hi everyone, it's me jaguar lover, currently own a 95 xjs 4.0L
have owned it for almost 3 month,

but now I'm beginning to feel this car can't run really fast like it should,
4.0L 237 horsepower, but every time I can only see those Japanese outrun me, it doesn't accelerate really fast, have to push gas really hard to catch the car front of mine.
it is the only xjs I have owned, so I have no idea what a XJS should be able to do.
guys share your experiences here, how does your jaguar perform?

 

Jags of your generation, XJS and otherwise, were not noted for their 0 to 60 times. I wouldn't be too concerned about it as the XJS is a great GT car nevertheless. Trying to get modern 0 to 60 times out of an XJS will break your heart and vacuum up your bank account.

 

Tarheal is right.

You'd need the 6.0 V12 to keep up with modern-ish cars. Even then you'd have to choose your battles carefully. Nowadays we have ordinary family sedans an SUVs that will eat even my XJR (322 horsepower) for lunch

One thing, though.....

Over the years some Jags have been set up to start off in 2nd gear unless "Sport" mode has been selected. That would certainly slow things down. I'm not sure if the XJS/4.0 is one of them. Others will chime in and let us know.


Cheers
DD

 

Hi Doug
thanks for your reply, but I don't quite get it. I'm new about cars so my question might be stupid but I have to ask, since xjs is a sport car, with nice stats, why it can't even beat up a ordinary modern car? where the gas goes if it doesn't have a sport car's performance?

 

thanks tarheal,
but I wonder is it XJS a sport car? how could it not as good as a modern car?

 

In some ways it is way better -- the ride and comfort of older Jags on high-profile tyres beats most modern cars. Supple & smooth

However it is a 20 yr old car designed in the late 60s. It is heavy. Modern engines are unbelievably more powerful and efficient even in the last 10 years - look at the bhp & torque from just 3 litres of modern Jag diesel..

So, in the end, a lovely old car, but that is what it is. You either love it or not, you either 'get' it or not.

To paraphrase Clarkson from 20 years ago " You can have the brand-new house with triple glazing and everything works. Or the 17th Century manor which costs a fortune to heat, you hit your head on every beam... I'd take the manor house"

 

My first Jag was the XJS 3.6L and I loved it. Stuck to the road like glue and cornered like it was on rails.

These cars however, weren't meant to be sports cars, they are grand tourers. There is nothing better than being wafted along in all that opulence on a long journey or even a short hop to the shops.

If you are worried about others passing you then you really are missing the point of the car. Sit back, relax and enjoy it for what it is.

 

The XJS may be "sporty-ish" but I have to agree with the others....the XJS isn't a sports car.

When it was introduced in 1975 the performance was competitive but, even then, the design was biased towards luxury and "grand touring", as other have said.

Time wasn't kind to the XJS. It changed very little in terms of design and technology. Towards the end it was mostly about elegance, luxury, and style. A car that makes you look good when you arrive a the country club . There really wasn't any pretense that it was a high-performance car in any respect.

That doesn't mean it's a bad car. From from it.

But, if high-performance is what you're after you'll need to buy something like a Porsche 911 or Corvette to sit beside the Jag in the garage.

Cheers
DD

 

Sorry I don't have a whole lot more to add, but keep this in mind. A modern Impreza packs about 100 more HP and weighs in at 1000 pounds less than your XJS. Even my 6 liter would be left in the dust.
On another note though, I see you got your transmission problem solved. Good deal.

 

thanks Bill
I don't know much about cars, so had to ask. I thought it can run fast when I bought it, but speed doesn't really matter to me, I just wondered if there is particularly problem inside this car that slow it down.
this car fixed itself, that trans problem just never happened again so far

 

Jim, thanks you to tell me this
I'm new about it, I thought there is particularly problem inside which slow it down, speed doesn't really matter to me, I'm just tired to push gas really hard every time while I feed this car premium gas

 

Thanks, AL NZ
I thought it is because there is problem inside this car that slow it down.
I don't really care about speed, but 4.0L or more was something means high performance to me. I'm just new about cars

 

That 4.0 engine is pulling 4,000 lbs. If the car weighed 3,000 lbs it would be faster.
The tranny switch on the console will make the engine rev higher before it shifts if you put it in 'sport' but it won't make the car much faster to 60 mph. Just enjoy the ride. These cars look fast even though they aren't. If anyone challenges you to drag at lights just ignore them so as to not embarrass yourself.
Cheers, RagJag

 

let us not forget the aston db7 was based on a jaguar xjs chassis, with a lot of suspicion work and a serious motor build, like hmm a 6.5l flathead and a 5 speed, it can keep up with more than most would think

 

the XJS is not a sports car, neither is the XK8. The F-type is the first sports car they have made in nearly 30 years.
Don't expect to be blowing peoples doors off just because it is a jag or just because you have a V12.
A number of cylinders has NO correlation with its power, it is merely a different way of accomplishing the same thing. V12s are incredibly smooth and balanced, but they are complicated. The idea that a V12 is powerful and fast is only in your head because the excessive engineering has always been reserved for nicer, more powerful cars.
There have been transitions over time of large engines and large cylinders to smaller ones as we get more efficient. We used to make inline 8s, V10s, V12s. V8s were popular throughout the 90s and 2000s but if you notice V6s are becoming "the new V8".
With that out of the way, look at what the XJS is and WHEN it is. The XJS primarily lives in the 80s. It has a 5.3l v12 that makes roughly 300hp. This is at a time when corvettes, camaros, Mustangs, etc had V8s between 5 and 6 litres that made 150-250hp.
On to new cars. They are more efficient, require less maintenance, and make more power. The 70s and 80s were a time of NEW emissions regulations that, compounded with NEW fuel injection technology, equaled an industry wide fumble with engineering. All of this was new and had little engineering development compared to today. Cars of the 60s made more power, but the systems used there were 60 years in development. Bottomline, it was inefficient, and all cars from this era are in some sense.
To cap this all off NEW cars are made for regular people and this means the power is designed to either be low down, or the car is designed to kickdown very quickly and take power off the top. New cars (im using the term as in new econoboxs and common cars) will beat an XJS from 0-60 for several reasons. The biggest in my opinion is the 3 speed transmission. You have a tranny with only 3 speeds that has to be spread out so the vehicle has a high top speed and accomplishes acceptable MPG. To achieve a decent top end and MPG acceleration suffers. Throw a 5 or 6 speed in an XJS and it will surprise you.
I drive my girlfriends 2009 kia suv that makes more power than my XJS on a regular basis. While it feels snappier and will throw you in the seat when you floor it, it is overall much slower.
Rentals and friends cars I have driven all do the EXACT same thing. They instantly kickdown and rev the ever-loving **** out of the car. You get all the power and are able to pass in traffic. That is ALL they are designed to do. It is not at all smooth and it is totally uncomfortable, not to mention it sounds like the car is going to explode.

While my XJS is not much off the line, get up in the revs on the highway and it feels UNSTOPPABLE. This is 100% the transmission in my opinion. The XJS has a broad power band of smooth power, when i pass in traffic it doesnt feel like a kick and take off, its a smooth acceleration. However, what feels like a 150mph kick in the *** to pass the car ahead in a new car thats actually only going 35mph, is a wafty and unnoticeable jump to 60mph before you even notice in an XJS.
I cannot speak for the 6 cylinder, but taken for what it really is, the XJS does not at all disappoint me. It is one of the fastest cars of its time and the tranny is its downfall.

If you can take a v12 xjs on the highway and tell me you are disappointed you are being unrealistic. I traveled through lower georgia once averaging 95mph and it felt like 55.. The XJS truly is a grand touring machine, if you let it do what it was designed, it eats the road alive.

 

Yeah, but I have a sneaky suspicion that the OP probably isn't quite ready to go down that road.

For him and most people it's a lot easier to just go out and buy a car that has the level of performance you want.

Cheers
DD

 

The answer to this question is extremely simple - the march of automobile technology continues to make older models obsolete with respect to performance and power. Car manufacturers are finding ways to squeeze more power out of every bit of fuel, better handling with more refinement, and more comfort and ammenities into every cabin. That's just how it is. Your XJS is about 20 years old. If you go out and buy a new $65k Corvette, it will be a lackluster performer when compared to cars 20 years from now.

To answer the question in your thread title - to some people, your car can never have enough power!

 

yeah, I know it was not a good question to ask. I don't mean to compare it with nowadays sport cars, but it even can accelerate as fast as those ordinary Japanese cars on the road

 

The XJS is the perfect blend of classic elegance and modern convenience.

 

the XJS can do over 150 and gets 18mpg. It is very long in the tooth.

Modern japanese cars have more gears and put more importance on acceleration and mpg.
Technology aside, they are geared for two different things.


I recall my friends 2006 ford fusion, it could stomp my XJS 0-60, but trying to get that thing past 60 the gap is drawn. 0-60? This is just a number we make up, some cars are faster 0-30 and some are faster at 0-150. It depends on what they are setup to do.
Do a 0-130 run with a new car, the V12 XJS will catchup and pass most cars around the 85 mark and then scream past 100 like a train while the passenger car just screams