68 |JaguarWorld/July 2019
TWINTEST
XJ40vROVER 800
andsuppleleather,whiletheseats
arearmchairsoft.It’samoreserene
environmentandonethat’sveryeasyto
getusedto,buttheergonomiclayoutis
lessintuitivethanthatoftheRover.
TheRoveristhemorepractical,too.The
XJ40lacksleg-andheadroomintherear,
whilethebootislongbutshallow,meaning
itwon’tswallowlargeboxes.
Thefleetmarketwasmuchmore
importantforRoverthanJaguar,sothe
800 ismoreusefulasaresult,withavast,
deepluggagecompartmentandexcellent
rearlegroom.Intermsofpackaging,it’s
streetsahead.Butit’stheJaguarthatisthe
morepleasantplacetosit.
TheJaguarhasasignificantlybiggerengine,
soyou’dexpectittobethelivelierofthetwo
carshere,but,whileitcertainlyacestheRover
onpaper,it’sfarmorecloselyrunfrombehind
thewheel.TheXJ40feelsjustlikeaJaguar
should.There’spowerinspades,butitisset
upsothatyouonlyhavetousethatpower
ifyouneedto;ithasalong,progressive
throttleresponseanditonlytrulywakesupif
youburythepedal.Ifyou’repotteringabout
town,itiswonderfullysmoothandserene,
unlikesomelarge-enginedcarsthatareover-
eagertotransfertheirpowertothetarmac.
Bycontrast,theRoverhasasharpthrottle
andittakesoffquicklyfromtheline,the
Honda-sourcedautomaticgearboxand
programmedfuel-injectionworkingto
giveanimmediateresponse.It’slesseager
asyouputthepowerdownbecause,like
manyJapaneseengines,itdoesn’treachits
peakoutputuntilhigherintherevrange.
Thatmeansit’sgreatfuntodrivequickly,butitisn’tnecessarilythemild-mannered
executiveyou’dexpect–youhavetowork
ithardtogetthebestoutofit.Onthe
plusside,whenyoudo,itgiftsyouwithan
amazingenginenote.TheV6issmooth,but
alsoanauraldelight,whichmakespressing
onfarmorepleasurablethanitshouldbe.
Despitebeingabigcar,italsofeels
extremelylight.Thesteeringis,ifanything,
over-assisted,butthebodycontrolis
excellentforsuchabigcar,withafirmride
andimpressivelevelsofgrip.
TheJaguarissofter,morewallowy.It
doesn’tfeelasassuredatfirst,butwhen
yougetusedtoitscharacteristicallysupple
ride,yousoondiscoverthatthechassisis,
infact,reallywellset-up,withaperfect
balancebetweengripandridequality.The
steeringisfarbetter,too,withmoreweight
toitwithoutfeelingoverlyheavy.