an excellent unit, with 271 bhp on hand and a combined fuel consumption of 40.1 mpg. More importantly, its fuel type is irrelevant: it is simply a very powerful, very refined engine. If you concentrate, you can tell it is a diesel by its lower-pitched engine note, but 99% of passengers will be blissfully unaware of that fact - or even that there is an engine at all, as the XJ glides along so quietly.

Driving the XJ for the first time is a slightly disconcerting experience. The steering is light, but much quicker and more direct than you expect from a luxury car, due to the fact that it uses the steering rack from the XFR. At first you steer more than you need to, until you get used to the fact that the big saloon steers more like a sports car. In fact all the dynamics are consistent: the whole car feels remarkably light on its feet and far more agile than you have a right to expect for something this large. The same goes for the brakes: light but very responsive.

So far this sounds perfect - sports car handling with Jaguar ride. Unfortunately, that is where things get a little controversial. At launch, Jaguar is only supplying cars with 20 inch wheels and 35 section tyres. On this combination, the ride is quite busy - the XJ swallows big bumps, but feels slightly jittery on a typically scarred urban tarmac. It remains to be seen if smaller wheels soften the ride a little. We think the great handling is worth the not-quite-perfect ride, but some will find the set-up a bit too sporting for their taste. For its part, Jaguar is quite bullish - it says the company's heritage is sports cars and sports saloons, and that is what they now focus on.