Press “set” and the hands start spinning to the correct time. Perhaps ironically, the analog clock is set digitally through the touch screen. As is au courant in luxury cars, there’s an analog clock in the center of the dash that’s supposed to remind us of expensive wrist watches. If Jaguar could do that with mechanical gauges in the mid 1980s, I think they could do it with a virtual digital display. One of the cool things about my old XJ was that at traffic speeds the tach and speedo needles were parallel and pretty much moved in sync as you went faster. Also, if you’re going to go with virtual gauges, at least sync the tachometer and speedometer indicators. I realize the need for digital displays these days, but I think that Jaguar could have put two smaller TFT screens flanking real gauges. The virtual instruments look out of place, almost faddish in an otherwise traditional looking interior. The other thing is that I’d rather Jaguar had fitted proper analog gauges, at least a real speedo and tach. They function better than most, with almost infinite adjustment, but I just don’t like how they look. I don’t like the way the big round HVAC vents look. There are a couple of things that I don’t like about the interior, though I suppose that I’m picking nits to do so. The instrument panel is a TFT display, with virtual gauges. Either way, it detracts from an otherwise enjoyable driving experience. Perhaps because the rest of the car is so good the touch screen and nav system stand out like a sore thumb. Bottom line is that I was able to get all the infotainment functions to work and in the case of the audio system, work very well indeed, but the touch screen is a chore. I’m a smartphone newbie so I can’t tell you much about phone connectivity beyond the fact that once connected the XJ’s infotainment system easily accessed music on my Samsung Android and the fact that it was much easier to get my phone to connect to the car than the other way around. Fortunately for most of the basic audio and HVAC functions there are actual buttons and knobs. They are so close to the bottom of the screen that the frame gets in your way. Also, it’s much easier changing modes from the steering wheel controls than using the mode buttons on the touch screen. Sometimes a small light touch will work, other times you have to practically jab your thumb at it. The touch screen reacts slowly and you’re never entirely sure each time you press a “button” that it’s going to work. Well, once I managed to enter the address. It took me a few aborted efforts to figure out how to get it to accept a destination once the address was entered. I’ve been around computers for more than two decades and I’m usually pretty good at intuiting how to use digital devices but I found the nav system to be not particularly intuitive. With transportation charges, as tested it comes in at just a tick over $82K. Other than a small handful of options like back seat entertainment and the two available supercharged engines, the test model had just about every luxury, convenience and safety feature that Jaguar offers. While other luxury car makers have introduced “L” versions of their sedans, in part to serve the Chinese market where the person who owns the luxury car is likely to be riding in back, Jaguar has been offering long wheelbase XJs for decades. The XJ Portfolio is the fully equipped long version of the XJ. On both counts the 2012 XJ comes out favorably in the comparison. ![]() How would the new XJ compare to the smaller but more powerful XF Supercharged that I tested just about a year ago, and how would it compare to my dearly departed Series III XJ, considered by many Jaguar enthusiasts to be the finest of the traditional XJs. ![]() When Jaguar of North America informed me that I’d be getting a 2012 XJL Portfolio for review, my first reaction was to engage in some mental bench racing. Editor’s note: The car pictured is not a long-wheelbase model, which is the only “Portfolio” model sold in the US.
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