Jaguar XJL - Unusual Things about Meow, Part 1 of 2

"Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever" (superchan7) 03/15/2018 at 03:20 • Filed to: Jaguar XJ, X351

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So it has been just under two weeks since I bought a thing Meow wandered through our neighbourhood, lonely and looking for a loving home.

So Meow is a 2014 XJL, an X351 generation (sold in the US since 2011) and the long-wheelbase version of Jaguar’s flagship. Being a 2014, it had gone through some minor updates (the substantial facelift came in 2016). The most obvious is the 3.0 label, denoting the downsized supercharged base engine replacing the 5.0L NA V8.

Of course, being a luxury car and a brand flagship, it has distinctive design, tons of features and a lavishly trimmed interior. That needs no introduction. Being a Jag, however, Meow has some...personality.

Allow this cat noob to present some of its oddities.

The most obvious unusual feature of the XJL is its length. The dramatic fastback proportions are unique in its class.

The car is 207" long and has a 124.4" wheelbase, a significant five-inch stretch over the standard model. 60% of X351 XJ buyers have chosen the L.

Meow barely fits in his den. One time it parked next to a Chevy Spark, whose rear end lines up with the Jag’s rear door handles.

Also seen on his stablemate Neigh, Meow’s wiper spray nozzles are mounted on the actual wiper.

One of my favourite design features of the current XJ is the “cat’s claw” rear taillamps and turn indicators. Full LED amber turn signals are a rare sight in the US, and the XJ has them. In 2014, Jaguar modernised its brand font and added the name to the rear end of the XJ.

Windows appear to be dual-pane all around. The ride is decently quiet, but I’m sure some competitors are quieter.

This particular car has the rare Satin Zebrano wood trim option, brightening the interior vibe substantially. The standard trim is dark burl walnut, but either way, the XJ’s enormous slabs of wood trim really set it apart from competitors. Another clue to the 2014 updates: D-shaped door pulls and electronic door lock buttons replace the old L-handle and mechanical lock tab.

Another unique touch: the XJ’s mood lighting is highlighted by illuminated climate control vents, rather than random character lines. The colour cannot be changed—I’m guessing the 2016 facelift fixed this. As it is, the turquoise is not my cup of Earl Grey tea.

In 2010, a full-LCD instrument panel was class-exclusive but Jaguar’s implementation was oddly inflexible. The format cannot be changed and only the left and right “dials” are overlaid with settings menus and tiny nav maps as needed. The most hilarious thing is the turn indicators: they attempt to imitate old-style light bulbs with a progressive illumination and extinguishing animation. That’s like using deadmau5's studio rigs to synthesise a Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto!

Amoore100 > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 03:27

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I know you’re in the Bay, but is that the Main Street, Cupertino garage I spot?!

That aside, I am very jealous—I love the looks of this gen XJ and the wood-interior combo you have is GORGEOUS. The graphics on the screens, though, really remind you how fast technology moves; however, I’m sure they perform more than fine seeing as I make do with nothing but a knob in Volvo’s 2012 Sensus system! Also, I have a weird fetish for branded speakers so I love the little “Meridian” tag on the door panels :3

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Amoore100 03/15/2018 at 04:13

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Yep I’m in the area. The screen is not a big deal—just a huge missed opportunity. The 2016+ version should be much more versatile.

Are you around the Cupertino area?

vondon302 > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 05:21

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Damn that’s huge. That interior is gorgeous even with that color led.

Neat!

Svend > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 05:58

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Looks beautiful.

Graceful and elegant.

Like the Land Rover off road philosophy, ‘as slow as possible, as fast as necessary’, this is, ‘graceful with pace, as fast as necessary’.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 07:31

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Chariotoflove > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 08:11

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That’s beautiful. I like the led color—sorry, I mean colour—better than the red you usually see in most cars. The nice thing about owning one of these big lux cars is getting to discover and enjoy all those little details and features. Sometimes it makes me almost giggle.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 08:28

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The L really is the way to go with these. The proportions are just so perfect and really stand out in a parking lot or on the road. The non-L just seems... squished. I’ve never seen that Zebrano wood before. Looks fantastic.

Amoore100 > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 11:34

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It’s true but you have to give them credit—so many premium automakers are still not there yet and Jag was one of the first.

Give or take—I’m from the Westgate corner of the Bay, that messy junction of Saratoga, San Jose, Cupertino, Campbell, etc. etc. so Main Street ends up being a common hangout spot.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Svend 03/15/2018 at 11:35

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Thanks. Elegance is important on your way to the service department!

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 03/15/2018 at 11:38

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Thanks for the compliments. In fact, the Zebrawood caught my eye and hastened the deal—I wasn’t planning to upgrade my DD until the F355 sold. Now I’m stuck with two service centre queens!

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Amoore100 03/15/2018 at 14:38

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Stalker. We should do a South Bay Oppo meet. Have you seen my F355 around?

Klaus Schmoll > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 16:50

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You’re selling the 355? How come? Was it a “been there, done that” moment or more like “never meet your hero”?

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Klaus Schmoll 03/15/2018 at 17:20

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The former. I’ve done everything I wanted to do on the car (bring it back to near-new mechanically and cosmetically) and I’m ready for something else. I’m on the fence because I like it so much, so I’ll just wait until someone makes a good enough offer on F-Chat or Cars.com.

Amoore100 > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 18:15

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I like to consider myself spatially aware, thank you very much! No, I’ve kept my eyes open but the view keeps getting blocked by all the Lexus RX’s and Model S’s...that and I’m in Arizona for school so I’ve only been back for a week or two here and there since summer!

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Amoore100 03/15/2018 at 19:09

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Hope to see you around. What you studying?

Amoore100 > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/15/2018 at 20:26

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Engineering of a sort, yet to know which exactly.

CompactLuxuryFan > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 03/16/2018 at 01:13

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Gorgeous! So much YES on the orange LED turn signals. To this day I have no idea why everybody else makes them red for the US.

Also, hi Bay Area

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > CompactLuxuryFan 03/17/2018 at 01:04

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There are several reasons why cars that are sold in the RoW with amber rear turn indicators end up being sold with red ones in the US:

1) For cars sold in high volumes (usu. less expensive cars), it sometimes allows the manufacturer to injection-mold the taillamp lens without the amber colour. This lowers cost.

2) Sometimes the RoW rear turn signal is too small to meet US DOT (or FMVSS, I forget which) standards, so the entire brake lamp is made to flash instead. One example of this is true of various Audis and VWs, whose RoW turn indicators tend to be thin strips hiding under the brake lights.

3) Sometimes the US/CAN market feature set is different from Eurasian markets, for example, if the car offers an “LED taillamp option” for the North American market only, then they can “upgrade” the rear turn signals by integrating them into the LED brake light operation.

Amber LED rear turn signals are indeed quite rare in the US. The first mainstream example was the E46 BMW 3 series coupe facelift. Some others that have had it are various Land Rovers, Lexus LS and the current RX, BMW 7 Series, etc. None are as elegant as the XJ’s, but the Tesla Model X’s comes close.

Then Something New > Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever 04/26/2018 at 17:50

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Just saw these threads! As someone who use to do R&D for JLR, here’s a fun reason why the L version looks better. Ian has his team design the longer length first then it’s shortened for the standard size.

I mean if the Queen is gonna be ferried around in the L version you damn sure should start your design with it.