Not sure if this is the proper place for this post. I picked up the 2006 XJ8 Vanden Plas yesterday, and drove it on the freeway for about 100 miles, and then up and down the streets of San Francisco. I thought I'd post some first impressions, compared to the other cars I mostly drive: a 2006 Bentley Flying Spur, a 1994 Mercedes S500 (W140), and a 2006 BMW 550i.

Beginning with the exterior: The Jaguar is the nicest looking overall. Very distinctive. Very refined. The charcoal metallic exterior, and black interior are perfect for this car. No bad angles. I walked around the car, and it looks good from every angle. Paint quality is exceptional. Just the right amount of chrome. Doors have a good feel to them.

Interior: Although wider and longer than the BMW, it is more compact inside as far as width goes. The front passenger is closer to you, which could be good or bad depending of course. Rear leg room is definitely more spacious than the BMW. The W140 and the Bentley are overall much larger and spacious. The wood trim is on par with the Bentley, more sumptuous than the BMW. The W140 has very little wood. Leather is "different". It feels rich and supple, but not quite like the Bentley. Stiffer than the BMW. I read somewhere that the grain is printed and the color sprayed on with these cars. There is something going on with the leather. Very nice, but a little different from a leather leather feeling. Buttons, knobs, chrome handles, mirrors, dash--all very luxurious.

The car feels really nimble with plenty of power for all reasonable needs. The BMW and the Bentley are more powerful, the Bentley is truly monstrous. The Jaguar has a very enjoyable balance of sportiness and luxury. As an aside: I drove a Lexus LS460 recently, and really did not like the pillowy feel of the car.

There is something very engaging about the car overall. More engaging than the W140 or the BMW, a friendly, inviting quality. The Bentley is a bit foreboding. Thoroughly enjoying it so far. For me, the clue is how much one looks forward to driving a car, and right now, I look forward to every ride.

 

A few additional initial observations:

• I like to drive sitting higher. With the Jaguar, with the seat at my preferred height, I was too close to the steering wheel and pedals. The steering wheel adjustments are really nice.
• The car is very quiet inside. Quieter than the BMW. The W140 and Bentley have double pane windows and are completely silent inside.
• The touch controls are easy to use. Easier than the iDrive. They look more dated than the BMW though, which I think has mostly to do with UX design adopted for the touch panels (button shapes, etc.). It would feel a lot more modern with different fonts, buttons styles, etc.
• Bluetooth pairing with the phone was easier than I thought it would be, and the hands-free function works wonderfully. No support to stream music as the Bluetooth implementation only supports phone.
• Even the DVD from the back seats works wonderfully. Not sure if there are upgrades to Blu-ray or streaming, that would be very nice.
• Sound system quality is nice. Could not find controls for DSP other than selecting which speakers are active.
• Of course, the picnic tables are special. I don't have them on the Bentley--it was only available with the Mulliner versions.

 

Not mentioned, but IIRC from comparisons around the time I bought my XJ8-L, the Van Den Plas and Daimler seats with the Video screens and trays don't just have a different frame and back. They also have 2 ( or maybe it is 4?), extra power seat body-conformal adjustments than the 'vanilla' XJ8-L was given.

We don't need the screens or trays, but with a 4'10" M'In-Law, 5'-nothing wife, she still has to use a back-bolster to shorten the thigh-reach of the seat on our vanilla XJ8-L. Same again, the R-R Sport Luxury, which has some OTHER power adaptations, (upper and lower lateral "squeeze" - to suit wide or narrow drivers?) ....just not that one.

That might NOT be needed on your one, as I suspect the reach from seat back to under-thigh seat front edge is power adjustable?

PS: When you tire of thinking you have everything one could ask for? Look up an aftermarket version of the Range Rover's built in refrigerator. Much less messy than an ice-chest!

You'll want a taller one for the Van Den Plas.

Champagne bottles aren't as squat as beer cans.

 

Bill,

The refrigerator addition is tempting. Do you have a link to research this option. A friend has one in his Bentley Arnage. It's behind the seat armrest in the back. Given California's laws champagne may never be an option.

 

Here are some of the automaker installed ones:

https://www.carsales.com.au/editoria...the-go-136983/

Google - or Amazon - finds the aftermarket ones for DIY add-on. Around USD $ 60 and up..Some of them rather large!

There are cookers and hot-water boilers, too. GI's figured out how to cook, boil water for tea, soup, or coffee, on IC engines no later than the First World War. Some modern armoured fighting vehicles have them already built-in.

Steam power, of course, had never not had that option.



And then there are chemical toilets, as we had when the kids were small. Underneath the 1968 Grand Fury station wagon's rear-facing flip-up third-row seat. User add-on, that was.

The other "user add-on" a transplanted 500 HP Chrysler big-block salvaged from a wrecked State Police Cruiser only shat money. At 8 MPG, it could pass anything on the American road but a gasoline station.

Tidy bugger, though.

It heaved 50W oil out the exhaust still in sealed quart tins.
313,000 hard police-use miles kinda does that to a motor.